Church Nightmares

Lately my wife and I have taken to watching "Kitchen Nightmares", starring chef Gordon Ramsey (great name, by the way). It's really interesting and funny. He goes to these dysfunctional, failing restaurants, where everyone on the staff is fighting, and has lost their passion to cook decent food, and then he analyzes the whole situation, and provides them solutions on how to move forward and have a successful restaurant. There are clips of the show on "You Tube" which give you an idea of what it's like. Unfortunately since chef Gordon has something of a "potty mouth" I cannot link to one of the clips here, but if anyone if interested in looking at a clip I suppose he could find one on You Tube.

Anyway, as we were watching it the other day I thought about how fascinating it would be to have a show like this about continuing Anglican parishes (or dioceses, or provinces). I can see it now: some really successful godly, but tell-it-like-is priest, who has had years of great ministry and done lots of phenomenal work goes into some struggling, dysfunctional parish that's run by a grouchy old, misanthropic, micromanaging rector, and rakes him, and everyone else in the place, over the coals.... explaining, between all of the cursing, why no one wants to come to the church. It could be a really riveting show, but somehow I don't think TBN, EWTN, or any of the other religious broadcasting networks would carry it!

One Month

It has almost been one month since we've moved to Blacksburg. Already this city and the church has become home to us. As I mentioned earlier (I think), I am the first full time priest the parish has had in almost 10 years, so there is tons of work to do. During this first month I have gotten a lot done here, and in the next month I hope to do more. The goal, however, is to develop lay leaders to expand the work and ministries of the parish. I would also like to get more sacerdotal help as well at some point. The reason I want to do this is that work of church cannot expand with one person doing it. Leaders have to develop other leaders.

We live in the church - in the parish hall, actually (pictured above). It is called "Rutherfoord Hall", named for an ACC bishop who was instrumental in helping start the parish and also an accomplished fine artist. It is not a classic parish hall, with one large room, and several smaller ones. Instead it consists of a bunch of small rooms. When this was St. Mary's Catholic Church, the hall was where the clergy (up to three) and the housekeeper lived. So there are three small rooms with their own bathrooms and showers; an office; a parlor; and the apartment where we live (where the housekeeper once lived) - which consists of a bedroom and bath, a kitchen, a living room, and a sun room (one of Valerie's offices - she has another where she works at VA Tech). The building is divided in half by a long hallway, so it is rather dark. There is no a/c in the building, and the windows are these large, metal casement windows. It has hardwood floors, but they have been covered up by carpeting except in a few places. As an apartment and offices, it is a fine hall, but as a "dinner/gathering hall" it is not functional. There is no place where everyone in the parish can eat together for dinners, and such. We need, down the road, to knock down some walls, or add a level to the hall if we hope to grow. We also need to dramatically improve the lighting. A comprehensive parish vision and strategic plan that I hope we can develop will help us in deciding what improvements to the existing facility need to be made and when.

Some may wonder what it is like to live in the church. Well, I love it! It's small, but I like the concept of always "being there" and "being available". Interestingly, the church has done a complete 180 with me: previously they had a priest coming in once or twice a week, so the place was always closed. Now, the priest is always here, so it is always open. I can walk down the hall to my office whenever I want, so no worries about "remembering to bring something home from work". The hall connects to the sacristy and church, so, of course, I can go in and pray whenever I want. There are also no worries about getting to church late, or having to get up at the crack of dawn to drive to church for an 8:00 mass. No one really bothers us by coming by all the time, but honestly we are the type of people who love it when folks just drop by (some people are not), so it wouldn't bother me if people came by just to hang out. In fact, I hope to encourage that in order to build community.

Since we live here I am able to get to know everyone in the neighborhood (residents and students). I see them walking around, and I always stop to chat with them. It is a way to build bridges and relationships for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have recently begun going to the neighborhood association meetings, which also helps me get to know people. I want to make sure the parish and her interests are represented in this neighborhood. Also, when the church expands and grows, I want the people in the neighborhood to be on our side.

The church has been without a full time priest for so long that it has not had an "advocate" when it's needed one. So for example, a sign of ours on Main Street was torn down a few years back, and it was never replaced. And also, the city changed our parking signs, and no one ever did anything about it. And on, and on. But now that I am the "father" of the parish, and live here, all of that is going to change. I will fight for this church and these people, and for the faith once delivered to the saints.

