On his return to the pulpit Sunday, Rev. Alberto Cutié tried to say hello to his new congregation.
He couldn’t.
First came the standing ovation. Then, cheering. And the cameras, held high in the air, as though at a rock concert, capturing every moment. Inside the tiny Episcopal Church of the Resurrection of Biscayne Park, more than 300 people — more than three times the normal attendance — turned out to greet him for Sunday morning service.
Cutié looked out at the crowd and said, “I am humbled by your presence here.”
The priest nicknamed ”Father Oprah” gave his first sermon since famously leaving the Roman Catholic Church after published photographs showed him nuzzling a woman on a Florida beach. Unlike in Catholicism, Episcopal priests can marry.
Unbelievable…..those pew potatoes are mad, stark raving mad…(Bridge on the River Kwai) combined with a new potato dish….
I considered sending a condolence card to the bishop of the receiving diocese. But Cutié and Bishop Frade seem to be happy with each other.
Cutié’s being received into ECUSA under this publicity spotlight is bad enough, but to step immediatly into the pulpit? Does the dio of SE Florida have no standards, or are they just desperate for clergy?
Does Bishop Frade think this is someone who can be trusted to keep the vows he makes?
Pax Christi!
Chuck Bradshaw
Hulls Cove, Maine
At first I was somewhat puzzled by Bishop Frade’s almost jubilant “in your face” kind of excitement about the publicity this is bringing to the diocese of Southeast Florida, and his glee about the possibility of curiosity seekers visiting local parishes in the wake of Fr. Cutié’s defection from Rome.
But browsing around the Dio. SE Florida website, which I’ve not done for awhile, makes things MUCH clearer. The church where Fr. Cutié spoke yesterday is in dire straits. The following is from the May09 issue of “the Grapevine” – the electronic newsletter for the diocese:
[blockquote]Church of the Resurrection – On May 14, Bishop Frade sent a letter to diocesan congregations urging everyone’s participation in an initiative to assist Church of the Resurrection, Biscayne Park, a congregation that currently needs substantial financial, hands-on and spiritual support in order to continue its ministry. The bishop has invited everyone to the 10 a.m. service at Resurrection on Pentecost, May 31, to support the congregation in prayer and fellowship. [url=http://www.diosef.org/pdfs/news-events/grapevine/ChurchoftheResurrection_OfficerDown.pdf]Click here[/url] for more information.[/blockquote]
For those who don’t want to click on the “click here” link for the PDF file re: the Church of the Resurrection, the church is dying and is down to an ASA of 53 and the Diocese is trying to launch an “emergency rescue” of the parish. The first point of the action plan presented in the PDF document was to hold a special service on May 31 and it was noted:
Action: For the kick off Sunday we want to fill the church.
Well, +Frade and Fr. Cutie accomplished that… but whether it will help to revive the parish, is another story. Only time will tell, but mark me down as skeptical.
You can read all the details here:
http://www.diosef.org/pdfs/news-events/grapevine/ChurchoftheResurrection_OfficerDown.pdf
and here:
http://blog.diosef.org/?p=45
This part of the blog entry about the diocesan “emergency response” team is particularly interesting:
[blockquote]Father Alberto will assist Archdeacons Tom Bruttell, Bryan Hobbs and Fritz Bazin in their continuing work in the revitalization of the Diocese. Specifically, he will work with the Archdeacons on a special initiative by the Bishop providing emergency responses to Episcopal Churches in urgent need. This Diocesan initiative calls on Episcopalians to rally around a specific church and help fellow congregants work to restore it.
The first focus will be Church of the Resurrection at 11173 Griffing Blvd. in Biscayne Park, Florida. To launch the initiative, Father Alberto will deliver the sermon this Sunday, May 31 at Church of Resurrection beginning at 10:00 a.m.[/blockquote]
I tried to find the parish chart. I’m assuming it is this one (the only Church of the Resurrection listed, and Biscayne Park is a neighborhood of greater Miami).
http://12.0.101.92/reports/PR_ChartsDemo/exports/ParishRPT_612009121154PM.pdf
But the member trend for this parish is positive. I wonder what happened?
If the parish is open to accepting hispanics, possibly with a Spanish language Eucharist and classes, there’s a good hope they will prosper. Mr. Cutie is certainly popular in those circles and probably able to develop a Spanish ministry.
I say that based on the extraordinary growth of three hispanic parishes of which I have some acquaintance, even in stagant and/or liberal TEC dioceses.
Applause, standing ovations, and the like are totally inappropriate at a church service, for whatever reason. Why? It takes away the adulation due to God (our reason for being at Church in the first place) and gives it to Man.
