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The Episcopal Church: "Oligarchy, Elegy, and Disconnect"

The Episcopal Church: "Oligarchy, Elegy, and Disconnect"

By Ladson F. Mills III
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
August 29, 2014

"We need more education in the obvious not more investigation into the obscure" wrote the noted jurist and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Weeks removed and awaiting the ruling from Judge Diane Goodstein concerning South Carolina and the national church some things have become painfully obvious. I still love the Episcopal Church, but I do not like it very much nor do I trust the current leadership at all.

A recent joint study by Princeton and Northwestern University finds that America is no longer a democracy or republic but an oligarchy led by a, "small dominant class comprised of powerful members who exert total control over the general population... Policies are formed by special interest groups ...while the average citizen has little or no independent influence.... The study also found: "When a majority of citizens disagree with economic elites and/or with organized interest they generally loose."

Three intense weeks in a courtroom closely observing how the national church operates lead me to the unhappy conclusion this study reflects the Episcopal Church. The trial scheduled by the court for two weeks lasted three. The most generous observation is that it was two days of productive work crammed into three weeks.

As much as I truly love the many friends who remain "Enthusiastically Episcopalian" I have begun to find their assertion that the presiding bishop did not want this fight to be tiresome and mostly wishful thinking. When questioned regarding any plans for reconciliation should the court rule in their favor the national church leadership was surprisingly candid in answering that there is none.

While I found their hopeful expressions for reconciliation to be heartfelt I cannot fathom any reason not to have a plan in place. At the very minimal I would have expected a committee comprised of attractive and moderate pro national church supporters possessing the needed skills for reconciliation with a strategy to reach out in the spirit of tolerance and inclusion.

The national church supporters in South Carolina are not lacking in preparation for the departure of the Diocese of South Carolina. There were meetings and clergy list provided to those who were quietly "administering" what would become the Episcopal Church in South Carolina. In spite of the carefully crafted attempts to suggest otherwise there was a plan in place and an organization to carry it out. It is plainly clear that the national church leadership is prepared to spend millions on court fights to hold on to assets, but is unwilling to provide financing or training for the most rudimentary work towards reconciliation. For someone not interested in a fight this is curious strategy indeed.

Our bishops can no longer speak openly because Title IV will be used to "Lawrence them" as it is now become known. Parish priest no longer speak candidly because they have learned that diocesan leadership is accountable only to the small dominant ruling class. Clergy learn quickly from their bishops that while they are expendable their parishes are not.

Those who are part of this small ruling group immediately become "too big to fail" and with no consequence for their actions. .

The decision by the Bishop of Connecticut to sell Bishop Seabury Church to another denomination reveals the widening disconnect between leadership and the people in the pew. He would rather see the building sold than for it remain in the hands former members who have departed the Episcopal Church. Our National Cathedral is reduced to renting itself out for parities to make ends meet. Terrorist murder innocents the world over while we remain strangely muted in our outrage even as the national church website continues to up hold Millennium Development Goals as its vision. It is not so much that our current leadership is the cause of these issues as much as being incapable of dealing with them.

Our bishops will soon have their fall meeting in Taiwan. There will be the usual fluff of citing "gracious hospitality" and "open minded and tolerant listening" and how wonderful it is to be in Taiwan in a show of support for our fellow Anglicans; all 687 of them. It is reminiscent of a 1970's song "we sing about beauty and we sing about truth for ten thousand dollars a show." Those who recognize this insanity are powerless to prevent it while those who have bought into it consider it normality.

Some years ago Edwin Friedman noted that the issue facing our culture today is not that we cannot provide answers but that we do not know how to ask the right questions. He may be on to something. Perhaps if we learned to ask the right questions we might have to be accountable for such an abominable lack of answers.

Ladson F. Mills III is a retired priest with over thirty years pastoral experience. He lives with his wife in South Carolina. He currently serves as Scholar in Residence at the Church of Our Saviour, Johns Island. He is a regular contributor to Virtueonline.

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