The Missed Opportunity -- VI

Let me get one of the bigger bees in my bonnet out of the way now. St Mary of the Angels Hollywood is an important parish. It's been important as a bellweather since the 1970s. Of the issues that observers were watching in the runup to the US Ordinariate, what would happen to St Mary's was one of the big ones. What's happened so far, in addition to how David Moyer and the Newman Fellowship were treated, has been one of the big indicators that have led observers to feel the Ordinariate has been a disappointment.

Hollywood is a sophisticated place, with capable, intelligent people, some of whom are Catholics, or want to be. If you try to play games with capable, intelligent people, you risk disaster, which is the big error the ACA made in trying to play games with the parish. St Mary of the Angels is not a Plumstead Episcopi, a place where Steenson and Hough can deposit some favored mediocrity. It is definitely not the place for them to try to park Andrew Bartus. I speak here only as an informed observer, but one who has a good sense of what will never play. Let's keep this in the background from here on out.

But why did Houston, figuratively speaking, stop answering the phone from St Mary's after January 2012? The answer was partly the letter (my wife calls it "the ka-ka letter", probably the best term for it), which as I understand it was about 40 pages of rambling, ungrammatical and misspelled allegations against Fr Kelley. No one connected with the elected vestry, and not Fr Kelley, has ever seen it, so I can only surmise its contents. Apparently the ka-ka letter was enough to stall the process of joining the Ordinariate for the parish.

My surmise is this: we already know the Bush group has difficulty with spelling, grammar, and other indications of ordinary adulthood. Until it was pointed out, they styled St Mary's an "Angelican" parish. Their calendar errors are legion. I assume the ka-ka letter included the allegations against Fr Kelley that were contained in the charges brought against him in the ACA's "court", as well as the allegations of "misconduct" made to the California unemployment board. We know that these allegations were impossible as described and counterfactual. LA Superior Court Judge Jones reviewed them and found them unsubstantiated. The California unemployment board reviewed them and said there was not "a shred" of evidence to support them.

Nevertheless, based on the explanation Msgr Stetson gave a parish meeting in January 2012, Louis Falk felt they were important enough to pass on to Cardinal Wuerl in late 2011, and Wuerl felt they were important enough to pass on to Steenson. I'm scratching my head. Fr Z's advice for those appealing to bishops is not to have s single exclamation point in one's correspondence. I would guess that, at minimum, the ka-ka letter had quite a few.

In the real world, where my wife dealt with things like sexual harassment complaints, adults have to conduct an investigation and determine the credibility of charges. The responsibility of the Ordinariate, if only the responsibility of a Christian to act justly, was to investigate these complaints, determine their credibility, and act accordingly. Those connected with the Bush group had been making similar complaints to David Moyer when he was ordinary to the parish. Moyer made at least two trips to Hollywood in 2011 to investigate them and appears to have come to the same conclusion that every other responsible party has come to since: they were at best too vague to act on, but also illogical and wildly counterfactual.

This was a pastoral issue. There was a hard core of nut-job troublemakers in the parish. My guess is that Steenson wanted a Plumstead Episcopi, not a pastoral problem, and he punted. The result was what we've seen. This project isn't going to succeed any better in 2015 or 2016 than it did in 2012 if all Steenson and Hough want from the parish is a Plumstead Episcopi.

The Missed Opportunity -- V

By now, I assume that someone from Houston, unable to restrain himself further, will burst out, "All right, Mr Bruce, you may have scored a point or two with your silly rant, and we'll take what you say under advisement. But you've clearly got a bee in your bonnet over something here. You're unhappy about the St Mary of the Angels situation, that's clear enough. But surely you understand that we can take no action until all the lawsuits are resolved. And maybe we didn't handle everything right in 2012, but we were all new to this then, and what's done is done. Anyway, every one of us has a full time job elsewhere in the Church. We aren't paid a penny for what we do in the Ordinariate. So what do you expect us to do now? Quit complaining and move on with your own Lenten observance."

My reaction to that hypothetical observation is twofold, pastoral responsibility and whether the Ordinariate can keep its word. It will take more than one post to address everything. Also, I'm not speaking for the parish, the elected vestry, or Fr Kelley, but only as an informed observer and a Catholic friend.

But let's start with basic pastoral responsibility, and this applies to every parishioner of the Ordinariate, current or potential, not just St Mary of the Angels. I wasn't aware that Msgr Steenson, Fr Hough, or anyone else from (figuratively) Houston had taken on the Ordinariate as a hobby. If they have, there's been a major misunderstanding, and I'll continue with the prayers and sacraments with real pastors at my local parish, wish the Houston guys luck with their hobby, and say good-bye. But if that's the case, Msgr Steenson may also wish to consider retirement if he's unable to exercise his responsibilities as current and potential members may expect him to.

The position -- which I've heard as recently as the day before yesterday -- that the Ordinariate can't do anything more until all the lawsuits are resolved strikes me, first, as a belated excuse for a situation that was badly bungled from the start. St Mary of the Angels was told in December 2011 that it would be received into the Ordinariate on the first Sunday in January 2012. The first lawsuit wasn't filed until mid-May 2012. The Ordinariate had over four months to resolve the situation -- the most generous explanation for how it used that time was to procrastinate and dither.

But it's starting to look like the lawsuits may actually be resolved in the foreseeable future. I can understand (partly) that the Ordinary was not designated until January 2012 (although it was known, probably by 2005, who he would be), so little planning could take place then. But there's no excuse for not planning now, and I'm not seeing it. One of my problems is that as I look to the rest of the Ordinariate, I'm not getting the impression that anything's changed since 2012.

The parish was told in December 2011 that it would enter the Ordinariate very early in 2012. The explanation was that a Catholic chaplain would serve as pastor until the parish's Anglican clergy could be ordained as Catholic priests. The ACA, by its own statement, had cut the parish loose as of January 1, 2012. Neither the Ordinariate nor the ACA kept its word, and here's the next issue. First the Ordinariate asked for a third (!) vote to enter. Done, it got the vote. But then it simply stopped answering the phone, figuratively speaking. The chaplain, presumably to be Msgr William Stetson, just never showed up to receive us or offer the sacraments.

In fact, the last responsible oversight the parish had was from David Moyer, who in mid-January was still keeping the wolf from the fold by shooing Stephen Strawn away from a meeting with the Bush group. The Ordinariate never stepped in to provide the equivalent protection the parish badly needed, and by April 2012, the ACA had gotten the message: the Ordinariate wasn't going to guard the flock that had been assured it had a shepherd. The wolf moved right in. That still makes me very anxious for my friends' safety.

So there's my first, very basic issue: does anyone from Houston understand what a pastor is? For now, you can replay the same excuses offered above. I'll have more to say tomorrow.

The Missed Opportunity -- IV

On Tuesday I pointed out that in the Ordinariate's own estimation, it has an evangelical mission. But as far as I can see, it's doing very little to carry it out -- it's built a chancery for its one paid employee to handle administrative tasks (minimal as those may be), and it's hard to see what else it's done.

But if Msgr Steenson were ever to take up his evangelical mission, what would he do? Whom would he address? What would he say? I think back to my days teaching rhetoric. The audience he should be spending time with is twofold, at least for a start: those actively seeking out the Ordinariate, which we've discussed, and those who might potentially be persuaded with a little work.

We would also define the second group a little more closely: those already in communities who may choose to come over in a group. That's the point of Anglicanorum coetibus. Of groups, these almost certainly won't be Episcopalians, since TEC will fight to keep parishes and property. Might conceivably happen, or a breakaway group from a TEC parish might want to come in, but still a longshot. Not a good place to spend time and effort right now.

So we're left with "continuing" parishes that might look favorably on the Ordinariate, but didn't come over in the first wave in 2012. What might Msgr Steenson say to them? Well, I think this would be an Aristotelian argument from circumstance, which "argues that what is to be done must be determined by the urgent and clear reality of the situation."

If I were Steenson, I would implicitly address parishes of the ACA, still the largest "continuing" denomination. I would politely suggest that the ACA is, or very soon will be, in crisis due to the consistent poor judgment of its leadership. (How to express this would have to be carefully considered, but there's the circumstance everyone has to address.) Individual parishes and clergy will have to make decisions on where they will go.

Here are the advantages the Ordinariate has to offer:

• Everyone is rightly concerned about a safe environment for worship.
• The Catholic Church has had to take the lead in recognizing problems and setting up policies to resolve them.
• "Continuers" need to be concerned that so many priests and bishops have not been to seminary, have left other denominations under a shadow, and have not had background checks.
• The process of entering the Ordinariate will assure groups that their priests are fully qualified and their backgrounds have been fully checked.
• The Catholic Church takes canon law seriously. It does not tolerate flagrant abuse of the sort that has led to problems in the ACA.
• The Ordinariate is a strong and reputable body.
• Clergy and parishes in the process of discerning what their next steps will be should seriously consider the Ordinariate among their options.
• Here's how. My people will get right on it and get back to you immediately.

If he's worried about poaching parishes, that's ridiculous. The ACA hasn't been especially scrupulous in the St Mary of the Angels situation. And the whole point of Anglicanorum coetibus is about poaching parishes, isn't it?

Naturally, the Ordinariate should also be preaching without words by setting an example of a thriving, growing, reponsive body that isn't corrupt, that makes itself available, easy to find, and easy to deal with, having procedures and policies that are public and consistently followed. So far, of course, this isn't what we're seeing. Steenson, frankly, needs to kick some butts before he could make this appeal credibly.

