[Magdalen] Need to blow off steam

[Jim Guthrie]

From: Marion Thompson

>Omigosh, that's quite  a story.  Generally speaking, you couldn't do that in 
>this diocese, because, barring a couple of exceptions,  all churches belong to 
>the diocese when it comes down to it and so do their holdings  They can't just 
>sell stuff independently and pocket the money.  The diocese is watching!

Most of this happened before the Denis Canon, and even today, the former warden 
has the key to the safe deposit box where the church's deed is kept -- and she 
won’t release it.

I don’t know for sure, but the same rector who demanded the Rectory as a 
retirement gift also demanded a compensation package that approached the 
cardinal parishes in Manhattan where nowadays, high six-figure (and in some 
cases seven-figure) compensation is paid.

OTOH, we more recently had a PIC who decided that rather than live in the 
housing provided (a very nice apartment with a balcony overlooking NY Harbor) 
decided to buy his own condo AND demanded that the parish pay his mortgage 
(about $1500/month more than the housing provided) claiming we were obligated to 
pay whatever he chose. That was another battle royale, where the old-timers and 
I were on the same side. We received no help from the diocese on that when we 
asked, either. I worked out a compromise where we would pay what we were 
current;y paying, which would include the part of the mortgage payment 
consisting of the non-tax exempt portion of his monthly nut, since he could 
deduct taxes and interest. It was a good deal -- but he was still furious but 
accepted it in the end, because to demand otherwise on a deal where he would be 
clearly ahead (from our POV), he would have had to admit he hadn’t bothered to 
file an income tax return in five years.

We found out THAT aspect some time later; after I left the vestry, they fired 
him at the next contract renewal when he demanded to be appointed Rector and the 
vestry voted to imply fire him  (you can do that with a PIC).

So some time after the firing, he demanded that the Bishop enforce a sweetheart 
deal (common for Rectors who are dismissed but not for PICs. They finally asked 
to see his tax returns, and that was that -- the parish got off relatively easy.

Meanwhile, I got drawn back in at the Dioceses' request to help sort everything 
out, much to my irritation. Like Michael Corleone said, "Every time I think I'm 
out, they keep pulling me back!"

Sometimes I find myself jealous of the rest of you, mostly dealing with normal 
parish stuff rather than high drama.

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie




I'm not sure of the status of non-church property in TEC, but they certainly 
didn’t want to hear about anything that would disturb the club.

Cheers,
Jim