Title IV is the canonical framework for clergy discipline in the Episcopal Church. And while it’s constantly being tweaked and re-tweaked, there is a fundamental problem with Title IV. Simply put, the problem is that it does not fully appreciate the importance of disclosure and truth-telling, and leaves victims of clergy abuse open to retaliation. That is the… Read More »
The Episcopal Church, like most mainline denominations, is shedding members fast and furious, with experts predicting a dire future for the denomination. And while members wail and wring their hands — or clutch their pearls — they’re doing damned little about it. As a result, the Episcopal Church has reached a point where it needs to grow, or… Read More »
A recurring theme here at Anglican Watch is the issue of in-person worship or participation in the life of the church, including church schools and related activities. Recent information from the CDC and studies conducted in South Korea make clear that preventing COVID-19 transmission in these settings is problematic and almost certainly unsuccessful over time. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci,… Read More »
Working with congregations as a bishop’s staff member involved in congregational development, one of the persistent behaviors Mary MacGregor, (the canon for evangelism and congregational development in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.), has witnessed among vestry members is their reluctance to speak up about lingering concerns in the course of their meetings. While there are many reasons for… Read More »
As the pandemic soars to new heights and daily deaths in the US top 3,300, Episcopal dioceses across the country are rolling back regathering initiatives in an effort to reduce new infections. As a result, many churches will only offer online services for Christmas and Epiphany. Among the dioceses to do so are Virginia, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Western… Read More »
It’s hardly a first. In an article that has attracted relatively little notice, the rector of Trinity Episcopal in Menlo Park CA recently was fired after allegedly embezzling more than $200,000 over a period of five years. Details were uncovered via a months-long forensic audit, and total losses were more than double the amount church officials originally believed… Read More »
Thanks to the generous efforts of non-profit investigative media organization Pro Publica, data on more that 6,000 Catholic priests has now been added to our online database. A few reflections: A data import of this sort is, especially now in the early phases, of necessity clunky. The category field of the existing database therefore has been used to… Read More »