But Steenson and his people need to be be working to set up the conditions to credibly put this sort of address to the "continuers" into fora like Virtue Online.

Pre-Trial Conference February 25

Yesterday I attended the pre-trial conference in Department 86 of the Los Angeles Superior Court over the Bush group's appeal of the California unemployment board's ruling that Fr Kelley is entitled to unemployment compensation, since there was no evidence of misconduct on his part.

It was a quick conference. Neither side's attorney was present in court; Damon Anastasia called in via conference call. He moved for a continuance, and apparently the state's attorney had already agreed. The basis was that the trial of the other cases, scheduled for April 9 (what I picked up from the conversation), would determine who controls St Mary's, and if the outcome of the trial goes against the Bush group, the unemployment issue will be moot. The judge agreed. If necessary, a new pre-trial conference will be May 27.

Not much was going to be decided in this conference in any case. My biggest concern was that the state's attorney be aware of the other cases, and it's clear he is. My wife thinks the eagerness of Lancaster & Anastasia to punt, and the fact that Number Two was handling it, indicates that the case has fallen in priority as far as they're concerned -- "They've probably written it off," was how she put it.

So the next big event is April 9.

The Missed Opportunity -- III

Let's continue with the idea of making things easy for those who are trying to seek out the Ordinariate. As a result of my appeal the other day, I've received a number of e-mails -- many thanks to everyone. However, I got some priceless information from an anonymous individual who appears to be remarkably well-informed about the Ordinariate.

Regarding the Parish Finder page of the Ordinariate web site, he counts 38 parishes or groups-in-formation. Remarkably, the entries for 19 of them -- exactly half -- contain errors. Some are as major as providing wrong locations or mass times; others have broken links; others have smaller, but still important errors. These are listed below as of yesterday.

My informant appears to be remarkably knowledgeable about what's going on (or isn't) -- some of this information I can't verify, but insofar as I've been able to check it, it's accurate as listed. But even if there are one or two errors in this list, the fact that close to 50% of the entries are inaccurate should be cause for major concern.

• The Anglican Ordinariate Society of the Ozarks does have "a separate Anglican Use Mass", but only quarterly
• The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ottawa has different weekday mass times during Lent
• The Blessed John Henry Newman Catholic Church http://www.jhnewman.org/ link broken; has additional mass times in Silverado
• Blessed John Henry Newman Catholic Community Strafford http://www.newmanfelloship.org/ link broken
• The Church of St Michael the Archangel Philadelphia weekday mass locations have changed
• The Church of the Incarnation Orlando 2 weekday mass times are incorrect
• Fellowship of St Alban Rochester NY wrong time and location
• Iglesia Catolica San Agustin Pinecrest FL no web site
• Mt Calvary Church Baltimore has discontinued 4 of the weekday services shown
• Our Lady of Good Counsel Jacksonville FL no web address; the priest was ordained last fall so they have probably moved beyond Morning Prayer on Sunday mornings
• Society of St. Bede the Venerable Collegeville MN Ordinariate site says check parish web site, but this does not exist
• Society of the Good Shepherd Oshawa time is wrong
• St Augustine of Canterbury Oceanside location is wrong
• St Columba's Church Victoria BC weekday information is wrong; there is now a daily mass
• St Gilbert Church Bourne TX no web site
• St John the Evangelist Calgary shows no mass times, only daily offices
• St Luke's Church Bladensburg MD http://stlukesparish-bladensburg.org/ broken link, wrong location on Ordinariate web site
• St Peter the Rock at St Mary the Virgin Arlington TX [UPDATE} An Ordinariate group-in-formation had this name at the Anglican Use parish St Mary the Virgin. However, St Mary the Virgin later entered the Ordinariate, and the St Peter name was dropped. This should have been updated on the Parish Finder page but was not.
• The Fellowship of Our Lady of Walsingham Maple Ridge BC link broken

This is incredibly sloppy work. The few communications I've had with Ordinariate functionaries tend to be interspersed with excuses -- "We're all volunteers", for instance -- but you're volunteers who don't appear to give a flip, frankly. There are volunteers who do things right, everywhere.

In fact, I assume nobody paid my knowledgeable informant who pointed me to this information. How come he got it right and you haven't? Msgr Steenson, Fr Hough, other Houston insiders: shouldn't you have this guy working for you instead of who you have?

Shouldn't you have me involved and on your side, instead of whatever phony is claiming to do your communications work? Oh, wait -- you aren't going to touch St Mary of the Angels. That's fine, there's lots for me to do in LA.

The Missed Opportunity -- II

According to the Ordinariate's Mission page, it has, in part, an evangelical mission:

Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have called the Catholic Church to renew her commitment to the evangelization of the peoples of the world. The Ordinariate will find its very life in this calling. Ordinariate congregations can only grow through the work of evangelization; the Ordinariate exists for those who are and will be coming to the fullness of the Catholic faith.

