[Magdalen] Please pray for Ascension, Chicago

[Scott Knitter]

On Fri, Jan 16, 2015 at 8:16 PM, Jim Guthrie <jguthrie at pipeline.com> wrote:
> And that's causing hurt and anger? Sounds more like a case of
> "We've-never-done-it-that-way-itis.

Maybe some of that, but I think mainly the anger is at the release of
the beloved long-time organist and choirmaster. The organ is even
named after the organist; it's the David Schrader Organ. Even though
the house-cleaning may be standard with a new rector (he waited almost
a year to do it), it still comes off as a cold and abrupt end to the
many years of excellent service.

But the goals of better ministry to the actual neighborhood (which is
quite interesting and challenging because it's ministry to some very
affluent and very poor folks with not a lot of middle ground) and
attracting more young parishioners are ones that figured strongly in
our parish surveys and were emphasized by the search committee, so
it's not the goals but the sudden decision...some are angry because
they're shocked by this and confused. I've gotten over my initial
anger, as it was based mainly on the immediate release of the
full-time parish administrator. He's the one who loses the most
(although he does get a severance package) and is very upset by this.
The organist has a full-time faculty job (so he's not going
unemployed), and the choirmaster's job was Sunday-morning only, with
summers off.

-- 
Scott R. Knitter
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA