[Magdalen] prayers for my former parish

[Ginga Wilder]

Jay,
The bishop needs to know your friends' reservations.  Also, I feel sure the
bishop would ask questions about this man's previous tenure in the parish.

Ginga

On Mon, Mar 2, 2015 at 1:52 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.
>