In a past life, I studied and taught rhetoric, "an art that aims to improve the capability of writers or speakers to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations". It's no coincidence that St Augustine of Hippo was a rhetoric teacher. It's an important evangelical skill. Unfortunately, I see little evidence that anyone connected with the Houston clique knows anything about it.

I think Our Saviour was saying something about audience in the Parable of the Sower (Mark IV: 3-9):

Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the birds of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, some an hundred. He said unto them, He that has ears to hear, let him hear.

When you start to speak or write, you have to have an idea of audience, or in more modern terms, market. Who's going to buy what you're selling? Does Msgr Steenson even have an idea of what his market is like? You can say "Anglicans", but that's a little like trying to sell cars to "drivers". Most Anglicans are happy as bugs where they are. What's probably the biggest and most successful Anglo-Catholic strain is urban, gay-accepting Episcopal parishes. I was a member of one for ten years or so. In my view, the Holy Spirit is present there, and they have their own destinies to work out, but by and large, they're on the same page with present TEC leadership. They aren't going to become Catholic anytime soon.

Then there's the broad spectrum across TEC, ACNA, and some "continuers" -- they may see value in being Protestant and find some aspects of Catholicism even somewhat unpretty or repellent. (There were things I had to get over in my own journey.) They're a hard sell at best. These people might be seen, from the Ordinariate's perspective, as various kinds of unsuitable ground for the sower.

Among other "continuers", there are people who are just plain angry, and their anger is as much anti-Catholic as anti-TEC. These include David Virtue and some "continuers" like Michael Gill. Thorny ground indeed.

There are sentimental Anglo-Catholics who like vestments and trips to Rome, but don't strike me as solid people who can build a community under stress. These include the madwomen who wear velvet hats to church and the guys who used to run Anglo-Catholic cheerleading blogs. I assume the pretty picture of St Peter's on the Ordinariate home page is aimed at this group, and frankly, it's an indication to me of how little the Houston clique understands the market. These people are stony ground without much earth.

On the other hand, I'm drawn to a view that Fr Z frequently puts forward on his blog, where he seems to be on the same page with many conservative US bishops: you won't get far by dumbing things down or preaching to an easy audience. If people are told that doctrine and faith aren't important, they take it to heart, and they quickly find other things to do on Sunday. You need to be sympathetic to the people who take religion seriously.

Indeed, if people are seriously seeking you out, you need to see them as a gift and bring them in. You need to make things easy for this group, because any effort you put in with the others isn't going to pay off. I think Our Lord understood this. Frankly, for now, Msgr Steenson, this is your market. I don't have the impression that you remotely understand this.

More rhetoric class tomorrow.

The Missed Opportunity -- I

Let's take a look at the US Ordinariate's web site. The first thing we see is a pretty picture of the St Peter's dome, with the Tiber in the foreground (but nobody's swimming it). Hey, book for our Mediterranean cruise! Oh, wait, this isn't a cruise line site? There's the first problem. The site's selling a cruise, not pointing the way for disaffected Anglicans. Someone needs to rethink this.

So OK, let's go to the News section and see what's cookin'. Boy, are they ever on top of things! The most recent item is The Ordinary's Easter Letter 2014. We're almost in St Mary of the Angels territory here -- no Advent letter, no Christmas letter from 2014; no Lent letter for this year. Maybe it takes him a whole year to write each Easter letter, huh?

The top photo album is of Fr Cantrell's ordination:

On behalf of the Ordinariate, Bishop Burbridge of the Diocese of Raleigh ordained Fr. William Cantrell on December 7, 2013 at the Cathedral in Raleigh.

And if you go to the Clergy Retreat album, you can see a distant picture of an alligator in a lake near Tampa! Well, what do you expect from the altar guild of the Reformed Province of Maybe Catholic Anglicans? Oh, wait -- this is the real thing? The Ordinariate? Sorry, somehow I didn't catch that. . .

If you overlook the fact that the newest news is nearly a year out of date, what still comes through is how inward-focused the whole site is, and not in a good, Lenten way. The photos are all of clergy or administrative events, like the groundbreaking of the chancery.

A more recent bit of news, probably the biggest in more than a year for those watching the Ordinariate, was the August 17, 2014 reception of the Philadelphia-area Newman Fellowship, including David Moyer, into the Ordinariate. I covered it here as soon as I heard about it, but this was via the grapevine, not via any official Ordinariate source, and certainly not its News page.

Apparently this wasn't important to Steenson, his vicar general, or his crack administrative team. If you want a picture of Steenson, though, you can get one right there!

Er, what message is this sending? As far as I can see, Steenson is the star of this little show, and nobody else is important -- certainly not groups that have struggled for years to form and come in. What's the takeaway for groups like St Mary of the Angels?

Something's got to change.