[Magdalen] Pray for GTS today

[James Oppenheimer]

So the money problems were not "problems", but irretrievable losses, from
which the institution cannot reasonably be expected to recover.

Sounds like my old parish in Poughkeepsie.  They find themselves in debt up
to and beyond their eyeballs, don't have the size of congregation to
sustain the needs, direct congregational giving into repairs instead of
doing God's work, and when I suggested they sell the place, and find a
location they could afford, you would think I advocated going over Niagara
Falls in a laundry basket.  So they squeeze a few more years of limping
along, not even a shadow of their former glory, waiting for the electricity
to come due and no money to pay it.

Just shut the place down and walk out with what little respectability you
have left, and start anew at a place you can afford.

Ah, but piscos don't do logic, rational or reality.

James W. Oppenheimer
*“If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better
for people coming behind you, and you don’t do it, you're wasting your time
on this Earth.”  -- *Roberto Clemente

On Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 12:15 PM, Lynn Ronkainen <ichthys89 at comcast.net>
wrote:

> the part about 'the property' being developed... it was sold...  What
> really saddened and confused me was how the Tutu center, which I thought
> was owned by TEC and an integral part of some kind of long term planning,
> was also sold and is now a luxury hotel on the back corner of what was an
> entire city block of GTS. The front on 9th became the high rise condos with
> commercial stores and the 'new' front 'door' of the seminary is the
> rehabbed former garbage truck entrance, 2/3rds down 21st. the only sign is
> flat on the building so you have to be walking/driving by and actually see
> it to realize the seminary is there.  Back when I first started displaying
> there in 2002, there was a sandwich board out on 9th ave inviting ANYONE to
> come into the close and to come to Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer that
> stayed there until they ripped that 1970s front off the block and began
> construction.
>
> GTS was not only in a financial bind of the usual sort that educational
> institutions find themselves, they also had extremely high costs associated
> with renovations (much  needed)  to their buildings that had to be done in
> accordance with state laws due to their historical designation.... those
> expenses were what finally broke them.
>
> L
>
> website: www.ichthysdesigns.com
>
> When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have not
> a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave me."
> attributed to Erma Bombeck
>
> Thomas Merton writes, “People may spend their whole lives climbing the
> ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is
> leaning against the wrong wall.”
>
> "What you seek is seeking you." - Rumi
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Jim Guthrie" <jguthrie at pipeline.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 9:13 AM
> To: <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
> Subject: Re: [Magdalen] Pray for GTS today
>
>  From: Heather Angus
>>
>>  Yes, the "back story" is surely as juicy as the "front story" we've been
>>> reading at Episcopal Cafe and other places. Let us in on it, Jim G.
>>>
>>
>> The Back Story involves lots of things -- mainly Finances. Check out the
>> flack regarding allowing part of the GTS property to be developed
>> commercially as a way of raising the income level,O! how it was going to
>> destroy the seminary. You might look at the former positions of some of the
>> faculty and their departures from those positions as well.
>>
>> Those should keep you busy, for starters.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Jim
>>
>>