Although the US Ordinariate was erected on January 1, 2012, it's fairly plain from events that an in-group of prospective clergy had been pre-arranging who would do what for years in advance, and most of those were Episcopal priests from the Diocese of Fort Worth. The Anglo-Catholic blog covered this story to the point that the resulting controversy forced a suspension of posts. But here's an example:
The Ordinary, the Vicar General, the Vicar of the Clergy, and the rector of the principal church (read: dean of the cathedral) are all 'Fort Worth men'. All of them. If this were the Personal Ordinariate of Fort Worth, there would be no problem with that. I doubt that any of these good and able men from Fort Worth have even paused to consider that some would find Msgr. Steenson's appointments problematical or objectionable rather than a cause for celebration.And a denial from the Ordinariate:
The head of the U.S. branch of the Anglican Ordinariate, Msg. Jeffrey Steenson, has denied accusations it has given preference to former Episcopal clergy in its ordination process. However, among its first class of priests, 16 of 19 are former Episcopal clergy, with only 3 receiving their formation and orders from the continuing church.I would say that my own experience in both the academic and corporate worlds leads me to think that there's nothing at all unusual about cliques of insiders pre-wiring new endeavors, and on the whole I find the allegations of favoritism credible, simply on the basis that human nature works this way. I'm less concerned that former ACA priests weren't well represented in early ordinations -- as we've seen, not all of them come from the elite seminaries that produce many Episcopal priests -- but I do find the overall careerism among some Ordinariate clergy a matter of concern. After all, The Episcopal Church that they left has long had a huge surplus of clergy, and with its increasing willingness to ordain and hire women, openly gay, and transgendered people, there were proportionally fewer career paths for straight male priests there. The Ordinariates, on the other hand, create new slots for straight males, even married ones, exclusively.
The then-Curate at St Mary of the Angels, Fr Andrew Bartus, came from the same Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, and in fact, based on the accounts of clergy familiar with the situation, accepted the call to St Mary of the Angels following his graduation from Nashotah House in mid-2010 on the basis that St Mary's would be heading for the upcoming Ordinariate, although no announcement of its formation had been made, and St Mary's had not made (and could not make) any actual move in that direction. Whatever Fr Bartus's most heartfelt motives may have been, it's also plain that his career prospects as a newly-minted straight male alumnus of theologically conservative Nashotah House would have been indifferent at best within The Episcopal Church.
In light of that, conflict between Bartus and his bishop, Daren Williams, was inevitable when soon after ordaining Bartus a deacon in the ACA, Williams announced his intention not to go into the Ordinariate and not to take his diocese in. Not only had Bartus come to the ACA expecting a path to the Ordinariate, but he was, according to some clergy observers, connected to the Diocese of Fort Worth clique that was even then at the center of things. Williams refused to ordain Bartus and a second pro-Ordinariate deacon priests, and he then inhibited Bartus for allegedly making too many favorable comments about the Ordinariate. Bartus was rescued from this situation only by Hepworth's creation of the Patrimony and the entry of St Mary's into it -- otherwise, his career in the priesthood would have come to an early close. And this was done with the approval and support of Fr Christopher Kelley, the Rector -- none of it would have happened without it.
In light of that, the statement on the Freedom for St Mary site by Ralph Clark, a former vestry member who was privy to the events of 2011, is remarkable for what it says about the conflicts between Bartus and Kelley:
It is important to note that we had an episcopal visit from our Bishop (David Moyer) in June of 2011 to help deal with a growing personality conflict between Fr. Bartus and Fr. Kelley and to address some of the concerns I mentioned above. It was after this visit that the move to remove Fr. Kelley began in earnest among a small part of the parish instigated by Fr. Bartus.Clark says later,
At the same time a rumor began to circulate (instigated by the Curate) that Fr. Kelley could not be received in the Ordinariate because of his theological stances and his marital situation and that he (Fr. Kelley) was trying to secretly derail our entry to the Ordinariate by telling people we could enter the Orthodox Church as an alternative to the Catholic. I was unclear about this rumor but I know that several of those who wanted to join the Ordinariate but remove Fr. Kelley took it to heart. These suspicions had been there when Fr. Kelley made a statement before our vote in May, that whatever the result, he would remain with St. Mary of the Angels. That and the fact that after the vote everything concerning the Ordinariate seemed to come to something of a halt.The vote to which Mr. Clark refers here took place in May 2011; since the Ordinariate was not erected until January 2012, it's difficult to see what else could have been done until that time. In addition, I attended numerous adult education, Bible study, and catechism classes throughout 2011, and at no time heard any theological stances from Fr Kelley that were at variance with mainstream Anglo-Catholic opinion or the Catechism of the Catholic Church. (In fact, I'm now attending catechism classes at a Catholic parish, and I've found that the preparation I received from Fr Kelley was fully consistent with them.) Nor did I ever hear an opinion from Fr Kelley that the Orthodox Church was an alternative to the Ordinariate. Nor did I hear any statement from Fr Kelley that could be construed as anything but fully supportive of the Ordinariate, irrespective of whether he could be ordained as a Catholic priest. His wife is divorced from a previous marriage and applied for a Catholic annulment; this is a lengthy process and had not been resolved during this period -- for Bartus to speculate on it was premature.
There is some opinion among St Mary's parishioners that Bartus felt that if he could disqualify Kelley for Catholic ordination, he would be placed by Msgr Steenson as Rector of St Mary's, especially considering his Diocese of Forth Worth connections, and this would have been one of the most prestigious positions in the Ordinariate -- the sort of plum other Diocese of Fort Worth clergy were also receiving. While there are many roots to the current complicated and unhappy situation, Bartus's career ambition can reasonably be considered as one piece of a very intricate puzzle. Certainly any back-channel communication between Bartus and influential Diocese of Fort Worth-related clergy would not have helped Kelley's prospects under those circumstances. What we do have is Clark's account of friction, instigated by Bartus, with Fr Kelley, as well as friction, instigated by Bartus, between Kelley and some parishioners who began to favor a pro-Ordinariate but anti-Kelley position.
Bartus left the parish following the ACA's reassertion of authority in April 2012, which in any case made further ambitions for him there impossible. He was ordained a Catholic priest in the presence of Msgr Steenson in July 2012 and currently serves an Ordinariate mission in Orange County, CA.
