For now, I'm going to back off and look at this from the perspective of the Patrimony of the Primate and try to fill in some gaps with my surmise. For starters, I'm simply not aware of any definitive list of which parishes were actually in the Patrimony. I e-mailed Bishop Moyer several weeks ago simply asking him if he could provide such a list and of that list which parishes, to his knowledge, went into the Ordinariate and which stayed out. Again, I think this request was noncontroversial, but the good bishop has made no reply (notwithstanding his January 2011 sermon on the Church as battleground).
On the other hand, come to think of it, a simple list of which parishes were in the Patrimony of the Primate and what became of them must in fact be so inflammatory that nobody wants to touch it! Versions of that problem do in fact appear in the Gospels, don't they? The story of the blind man in John 9 came up in RCIA just last night. No wonder I keep getting e-mails from people who say "I know what happened here, and I read your blog, but I don't want anyone to know it, so don't tell anyone about this!" Some of you folks need some prayerful reflection. Oh, well, onward.
First, I'm going to assume St Aidan's was in fact in the Patrimony, taking as my authority this newsletter, which I cited yesterday as well -- I'm simply not aware of any other source. Again, if Bishop Moyer or anyone else can clarify this, I'd appreciate it. So now we have a post on The Anglo Catholic from Fr Chori Seraiah regarding his appointment as Rector there:
I have recently accepted the position of Rector at St. Aidan's Church (ACA) in Des Moines, Iowa (yes, they have already voted to join the Ordinariate in case any one was wondering), and we would like to ask for everyone's prayers.The post is dated November 23, 2010, which would put Fr Seraiah's appointment at roughly the time the Patrimony was set up, specifically to protect parishes from the adverse actions of Bishops Williams and Strawn. The best I can say here too, by the way, is that Fr Taylor left as Rector of St Aidan's at some time prior to Fr Seraiah's appointment -- whether there was a connection with a vote to join the Ordinariate is an interesting question. So we've got to assume something pretty simple, which is such a dynamite question nobody's going to answer it!
Assuming they were in the Patrimony, then from the public record, they were there until January 1, 2012, when the ACA House of Bishops resolved the following:
Almost two years ago, in anticipation of the erection of the American Ordinariate, the House of Bishops of The Anglican Church in America authorized the creation of an entity styled the Patrimony of the Primate. This entity was designed to be a temporary structure, something of a “holding tank,” for those parishes, clergy and people who desired entry into the Ordinariate. It was agreed that the Patrimony of the Primate would cease to exist once the Ordinariate was established. Given that the American Ordinariate was erected on January 1, 2012, the term of the Patrimony of the Primae has thus lapsed. Those who were formerly part of the Patrimony of the Primate must now make a decision regarding their future jurisdiction. Anyone, whether clergy or laity, who may now wish to return to the Anglican Church in America, should do so by contacting the diocesan bishop in their area. . . . Now that the circumstances regarding the Ordinariate have been clarified, we welcome those who wish to return to the ACA and encourage them to communicate directly with their ecclesiastical authority. The process of return is designed to be as simple as it is pastoral. But, in any case, the Patrimony of the Primate has, with the erection of the Ordinariate, ceased its operations within the United States as of January 1, 2012.So the expressed policy of the ACA was that the Patrimony expired -- OK, that wasn't necessarily in the original plan, but we'll grant them that -- and once it expired, the parishes that were in it (a dynamite question nobody will answer!) had to "make a decision regarding their future jurisdiction". My assumption is that by July 2012, the 25 or so members in good standing of St Aidan's got as far as voting that they didn't want the Ordinariate after all, but couldn't quite make it to deciding if they'd go back to the ACA -- so I would guess that if St Aidan's returns my message, they'll say something like "yes, regarding your question, we haven't reaffiliated with the ACA, and as of right now, we're independent." But I'm wondering if they're willing to do even that. By their fruits. . .Faithfully,
+Brian R. Marsh
Presiding Bishop
Now we come back to St Mary of the Angels. As we see here, the expressed policy of the ACA as of January 2012 was that once the Patrimony expired, the parishes that were in it did not automatically return to the ACA. They had to make a specific communication to their ACA area bishop. St Mary's, which was in the Patrimony, never made, and never intended to make, any such communication, and certainly never did between January 1, 2012, and April 2, 2012, when Bishop Strawn seized control. In fact, on January 22, the parish voted a second time, by over 80%, to join the Ordinariate.
Subsequent to the April 2 takeover, however, Strawn asserted that with the dissolution of the Patrimony, the parishes that had been in it automatically reverted to their area diocese. This was the basis on which he inhibited Fr Kelley, appointed "Dr" Morello as priest-in-charge, and replaced members of the vestry. This was contrary to the clear policy statement of the House of Bishops. Not only that, it appears that St Aidan's Des Moines hasn't yet been officially returned to the ACA -- at least, that's my interpretation of events. Indeed, other parishes that had been in the Patrimony, like Holy Nativity, Payson, AZ, were allowed to go into the Ordinariate without any attempted clawback from the ACA.
The reason, of course, is money. There wasn't any money to be had from St Aidan's in its prefab mock-tudor building with the IKEA-style reredos. There's money to be had at St Mary of the Angels. To me, this is one more sign of the kind of folks we're dealing with in Strawn, Morello, and Taylor.
UPDATE: There's a reply to my question on Fr Chadwick's blog. Someone named Michael Frost says,
- I have talked to the (retired) Metropolitan about the ACA & DMV web sites. St Aidan’s is aware, but it apparently has nothing to do with St. Aidan’s. (I wonder if the ACA-DMV are a bit…slow with technology? Anyone know their tech person? )This resolves one question about St Aidan's, but it leaves open the question I asked just above: St Aidan's apparently did contact Bishop Strawn and ask to be readmitted to the ACA. Fine. But if St Mary's never did this, why does Bishop Strawn give a different story and say St Mary's somehow automatically reverted back to the ACA? The ACA-DOW/DMV under Strawn put St Mary of the Angels right back onto its list of parishes very quickly after someone pointed it out, so contra Mr Frost, they're pretty quick with the tech stuff when it suits them. Again, I think it comes back to money. They'll deal with St Aidan's when they get around to it.- After the vote, St. Aidan’s did get in official contact with the ACA-DMV. It appears, based on what they’ve told parishioners, that St. Aidan’s is “back into the ACA” and DMV. (When I asked about an ACA/DMV episcopal visit, I was told there likely will be one in 2013, as would be done in accordance with that process and their parishes. I don’t believe there was one in 2012 and not sure about 2011.)
