[Magdalen] Please pray for Ascension, Chicago - annual mtg tomorrow

[Judy Fleener]

I am so sorry that Ascension is in such a difficult place.Judy

On Sat, Jan 24, 2015 at 3:42 PM, Joseph Cirou <romanos at mindspring.com>
wrote:

> Any hints on how  the affected musicians have taken these turns of events?
>
> Joe
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com>
> >Sent: Jan 24, 2015 3:33 PM
> >To: "Magdalen at herberthouse.org" <Magdalen at herberthouse.org>
> >Subject: [Magdalen] Please pray for Ascension, Chicago - annual mtg
> tomorrow
> >
> >We'll have our annual meeting tomorrow at 10 a.m. (which means we'll
> >only have about half an hour, really) to vote for vestry members and a
> >warden. But right now we've got a lot of angry parishioners as the
> >result of the rector's firing of the parish administrator and the
> >longtime organist and choirmaster. I've just read notes summarizing
> >various non-vestry-member parishioners' comments to the vestry from
> >last Wednesday evening's meeting. There are accusations of
> >misrepresentation/lying on the rector's part, a systematic reduction
> >of the Catholic nature of our liturgy and music, a corporate-style
> >layoff giving a cold and disrespectful ending to the long tenures of
> >our topnotch musicians, and more.
> >
> >A vestry member who is an attorney drafted a resolution (which I
> >gather did not survive a vote of the vestry; not sure if it will be
> >moved at the annual meeting) distancing the vestry from the rector's
> >actions based on his not having worked with the vestry to make these
> >decisions, and she quoted several passages from canon law that she
> >believes were violated.
> >
> >My position: I don't like the way these changes were done (a kick in
> >the head to those who have worked so well for so long) but I do
> >understand the need for a new rector to be able to make staff changes,
> >and he waited a year to do so. The parish administrator job in
> >particular needs to be done by a non-parishioner who can be held
> >accountable and let go if necessary. The parishioner who has been in
> >the job has, fortunately, done very well and with integrity, but he
> >should have figured his time in the job was limited as there was a new
> >rector.
> >
> >I also don't like the way our search and this layoff processes have
> >been gamed from the background by the bishop and his staff. I'm still
> >a bit gobsmacked at the blatant manipulation of the search committee
> >(which didn't work) in the form of a vestry/search committee "retreat"
> >that served as a bully pulpit to a captive audience for the interim
> >rector to make his pitch for the vestry to set aside the search
> >committee's recommendation and hire him. The first diocesan liaison to
> >the search committee botched her assignment to game us at the
> >beginning (by lying to us that there were very few applications so why
> >not consider hiring the interim...we saw through that and demanded and
> >got a different liaison).
> >
> >The politics behind all this are of course not surprising but are no
> >less a pile of crap for being standard operating procedure.
> >
> >So I get why changes would be made; the way they are being made is a
> >dog's breakfast; and I feel rather sick about all this right now. I
> >don't want to leave and don't expect to. But I feel a bit distant from
> >the rector right now and wonder if things will play out in a way I
> >feel I can defend and sign up for as a supporter.
> >
> >I don't look forward to the annual meeting at all, but of course I
> >need to be there to cast my votes on whatever comes up for a vote.
> >Lord, have mercy and guide us, heal us, and reunite us.
> >
> >--
> >Scott R. Knitter
> >Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
>
>
>
>


-- 
Judy Fleener, ObJN
Western Michigan