Msgr Steenson dealt with this by wandering about in typical hands-off TEC fashion, intervening only on an as-needed basis and then only if he saw some possibility of success, or if he were given an ultimatum by higher-ups (I would put banishing the EF from OCSP communities in this category). This was apparently not good enough for those in charge, who hoped that Bp Lopes would run a tighter ship, but he has no experience in this kind of thing and while he has an articulate line on the theological significance of AC I am sure he is quite fed up with trying to herd his cats and front for them with dozens of different dioceses. The list of communities he hasn't got around to visiting in the last two years is quite lengthy. Perhaps he is praying that they will fold before he has to put in an appearance. OLW, Houston is the only parish I would describe as rock-solid and he seems to like spending most of his time there. Fund-raising also going well, relatively speaking, and that gets most of the administrative attention. I don't mean to suggest that he is anything but hard-working and conscientious, but conscientiousness is not a substitute for imagination and enthusiasm. I feel the latter is particularly lacking.As I become more familiar with diocesan Catholicism, I'm becoming more concerned that only a few OCSP communities have anything like the range of activities and devotions available to diocesan parishes. This is a real disservice to several thousand people. I think those charged with their pastoral care need to begin to face the fact that these communities are not going to grow, and they will never offer anything like this range of opportunities.
Beyond that, when groups-in-formation fold, although Bp Lopes or Fr Perkins may give them pro forma advice to seek out a diocesan parish, I question whether they've learned enough about the Catholic Chiurch to recognize this is an important step. The poor catechesis they receive from the marginal, poorly formed Protestant retread priests they have is going to come home to roost.
