Friday, June 7, 2013

I Had A Call Yesterday

from the local controlled-circulation weekly, the Los Feliz Ledger, wanting my views on the St Mary of the Angels controversy. The Ledger hasn't been friendly to the majority parishioners or Fr Kelley, so I'm not at all sure how much good it did for me to talk with the guy -- all I could do was give an honest assessment (the legal process is ongoing but not particularly hopeful; the parish has been seized by a tiny splinter denomination with only a few other California parishes, all small).

I also pointed out that I was speaking only for myself, and that my wife and I had begun attending the parish only on the basis that it was planning to enter the Catholic Church. Once that possibility receded, we became Catholic via another route and are no longer members there, although we continue to support Fr Kelley and the majority parishioners. The reporter then brought up the local Catholic parish, Our Mother of Good Counsel. "I had a story about them just a week ago," he said. "It was about how they participated in Get On The Bus."

"Exactly," I said. "That's a real church with a real program. It couldn't be more different from all these other little bodies." This goes to the first big lesson I've learned from my two-plus years involvement with St Mary of the Angels: "continuing Anglicanism", "Anglican realignment", whatever else you choose to call it, it's poor stewardship. All the money goes into lawsuits; all the energy is drained in fights.

A real denomination with adult supervision is a different matter entirely.