Thursday, January 31, 2013

As A Matter Of Fact, I'm Mildly Interested,

although I would stress it's only mildly, in the actual number of members in good standing (as defined in either the 2008 or 2011 bylaws) still remaining at St Mary of the Angels. There were 64 members in good standing as of the February 2012 annual meeting. The angry core of dissidents numbered about 8 to 12 as of mid-2012. A large but undetermined number of members in good standing was turned off by the events of late 2011 and early 2012 and had left by the time the ACA seized the parish in April. At least nine faithful parishioners were then excommunicated between April and December 2012. Under the existing bylaws, if any who then remained on the rolls had not received communion during the Christmas season 2012, they would be dropped from the rolls. I can't see that this leaves a whole lot of people.

Under the existing bylaws, any new people who came in after April 2012 would still not have qualified as members in good standing by a February 2013 annual meeting. My guess is that if anyone applied the existing bylaws and were strict about members in good standing, the parish wouldn't even qualify as a full parish under the ACA canons -- with fewer than 20, it would be a mission. On the other hand, if there were 64 members in good standing a year ago, it would be interesting to see the list the parish now has of those it still considers members -- and based on that, the question would be whether the number actually in the February 3, 2013 annual meeting constitutes a quorum.

These issues are moot, because anyone who raises them in the actual meeting will almost certainly be ejected by the members of the angry core, who've already physically ejected their fellow parishioners from the premises. By the same token, Robert's Rules will be interpreted only insofar as they support the angry core clique. It'll be an exercise in futility and an unnecessary dose of stress for anyone who thinks he or she has the time to waste going to that meeting -- and I'm sure they'll either physically remove anyone they feel is not with the program, or call LAPD to do the same. "Canon" Rivers will likely pretend it's not happening.

Still, if anyone has information on how many members in good standing remain at the parish, I'd be interested to hear it, and I'll publish it here.