"After being granted summary judgment in its lawsuit against the parish of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, New York, the Diocese of Central New York, through its Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Gladstone "Skip" Adams, served notice on the parish rector and his spouse, the Revs. Matt and Anne Kennedy, that they had to vacate the church property -- including the rectory, which was home to the Kennedys and their four children -- on extremely short notice. (You may read more about the details of the forced move here.)
One might think that the Diocese had an urgent and pressing need for the parish property, because of the abruptness of the notice. One would be wrong. The buildings were padlocked; agents for the Diocese even took down the signs which referred the homeless to the new temporary location of the parish's weekly soup kitchen. Through the bounteous intervention of the local Catholic Church and its monsignor, the Kennedys and their flock (both literal and spiritual) were soon relocated in a much larger, newer and better-equipped premises, complete with a four-bedroom rectory and rooms for meetings and Sunday school classes. Life picked up for them, and soon the Church of the Good Shepherd was boasting a higher Sunday attendance than ever (more than double what it had been when the Kennedys first came to Binghamton).
Now comes word from Binghamton that the Diocese has sold the church...."
To read the full article, click here.
It is fair to ask why this parish did not leave Sodom & Gomorrah years ago, voluntarily, rather than like Lot be evicted. One reason of course is ecclesiology... today's conservative Anglicans of nearly all stripes have a fear of departing from the order of "apostolic succession". The doctrine came from Anglo-Catholic tradition, was not shared by the likes of Cranmer, and is not to be found in the 39 Articles. In other words, it is a myth that has contributed significantly to Anglican suffering.
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ReplyDeleteThe TEC leadership has been engaging in lawsuits to take property from faithful congregations and dioceses on the grounds that they have a "fiduciary duty" to care for property once given to the Episcopal church. But what the heck kind of "fiduciary duty" justifies selling the property they win in such suits to a non-Christian organization for a FRACTION of what the original ACNA congregation was willing to pay for it just to stay in their "home" building after they lost it in court? It boggles the mind. How can these folks sleep at night?
ReplyDeleteOn a different note, aaytch's comment above reminds me on this blog (which I actually find quite informative and well done) any comment stream can quickly swerve in a "take a swing at the Anglo-Catholics" direction no matter what the original post was about. Apparently the Oxford movement is the source of all evils, no matter what they are! Fascinating.