(Note: The parish has had dedicated laity over the years, including one man who was very devoted to the parish and did a lot for them, so I do not want to downplay their contributions and leadership. The commuting vicars also were as dedicated as they could be considering the circumstances, so neither do I want to downplay their important contributions.)

Being the "father" of the parish is my central metaphor or slogan, or what have you. This parish is my family, and God has placed me here to be their spiritual father. Thus, as I would fight for my own family, and care for them, so I will do that for St. Francis. That is how every priest needs to view his ministry, I guess. It really transforms the reason and way you do your work. Many parishes, just like natural families, suffer from "absentee fathers"... men who aren't around, or just aren't engaged, or are merely collecting a pay check. Even in some of our continuing parishes!

Well, have to run and shower and pray. Today is my day off, and as usual all I am thinking about is church, church, church! I promise I will post pictures soon.

Clarification on the APA's Diocese of the West

Dear friends,

The area dean here in Virginia asked if I would post this on my blog.

JGA+

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A Letter to All Saints & the Deanery of Virginia
The Very Reverend Glenn M. Spencer


You may have heard or read about the events that have occurred over the past several days within the Anglican Province of America’s Diocese of the West [DOW]. On September 4, 2008, Bishop Richard Boyce, long-time Diocesan Bishop of the DOW, announced to Bishop Grundorf his intent to leave the APA effective immediately, and to merge his entire diocese into the Reformed Episcopal Church [REC], subject to the REC’s approval.

This action has been publicized on-line and has generated much discussion, not all of it fruitful or accurately presented. Based on the articles available on-line, one might conclude that the APA is splitting, or at least facing a significant crisis. I can tell you without hesitation that this is not the case. However, I would like to address these legitimate concerns, and to provide a more accurate explanation as to what is happening, why I believe it is happening, and where we at All Saints Anglican Church and within the APA’s Deanery of Virginia stand.

What Has Happened Over the Past Several Days. By way of background, the APA is a canonical jurisdiction that consists of three dioceses: The Diocese of the Eastern United States [DEUS], the Diocese of Mid-America, and the Diocese of the West [DOW]. We in Virginia are a part of DEUS, and our Diocesan Bishop is Bishop Grundorf. In addition to his role as our Diocesan Bishop, Bishop Grundorf also serves as the Presiding Bishop of the APA.

On September 4, 2008, Bishop Boyce of DOW wrote a letter to Bishop Grundorf. Bishop Boyce stated that he intended immediately to leave the APA and to transfer not just himself individually, but his entire diocese, consisting of maybe twenty parishes, into the REC. Bishop Grundorf correctly responded to this letter by informing Bishop Boyce that an orderly and canonical procedure exists for any such transfer, and that Bishop Boyce had not followed that procedure. Based on the extraordinary circumstances with which he was faced, Bishop Grundorf, as provided by our canons and as shepherd of our church, immediately relieved Bishop Boyce of his position as Diocesan Bishop and appointed an interim administrator for the DOW. Further, he explained the mechanism whereby individual parishes and priests within the DOW, if they wished, could transfer into the REC. He reaffirmed that all DOW priests, clergy, and laity remain in good standing with the APA and have its full support.

While Bishop Grundorf is disappointed with Bishop Boyce’s decision, he has not forbidden a transfer for those desiring it (contrary to what some on-line articles have suggested). Instead, he has insisted that proper procedure be followed for any parishes and priests of the DOW wishing to transfer to the REC. He has reiterated the canonical impermissibility of a bishop unilaterally removing his entire diocese from the APA’s jurisdiction. His goal is an orderly transition in a charitable manner that does not bring scandal on the church.

Bishop Grundorf is absolutely correct in his response. Dioceses cannot, as a body, leave the jurisdiction of the APA. There is simply no canonical mechanism whereby that may occur. Instead, the canons allow for individual parishes, and individual priests, to transfer to another jurisdiction based upon their individual requests for transfer, or “letters dimissory.” As the several articles on-line indicate, Bishop Boyce insists that canonically he retains the full right to move his diocese into another jurisdiction; he is simply incorrect in his reading of canon law. I would be happy to discuss this further with any one who wishes to discuss canon law in more detail.

