I Feel Like One Of Those Detectives On Cable True Crime Shows,

but maybe that's why I called this blog Cold Case File, huh? Anyhow, I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about ed pacht's complaint that I hadn't asked anyone about all the differences, and then, because it was the middle of the night, I began thinking about what the differences between the ACA Diocese of the Northeast parishes listed in their canon and the ones on the web site really were, and it began to make me feel hinky, as the detectives say. When I woke up this morning, I realized I had enough time before mass to do some work. I've reorganized the list on the ACA-DONE web site to do what I did with the ACA Diocese of the West earlier, crossing out the parishes on the web site that aren't listed in the canon. But then I realized I had a bigger problem, which I half-understood overnight, that there are many parishes listed in the canon that aren't on the web site. Those I've put in bold in the list below. So here's a first cut at all the discrepancies.

Connecticut:
St. Matthias, Mystic

Maine:
Resurrection Mission, Camden
St. Francis' Mission, Deblois
St. Thomas, Ellsworth
St. Augustine of Canterbury, Old Orchard Beach
St. Paul's Church, Portland
Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Priory, Raymond
Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Waterville
St Mark, Cornish

Massachusetts:
St. Columba, Dudley
St. George, Easthampton
St Paul’s Parish, Brockton
Church of the Holy Spirit, Pepperell (APA / ACN)
St. Matthew, Boston

New Hampshire:
St. Luke, Amherst
Good Shepherd, Charlestown
All Saints, Concord
St Margaret of Scotland, Conway
Trinity - Pro-Cathedral, Rochester
Trinity Anglican Church, Lebanon
St. Elphege, Winchester

New Jersey:
St Augustine, Elizabeth

New York:
St. Joseph, Brooklyn
Holy Redeemer, Canandaigua
St. Mary the Virgin, Liverpool
St. Augustine, Elmhurst (Queens)
St. Elizabeth, Tuxedo
Holy Cross, Webster [Rochester]
Church of St. Nicholas, West Seneca
St. Lucy, West Winfield
Holy Innocents, Scarborough
St. Jude, The Bronx
St. Winifred, Hollis

Vermont:
St. David, Poultney
Christ Church Anglican, St. Johnsbury
All Saints, Danville
St. Andrew, Randolph Center

Rhode Island:
St. Matthias, Ashaway

By my count, there are 18 parishes listed on the ACA-DONE web site that aren't listed in the canon (those that are crossed out above). There are 12 that are listed in the canon but aren't listed on the web site (those in bold above). There are exactly six parishes that are listed on both the web site and the canon (not counting the APA/ACN church in Peperell, MA).

It's possible to imagine some reasons for a certain number of inconsistencies: some churches may have been on the web site but not in the canon because they were missions (i.e., they were too small, or didn't pledge to the diocese) and not parishes in good standing -- OK. But why the inclusion of so many parishes in the canon that aren't listed on the web site? One parish, the Church of the Holy Spirit, Pepperell, MA is listed on the web site as being part of the APA/ACN and is presumably there due to the ACA's intercommunion agreement with the APA. Does that explain other discrepancies? Who knows? Or is the diocese growing at tremendous speed, and the webmaster can't keep up? There are simply so many discrepancies that there can't be a simple explanation. UPDATE: A preliminary web search suggests that a number of the parishes shown in bold are either in other denominations, like the APA or ACC (possibly having left the ACA at some point), or have dropped off the map entirely, like St Matthias Ashaway or St Jude The Bronx. My impression is that the canon is completely out of date. On the other hand, All Saints Concord lists itself as ACA, has an elaborate web site, but doesn't appear on the ACA DONE list of parishes on its own web site.

On the other hand, there's the wonder of e-mail and the miracle of persistence. We'll see what falls out in the coming days and weeks!