One question the Armchair Detective raises won't go away: why aren't the ACA and the parish dissidents remotely interested in a negotiated settlement? The parish they have charge of is run in favor of a very small group of elderly people. There's been little activity on the official site after the initial fanfare this past summer of bringing in a bishop-pastor -- the parish calendar was updated for only a few weeks after that, and the most recent entry is for October 8, the feast of St Bridget of Sweden. Is Williams too busy with pastoral duties to update it? Fat chance. I certainly see no evidence of a revitalized parish moving forward under new leadership.
There's no evidence that much of a parish is actually operating there. The organization chart is strange: the "Pastor' (whose MFA degree qualifies him to teach basket weaving at a community college, not to serve as ordained clergy) is also a "Bishop", but since the web site designates an absentee "Rector" as well, it appears that the pastor-bishop isn't really in charge. What's going on?
It's hard to avoid wondering if the purpose behind the group now squatting on the premises isn't to run a Christian parish -- it may be to act as a shell to hold on to the property until it can be disposed of to the profit of other parties. The Armchair Detective notes that Crosby Doe, a real estate broker who specializes in historic properties, was brought onto the unelected vestry following the parish seizure. Doe had not been an active member of the parish for years prior to the seizure and was not qualified to stand for election under the parish bylaws, had any real election been held. What is Doe's function?
Is the Lancaster-Anastasia argument that the courts can't get involved in a religious dispute (which the courts have now rejected) essentially a way to get a pass for other irregularities? Without the putative First Amendment cover for the ACA and the squatter-vestry, what else might come to light?
My wife and I are very fond of true crime shows on TV. We can't help noting that people who cover up crimes and conspiracies, from what we see on such shows and from books like John Dean's The Nixon Defense, just keep on covering up and stonewalling until they've run out all possible options. Negotiation isn't an option for them, we have to surmise. Much as I want to have the most charitable possible interpretation of the squatters' motives, I just can't shake The Armchair Detective's suspicions.