Why Bishop Boyce has Taken This Action. While I cannot read into the heart of Bishop Boyce, I believe it is fair and appropriate for me to address why I believe he has attempted this maneuver. My impression is that two factors have contributed to his decision.

a. Common Cause Partnership. First, and perhaps most apparent, is Bishop Boyce’s stance, vis-à-vis Bishop Grundorf’s, on what our relationship should be with Common Cause Partnership [CCP]. As you may recall, in January 2008, Bishop Grundorf made the decision to adopt a “wait and see” approach to the APA’s possible affiliation with Common Cause Partnership. This decision was wise, pastoral, and correct. While we share many goals and beliefs with members of CCP, the majority of those jurisdictions who belong to CCP approve of women’s ordination and include women whom they believe to be validly ordained to the priesthood. The issue of women’s ordination goes to the heart of the priesthood and to the validity of the sacraments; it is a position with which we cannot in good faith align ourselves. This issue is still being sorted out within CCP, and Bishop Grundorf believes that the best approach is to let it become settled, and then make a final decision as to whether alliance with CCP is in his flock’s best interest. Further, while CCP currently is only an alliance of various Anglican jurisdictions, it has all appearances of the precursor to a jurisdiction. Many of its leaders have made clear their intent to make it one giant jurisdiction, the North American Anglican Province, under the oversight of the Global Anglican Fellowship Conference (GAFCON). Its members would thus lose their own identity, their individual canons and Constitution, and become a part of the jurisdiction of CCP. This is no small matter, particularly if that giant jurisdiction contains women “priests.” We all desire unity and a common cause with other Anglicans; the question is at what cost, and at what point do we slip into heterodoxy under the purported banner of “unity.”

Bishop Boyce, unlike Bishop Grundorf, has for years strongly supported alliance with CCP. Without question he believes that Bishop Grundorf made the wrong decision in adopting a wait-and-see approach. The REC, unlike the APA, is a member of the CCP. Therefore, one reason I believe that Bishop Boyce is attempting to merge into the REC is so that he can become a member of CCP.

b. Inability/Unwillingness to Comply with APA Canonical Requirements. At the most recent APA Synod, in July 2008, our national registrar, Fr. Bill Perkins, announced that he had never received from DOW the canonically-required credentials and documentations from the diocese’s priests, and from the bishop himself. Properly documented credentials are the prerequisite for a priest to minister within the APA; yet this diocese under Bishop Boyce’s leadership simply had never provided that information. At this past Synod, it was made clear to Bishop Boyce and to all clergymen in the APA, that no one will be permitted to continue as a clergyman-in-good-standing without presenting his required credentials and documentation to the registrar. Bishop Boyce’s inability or unwillingness to correct this disorder, as well as several other irregular practices within the DOW, may have been another impetus for his action last week.

Where We Now Stand. First, the DOW has not left the APA. No canonical method exists for a diocese to leave our jurisdiction; it simply cannot by law occur. Instead, two bishops (Diocesan Bishop Boyce and Bishop Mott) have left the APA, and likely at least some of the DOW parishes will follow. Others will remain within the APA/DOW; several parishes have notified Bishop Grundorf that they have no intention of leaving the APA or the DOW and feel that they were left out of Bishop Boyce’s decision-making process. For those that do depart, where they end up (the REC or another jurisdiction) remains to be seen, as the REC has not yet addressed Bishop Boyce’s request. Only time will tell how this issue settles. Bishop Grundorf intends to give parishes adequate time to determine where they stand, then to call an extraordinary Synod to reorganize and elect the appropriate officers.

Second, Bishop Boyce’s unfortunate action, while disrupting to some extent the peace of the church, has no palpable effect on All Saints or on the deanery of Virginia. We remain, as do all member of DEUS and the great majority of parishes within the APA, committed to our Presiding Bishop and to our church. We do not see this event as an emergency or as a crisis. It is, as I said, unfortunate; however, Bishop Boyce’s departure, and the departure of any individual parishes and priests who may wish to request transfer, may in the end be better for all concerned. We do not count our strength or our success by numbers, but by our feasting on the sacraments, commitment to the creeds, and faithfulness to the Prayer Book. There will be times of numerical growth, and there will be times when our numbers may dip. This is a natural part of life in the Church, and nothing to fear. Our jurisdiction is not splitting or fracturing. Some parishes from DOW will request to transfer. But others will remain. The APA by God’s grace is strong and solid; we are, and will be, fine.

