There was pomp and pageantry, enough clergy to move a mountain (or at least, to guarantee nice weather), a heavenly choir, and one of the finest bands in the land.
Somewhere amidst all this, Janet Broderick was given the ceremonial keys to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, as its 17th rector. The Morristown celebration included actor Matthew Broderick, Janet’s brother; former Newark Bishop Jon Shelby Spong and present Bishop Mark Beckwith, and the Blaire Reinhard Band.
“It feels wonderful,” Janet Broderick said afterward. “I felt all the love. It’s incredible. I wanted to do one of these for everybody there.”
Ah, Spong.
Still making his agnostic presence known among Christians for some inconceivable reason.
Readers may recall that Jane Broderick was a priest at Grace Churchin NY. She claimed she was forced out by Bishop Grein and replaced by the Bishop’s girl friend. Broderick won a big settlement from the Diocese and the claims against Grein were swept under the rug by PB Griswold. The good Bishop was also married at the time when he was taking care of the other woman. But heck, in a church where all manner of sexual deviance goes, what’s a little hanky pany between a bishop and one of his clergy?
And Spong gave the invocation? An indeed portentous beginning to a ministry.
Was Richard Dawkins unavailable?
Should I know who this band is? “One of the finest bands in the land?”
More importantly, I just noticed the banner ad about SPTC’s SC campus! Awesome, now THAT is ROCKIN’!
What is her marital status?
I am unaware of an “Episcopalian tradition” that has the bishop fetch the new clergyperson from his/her rectory. Old Testament weddings, yes- Anglican installations no. Is this a New Jersey custom? Her actor brother identifies himself as Jewish, by the way, and I believe was married to Sarah Jessica Parker by his sister in a “neutral” non-denominational service.
Was there something about the pictures one was supposed to notice?
It’s instructive to take a look at the parish websites and the nat. church stats, keeping in mind the following sentence from the article: St. Peter’s is looking for internal harmony, after churning through a few rectors in the last decade. The parish history essentially stops with the departure of Zachary Fleetwood in 2003 (he became dean of the American cathedral in Paris), and the parish stats show a decided decline from that departure. I suppose some of the “abandon ship!” types will rejoice at the collapse of any ECUSA parish, particularly in so, um, dubious a diocese, but really it would seem to me to be the thing to do to pray that Rev. B manages to pull the parish out of its slump.
Where things get interesting is when you look at the other parish’s website and compare it to St. Peter’s. Redeemer is very big on a rainbow, as it were, of social action, right up to the photo of parishioners carrying its banner in the local gay pride parade. St. Peter’s, by contrast, is the very model of the the upper class middle-of-the-road broad parish, with a great deal of foreign-directed outreach and a plethora of programs. Redeemer manages to put the word “inclusive” on virtually every page on their website; while there are a few fugitive references on St. Peter’s website which could be read a certain way, my impression is that they are more interested in including families with kids.
I sort of get the impression they are stuck with Spong, BTW. He lives just outside town, and I guess he doesn’t like the church in Morris Plains.
A truly interesting gathering. Her brother claims to be Jewish which is quite correct as his Mother was Jewish. Her married name is (was ?) Kraft. And, yes, she has a real challenge. St. Peter’s (from 2002 through 2007) lost 50 percent of its Members, 25 percent of its ASA, and Plate & Pledge increased 16 percent which just made up for inflation. Perhaps, Bishop Spong can give her some helpful advice. Statmann
I say good luck to her and thanks to her brother for supporting her. And may God bless her ministry in a diocese like Newark.
Looking at old posts, I decided to check out the R&S numbers. Janet Broderick is still rector, and she has something of a success story to tell: while P&P has fallen off somewhat, ASA has risen from a 2009 of around 125 to 190 in 2015, a 50% increase.