[Magdalen] prayers for my former parish

[Grace Cangialosi]

Jay, I don't know the policy in TN, but I can't imagine that the bishop would permit this. Interim positions here have to have the approval of the bishop; they don't just happen because someone "offers their services."

On March 2, 2015, at 1:53 PM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:

I have just learned via a Facebook post that a former rector of the parish
I belonged to in Tennessee for many years has offered to serve as interim
for a year. Now this may be seen by some as a gracious offer, but IMNSHO it
is extremely self-serving. The place is currently apparently in a huge mess
both financially and spiritually following the departure of the previous
rector, and AFAIK has a priest-in-charge appointed by the bishop rather
than an interim. (I'm not totally up on church politics, but this is what I
gleaned on my last visit there on the occasion of my late ex's memorial.)
The PIC is a very nice guy. Also some of my old friends, who were seriously
wounded by the previous rector now offering his services but soldiered
faithfully on, are currently on the vestry.

I don't know what the protocol for such a thing is, but I think it is a
Very Bad Idea. The guy IMNSHO has a serious Napoleon complex (yes, he is a
short little dude and he *really* likes to throw his weight around) and I
honestly believe he sees himself as riding in on a white horse to "save"
the place. I know there is a certain faction within the parish that would
just LOVE to see him back (he left to become headmaster of an Episcopal
school in NC) but I also know that there are others who might very well
leave, and I strongly suspect that it would keep my daughter and her family
from returning, or that they will be among those leaving. I am devoutly
hoping that God, the bishop, and the vestry will say no. In any case,
prayers are requested for All Saints,' Morristown, TN.