Anglican Watch has extensively covered the meltdown at Tenth Presbyterian (PCA) in Philadelphia, which started several years ago when he church obtained a court injunction prohibiting church member and whistleblower Phil Snyder from approaching the church. Today, we’re pleased to report that Phil was able to attend the recent Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) annual meeting in Harrisburg, where he displayed evidence of Tenth Presbyterian’s corruption for all the world to see.
By way of background, Tenth Presbyterian previously obtained an injunction prohibiting Phil from protesting outside the church based on false and perjurious courtroom testimony by Senior Minister Liam Goligher, Susan Elzey, George McFarland, and other church members.
That tactic — claiming the whistleblower is threatening people, harassing them, or is a “domestic terrorist” — and then trying to bar them from the property. is a hallmark of toxic, corrupt churches. These toxic dumps include St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, St. Paul’s Dayton, Covenant Nashville (PCA), Tenth Pres, and others.
Ironically, this tactic of de facto excommunication invariably backfires on the churches that try it. Specifically, church abuse bloggers get wind of it, an uproar ensues, the pews empty out, the money dries up, and the church goes from bad to worse. Much worse.
And being the toxic dumps these places are, populated by fake Christians, these places invariably respond via a two-pronged strategy, claiming:
- They’re being harassed, which just goes to show that they were right with their claims of domestic terrorism.
- The person they ran off is a “disgruntled former parishioner,” as if that somehow explains everything and makes their behavior okay (not to mention sidestepping the fact that the person damned well should be “disgruntled.”)
That said, one of the things none of these so-called churches will do is to act like Christians and repent. Nor will they rescind their de facto excommunications, thus making it clear that they in no way consider lying, perjury, and other misconduct to be bad.
And that is the case even when, for example, someone like Susan Elzey appears to be gearing up to sue Tenth Presbyterian over its abusive treatment of her. Yes, Elzey is a victim of adult clergy sexual abuse, but she is also a perjurer and a bully, and she needs to be accountable for her own mistreatment of others.
The same goes for George McFarland and the rest of the apparatchiks at Tenth. Resigning from Session accomplishes nothing until these bad actors change their ways.
Similarly, we’ve repeatedly called on Covenant Presbyterian in Nashville to repent of its treatment of Austin Davis. And we’re now calling on St. Thomas Church and the Episcopal Diocese of New York to repent, after Bishop Heyd and his minions de facto excommunicated an adult victim of sexual assault who complained to the Diocese about these issues, calling him a “terrorist.”
Will Heyd apologize? Not bloody likely.
Instead, Heyd will make all sorts of excuses, further blame the victim, try to silence him, say he doesn’t want to further traumatize the people of St. Thomas’ — the whole usual bag-‘o-tricks. After all, it’s been seven months, and the only thing Heyd has done so far is to investigate the victim, despite the fact that others have come forward with allegations of abuse.
The outcome is a foregone conclusion. Just like Tenth Presbyterian is fast emptying out and facing financial issues, St. Thomas and the Episcopal Diocese of New York are going to take a big hit.
Moreover, because Bishop Heyd, being the jackrabbit that he is, sent an email to every church in the Diocese attempting to bar the victim of sexual assault from attending church and calling him a terrorist — and including his picture, which he took without authorization from the victim’s Facebook page — everyone and their twin brother now gets to see what +Heyd and the Diocese are really made of.
And let’s not forget: The Diocese of New York brushed off the victim’s complaints of sexual assault and retaliation. Even now, the Diocese continues to gun for him.
Something about “by their fruits you shall know them.”
In the meantime, as illustrated by Phil’s photos, no one should operate under any illusions. Those who use their authority in the church to oppress or exclude others will continue to be held accountable. And if that means that these fake churches wind up closing, so be it.
No loss there.
Finally, we reiterate our call for all those involved in these debacles to resign. That includes Bishops Heyd and Shin, Diocese of New York intake officer Alison Quin, and chancellors the Rev. Patrick S. Cheng and Joseph Harbeson.
It’s time to clean house at Tenth Presbyterian, in the PCA, in the Episcopal Church, and elsewhere.
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