There may be times when God directs us to begin again elsewhere. It may come as a surprise; but it is best to follow the LORD in all things, as best we can discern His leading. The Abbess in "Sound of Music" tells the novice, Maria, "When God closes a door, He opens a window!" Crawling out the window may take unusual efforts! -- You remember what the Van Trapps had to do, escaping from Austria!My wife and I will always be grateful to Fr Kelley, who through strong leadership and powerful example showed us and others in the parish why it was important to become Catholic and not remain Anglo-Catholic. We will hold him and his family in our hearts and remember them in our thoughts and prayers.Most of you will already know that the Kelley family was forced from our home a month ago. Without a home & without an income, we have had to assess the location of the "window." Clearly, we cannot subsist in the Los Angeles area. Our eldest son asked us to consider coming to Alabama, where the cost of living is 1/3 what it is in LA. One thing led to another, & in the space of 26 hours, he & his wife had a house for us! It even has a garden that has "gone its own way" for about 10 years, & needs a "garden-tamer." It has a good-sized kitchen where Mary Alice can actually do some serious cooking; & there are separate rooms for Elizabeth & Andrew, a Study for me, & space for projects for us all.
Furthermore, the Vestry determined that it was their duty to pursue appeal of an erroneous court decision, grounded in an illogical "dictum" ["a thing said" -- by a judge, in passing, without any basis in fact, not litigated or examined], & was contrary to fact, &c. To let it stand without response was not an option for them. (I perceive what I think are First Amendment issues as well, but will leave that to our very able attorney.) However, it means the congregation is stalled in its aspiration to be received promptly into the Ordinariate; the same would then be true for me also.
The Vestry saw that it was their obligation to "release" me (since they cannot pay me, or provide housing, &c.), so that I would now be free to proceed, if the Ordinariate sees fit to re-ordain me. This will then allow me to serve in RC parishes in Alabama, without further question. (Thus I can earn a stipend, -- obviously a serious need!) Archbishop Hepworth is solidly behind this plan, & has written a supportive letter to Bishop Lopes in Houston. In the future, if the Appeal is successful, & the congregation becomes able to support a Rector & family again, & Bishop Lopes is in accord, it may be that we shall be reunited.
The move will be costly to us, as we've been unable to build any savings here to fall back on; & I've had no stipend, not even the "austere" one, for over a month. Getting ourselves on the road is also an expense: we expect gas for 3 cars will run about $1,000 alone! There will be motels, meals, & such as well. North American Van Lines gave us an estimate of $24,000 -- for about half our belongings. So that option is out. We had to find another way, at just over half of that. We also need something to live on while getting ourselves established in the new location, in Huntsville, AL.
And we thank Louis Fantasia, the Senior Warden, for setting up a "Gofundme" page to help us with these expenses. He writes:
This is the link for donating to Father Kelley and his family. Please feel free to distribute it far and wide. If you have any technical problems let me know. This is the first time I have done this.If you have friends who would rather give off line via cash or check, that can be arranged (I just have to figure out how).
Here we go: https://www.gofundme.com/kelley-campaign?sharetype=teams&member=663742&rcid=r01-153573635821-e718dd8629e64bb1&pc=ot_co_campmgmt_w
--
Louis Fantasia
lf1@operamail.com
But I think this is the end of a major chapter in this story, as I think that, although the vestry is pursuing its legal case, it's a very long shot, and I would say this is the effective end of 40 years of litigation.
Still, the cold case file is by no means closed. What started the litigation? What led Fr Barker to set the parish on the reckless and imprudent course that caused it in 1977? What did then-Bp Bernard Law, presumably through his close associate Fr William Stetson, advise him to do? What was the Plan B he proposed for the parish, which, once it withdrew from TEC by revising its bylaws, was in no jurisdiction, had no bishop, and had no provision for entering the Catholic Church? Remember, the Pastoral Provision was not announced until 1981.
This is only the first set of many questions that remain in the cold case file, and I've come more recently to think that some of the inquiries may lead to other questions that have come up more recently about the Vatican.