300 people? Anyone in the know in the Roman Church would tell you a parish with fewer than 1000 is in danger of being closed. 300 would make a Roman parish yoked or combined with several others.
Since I had a bit of free time today (I’m in-between two big projects at work), I spent a bit of time reviewing the parish charts of every parish in the diocese of SE Florida.
It is very sad, and very revealing. I knew, of course, that the diocese has been declining (as have virtually all but two or three TEC dioceses), but I hadn’t a real sense of crisis, based on the attitude of the leadership, and also the fact that it is a fairly wealthy area with a high proportion of older folks and retirees, who I figured would be pretty loyal to their parishes. But wow. I was pretty shocked to look at the charts one by one.
By my quick (and perhaps not all that exact) count, 33 of the 80 parishes and missions listed (41%) are severely stressed with ASA’s below 100 and either clearly declining or with very erratic swings in ASA, giving, etc. (Of course some of these may have endowments and trusts that are supporting them thus giving some “stability” even if the church membership looks to be at an unsustainable level, but without further research, I can’t tell.)
It would be interesting to know how the situation in Dio. SE Florida compares with other dioceses. Would be an interesting research project for us all, diocese by diocese. I mean SE Florida is generally rich (with a few notable exceptions – places like Pahokee and Belle Glade), quite densely populated… quite liberal. It would seem that the diocese should be holding its own.
Bp. Frade’s “rescue” team is going to have their hands full.
Oh and Stjohn’s rector, the median ASA for an Episcopal parish is something like 72 people. So, 300 ASA is EXCELLENT.
What’s the news here? Doesn’t Jerry Springer get a rousing cheer? Doesn’t Oprah have a standing O every time she appears? Doesn’t Paris Hilton get a crowd by waling across a parking lot? It’s the biz.
Wow, applause for what? His fornication? His disobeyance of his vows? Isn’t that just like TEC? I just hope Jesus wasn’t watching.
#9: I think you are right to ask what was the applause for? What is AC tapping into here? Personally, I do not like it: BUT Bp Frade sees an opportunity here and the response (for the moment) is rather positive. So what are the people applauding? Answer that question forthrightly, and you will have an exciting glimpse into the evangelistic need in Miami–and possibly elsewhere.
My instinct is that the people like the chuzpah of this–the almost rebellious rejection of Roman authority, an authority that some folks see as out of touch and arbitrary. After all, more than 90% of the people in the pews struggle with heterosexual relationships–and the question of celibacy hits close to home for the majority of the congregation. Thus, I surmise that the people are applauding AC’s rebuke of those religious authorities who appear out of touch with their people.
Is not that anger similar to what is often voiced here on T19? A disbelief in leaders who are out of touch? And an applause for leaders who offer pragmatic and practical teaching that connects with the common person in the pew?
If we are to grow the Church, we must preach the Gospel with honesty and directness–we share a hope that touches the real lives of real people. We do not need a media showcase to do that–but rather we need committed clergy and leaders holding up the Scriptures day in and day out.
Maybe the Diocese was hoping that Oprah would make an appearance…
#10 – I think the applause was all pro-fornication – it’s very “in” these days, and serial fornicators gloat to see a priest of all people telling them their sin isn’t a sin.
There’s nothing pragmatic and practical about Fr. Cutie’s teaching unless as an efficient vehicle to Hell. Is that honest and direct enough?
Tridentine, what you said in #11was honest and direct, but you did not “preach the Gospel with honesty and directness” or “share a hope that touches the real lives of real people” as I urged in #9. This morning, I met a man for the first time and introduced myself as a priest–“oh the kind like down in Miami with Alberto…” was his response. It was intriguing–he never said anything about fornication, what he did say was that he was happy that AC could pursue a family, because in his own words, “that’s what God expects and that’s what God blesses.” He went on to say that he can not understand how the Church (he is Roman Catholic) really expects ordinary people to believe that their marriages are blessed if the priests are all single. I was stunned by his words.
In short, I think I was missing the mark yesterday. It’s not just that members feel that some Church leaders are out of touch, but rather some people specifically want the Church to inform and shape and bless their families. If this is more accurate, then certainly there is here a great evangelistic opportunity: to teach the love of Jesus Christ as that love relates to families. I as a preacher need to ask, am I intentional about applying the Word of God to family relationships, decisions, and concerns? Do I in my words make it clear that Jesus wants to sit at the head of the table in every home of my parish? I can say that yes I aim to do so–and therefore, I am finding some encouragement in thinking my question through. Blessings.