Third, as many of you know, we are in communion with the REC. I do not know whether that will change, though I doubt that it will. Quite frankly, the REC has yet to comment or take action upon Bishop Boyce’s request to join them. It is probable that they had no notice of his action ahead of time and, as several of Bishop Boyce’s own parishes, were caught by surprise. Regardless, we remain in communion with the REC, and within a few days Bishop Grundorf will issue a joint statement with the REC concerning this matter. I will provide that to you when it is released.

Conclusion. While this matter has been presented on some websites as a crisis or a threat to the APA, it simply is not. It is unfortunate, but it will be resolved. I hope this letter has shed some light on these issues and has answered some of your questions. As always, I am available and would be happy to talk to any person or groups about this matter further. My new email address is frgmspencer@gmail.com.

Fr. Glenn Spencer
All Saints Anglican Church
Charlottesville, VA

Student Organization Showcase @ VA Tech

The other day we had the student organization showcase at Tech, so VTAU ("Anglicans United at VA Tech) was there in all her glory! To prepare for the event, people from the church baked and bought gobs of cookies and purchased several cases of bottled water. We got our big tri-fold sign out of storage and I updated it, replacing some bad verbiage with some better stuff. We printed up tons of Holy Cross tracts on various subjects, and printed a flashy new brochure about the parish. All in all it was a great event. We got to talk to lots of people about the Church, our student ministry, and the parish.

Every student group on campus was represented. They seemed to place most of the Christian groups in the same area. To our right was some Baptist group, to the left were Adventists and more Baptists. Then there was some group called Alpha Chi; Campus Crusade, InterVarsity, and more. The Episcopalians were there too, and I guess the Roman Catholics were somewhere, though I didn't see them.

Towards the end I got into discussion with a nice young man about baptism and the Church. He was newly baptized, and part of a group called the International Christian Church, or something like that. He asked why we baptize infants, and that lead to all sorts of other questions about basic fundamental theology, such as how we are to read and interpret the scriptures (with the Church), what sacraments are and do, why we have the liturgy, and so on. It was a good conversation, and hopefully it expanded his mind a bit. It helped me see that when discussing that doctrine, to explain myself better, it is probably best to first establish what baptism means and does, and then go on to discuss who then qualifies to be baptized and at what age. If we believe that it is a free gift of God's grace, and the means by which He grafts us into the Body of Christ, and unites with Christ in His death and resurrection, then it is much easier to see why we believe in "baptismal regeneration". Anyway, so I gave him a Holy Cross tract on the Church and sent him on his way after a bit.

But there was something more important going on while we were discussing baptism. What did I use to explain the teaching of the Church? I went to the BCP and explained the sacrament from there, using the rite itself and scriptures that are read during a baptism. When other questions came up about related doctrines we looked at the rite for confirmation. And we ended up looking at Psalter, the Order for Holy Communion, the Ordinal, etc. In short, we ended up doing a tour of Catholic theology through the BCP. That was all I needed! And that is what Anglicanism is about: lex orandi, lex credendi. You know, I have to feel sorry for "Anglicans" who are not wed to their Prayer Books. They can sit through a thousand High Masses and know absolutely nothing about the Catholic faith, all because they do not know the Prayer Book. If we know or Prayer Books we know the Bible and the Catholic faith. The reverse is also true. Anyway... I think VTAU is going to be doing an in depth study of the Book of Common Prayer this fall!

There were a few other interesting things too:

1) In our immediate area, even with two Baptist groups, we were the only one that had a King James Bible prominently displayed... in fact, I didn't even see any of the others with Bibles at all! I made sure to bring several BCPs and a Bible to the table, because that is what we are about.

2) These evangelical mega-"churches" refer to themselves as "inter-denominational" now... not "non-denominational".

3) These same groups have a new "game show evangelism" strategy. One was doing a thing where if you came to their meeting that night you had a chance to win an I-Pod. Another, run by a church in town, offers you $10 for visiting their church on Sunday and filling out a comment card! (I kid you not... I have a copy of the flyer.)

