[Magdalen] Mass e-mails, was Test

[Jay Weigel]

It sure all sounds familiar, at least the sequelae do, very reminiscent of
the stories my parents told. The precipitating event was quite different,
of course.

I have to say that I think your priest handled the precipitating
event rather poorly and a great deal of responsibility for the
resultant mess falls directly on him, but what's done is done and can't be
undone. I think you, Scott, are behaving admirably through the whole thing.
I know from experience how difficult it is to resist the temptation to let
oneself get embroiled in the games, but it's *so*not worth it in the end.

On Wednesday, April 8, 2015, Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com> wrote:

> One parishioner who left as soon as the organist and choirmaster were let
> go let it be known a $2M bequest was leaving with him. I care not and would
> rather not know such things,  but he apparently wanted us to know that to
> lose him as a member is worse than to lose someone else.  But he wouldn't
> be satisfied unless we called an old-time closeted rector with a particular
> personality, as though that were essential to a Catholic parish. It
> certainly ain't.
>
> What saddens me is that people with whom I was on friendly terms have
> started avoiding me because I'm not on the Save Ascension list. And I will
> not participate in coffee-hour gossip about it. I'm sick of the conspiracy
> theories, demonizing, lies about an "empty" church and choir loft (not
> remotely true), and brickbats thrown from afar by folks who haven't been at
> the church in years or ever but are sure they know what is behind the staff
> changes, a sinister plot worthy of a bestseller.
> On Apr 8, 2015 10:54 AM, "Jay Weigel" <jay.weigel at gmail.com <javascript:;>>
> wrote:
>
> > That reminds me a lot of what happened when a few people in my late
> > parents' church (ironically also named Ascension) took offense at the
> > electon of +Gene Robinson in NH and in a rump meeting of *part* of the
> > vestry, decided that none of those awful gay people were going to infest
> > their sacred environs and put out a mass e-mail to that effect. My
> parents
> > were furious, as was the clergy, but it did cause a split in the church
> and
> > they lost some big contributors. The parish remains, however, the largest
> > in the diocese.
> >
>