4) I noticed another disturbing trend with some people from these evangelical campus, inter/para/non-denominational groups: several folk that I spoke with questioned the doctrine of Original Sin! Yikes. What have we come to? See what happens when people stop reading the Bible and the Fathers and give away I-Pods and listen to U2 instead?

5) I had my picture taken with the Hokie Bird.... I'll post it soon.

Lots of literture that no one is reading...

So when I moved into my office at St. Francis I immediately began clearing out the twenty tons of junk that had collected over the years... old Almy catalogs, unused offering envelopes from 1990, tons of old bulletins, off-centered Christmas cards, and more. Tons of useless debris. It was awful. I ended up with three huge (lawn and leaf huge) trash bags being hauled out to the curb. The few things worth saving in terms of parish history and archives ended up fitting into one cabinet!

But amongst all of the garbage I found some treasures. I found a bunch of classic anglo-catholic tracts, Mandate magazines, Touchstone, and Christian Challenge magazines that could all be put to good use. They were obviously procured at one point with the intent on handing them out because they had many copies. But what were these fine materials doing? They were languishing on a shelf! All of this great educational and promotional material was just languishing on a dusty shelf in a dirty office with a bad, rusty lighting fixture! A lot of good that does. So tonight I got some inexpensive tract and magazine racks from Staples, and all of this stuff, freshly organized and dusted, will serve as the centerpiece to a new "information corner" in the parlor. The parish will grow if people knew something about it, and about classical Anglicanism in general!

When will the leaders of our churches and the parishes get this through their heads? People need information. We can't expect people to join us if they don't know anything about us and can't get information on who we are and what we believe! If you have information - use it. If you don't have any - get some! There wasn't even any literature in the parish I attended in seminary! Nothing. No information. And we wonder why we're so small.

And don't even get me started on what I found (and didn't find) in the "parish register" and "register of services". Gosh... for anyone out there who is mad at organized religion come to a continuing Anglican parish! It is sometimes the most DISorganized religion I have ever seen!

Maybe so many of our continuing Anglican parishes have been faltering because there has not been good lay and ordained leadership. There has been no one to set up a vision and plan for the future, and get the materials and items needed to make that happen. There have not been enough "leaders" who want to lead.

"Re-post" from August 2006

The Anglican Federation

Here is a link to the Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas which is an umbrella group to promote communication, fellowship, and cooperation among the various Anglican bodies in the states. I would encourage everyone to have look at this.

On another note, I was looking at 'members' section, and went to the AMiA's website, and it is very nice looking. Why do so many other Anglican jurisdictions have such bad looking websites? The best that I have seen so far are the AMiA's and APCK's (a big improvement over their last one). The APA's, REC's, ACC's, and ACA's are really bad and unprofessional looking. They reflect badly on our churches. The continuing churches might not be able to errect a bunch of stately new parish churches everywhere, but we could at least hire professional web designers to make a nice looking websites for the national church instead of all of this "mom and pop" stuff.
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Why re-post this? Because the APA's provincial site has actually gone from just "pretty bad" to "awful" since then. If you don't believe me just go to it and look at it. It looks like a liquor store window.

There seems to be some confusion about what constitutes a good website. There is the idea that if it has "lots of information on it" it is "good". Then there are those, usually professional designers, young/technology-savvy people, and others who realize that it is not just the amount and type of information that makes a site good, but how it is arranged for maximum use and benefit.

Let's look at an example of this. Say we took people from the first school of thought and asked them to open a modern, functional library or bookstore. What they would do is collect a massive amount of good books and throw them in a pile in the middle of a room in a large building. Then, they would immediately declare the library to be "good" because it has lots of "good books" in it... even though it is messy, sloppy, and ugly; and even though you couldn't actually find a book that you wanted to read.

People from the second school of thought would get all of the same books, and the same building, but have them arranged according to the Dewey Decimal System, some computers to look everything up,, have some chairs to sit in, and an information desk. It would look good, be well-organized, and you could find stuff you were looking for. You might even stay around and read some books that you didn't initially want to read!

There is the difference.

The moral to all of this? People do judge books by their covers, and when someone, especially a young person, comes to a site like this it communicates to him or her that the organization is run by hobbyists and moms & pops.

Isn't it awful how we always manage to give God second or third best... even in the realm of technology. Miserere Nobis!