The Rev. Jay R. Lawlor resigned Wednesday as pastor at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, three days after an elderly parishioner filed a police report accused him of assault, according to a letter received today by church members.
The letter from Bishop Robert Gepert, who heads the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan, said the church is launching its own investigation into the incident, which allegedly involved Lawlor shoving Marcia Morrison, 76.
Morrison was not injured, but told police she was emotionally traumatized.
“Regardless of what happened, and without laying blame, it does not reflect well on the whole community,” said Gepert’s letter. “As a result, I am obligated to initiate an investigation under Title IV of the Episcopal Church Canons. It also means I will begin searching for a priest-in-charge.”
I don’t know who Julie Mack is, but if she had had Mrs. Early for journalism at Waltrip High School in 1967, she would have gotten a “F” for the piece of “writing”. I’m glad already I knew what the story is about becasue this thing is so poorly written and distracting I’d probably have given up otherwise.
When the pie gets smaller and smaller, the infighting gets nastier. Look for more squabbles like this.
I don’t know what is true, but it is apparent that there was a toxic environment. The guy doesn’t look like he beats up little old ladies. If I were going to push a little old lady, she would be going to the ground, not taking a couple of steps back and catching herself on a pew.
Jay is a nice guy, not a ruffian…I’d be interested to know just how long the “old Lady” in question was really active in the parish, I mean attendance record. I’d also be interested to know if the other man pushed Jay into her. There are soooo many questions, such silliness. Typical Sunday morning in Episcopalville lately…
I am of the same mind as FrVan. Fr. Lawlor is not brutal, he is short, quiet and soft spoken. He probably pushed the woman inadvertently. But I suspect this has destroyed any future career Lawlor might have. I blame Bishop Robert Gepert. His tactics are punishing and heavy handed. My understanding is that Lawlor had already resigned and asked to have the pastoral relationship dissolved, and the Bishop refused, and instead, dissolved the vestry and made him fire most of the staff. Had the bishop handled things better, with the best interests of parish and of the priest in mind, this would not have happened. People get mad when bishops turn thuggish. This could have been avoided. The same sort of drama is playing out at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids with the widely-disliked Stephen Holmgren, who has been locked in a power struggle with the parish and vestry since the moment he arrived, several years ago. That parish, like St. Lukes, now teeters on the brink, and it didn’t need to happen.
Since no objective (if there is one) person from the parish has weighed in, we don’t know what’s really going on up there. I certainly don’t, but I do know that any parish is vulnerable to attack from parishioners, or from clergy.
The source of the attack? The devil loves a good, old-fashioned church fight. Keeping a parish entangled in conflict keeps the Church from doing her work on earth.
Some Lenten reading:
Dennis R. Maynard. When Sheep Attack. CreateSpace, 2010.
G. Lloyd Rediger. Clergy Killers. Westminster John Knox Press, 2009.
Ron Susek. Firestorm: Preventing and Overcoming Church Conflicts. Baker Books, 1999.
Lamentably, there are many other such books.
Parish leadership can use them to prevent or deal with conflict, or parishioners can use them as textbooks of war strategy.
Hah hah — “When Sheep Attack” is just another version of Maynard’s constant theme of “Mean Laity Persecuting Godly Impoverished Rectors [who make six-figure salaries]” after he was exited post-haste from a parish [with the bishop’s very appropriate blessing].
It definitely would be “Lenten Reading” — but more as a mortification of the flesh by reading really bad writing from an embittered former rector who is still irked over, um . . . various things that led to his departure.
“Help help — the sheep are attacking the wolf! I’m being repressed.”
The Holmgren/Grand Rapids case appears to be different from St. Luke’s in Western Michigan because Holmgren is just a bad fit for a parish that has a huge chunk of revisionist laity. Holmgren’s traditional in theology — and many of the powerful liberals there really hate him.
I don’t see a theology issue at St. Luke’s [the topic of this post] although it’s possible that it’s hidden somewhere.
With conflicts at this level, I am not sure it’s possible find an “objective” observer; however, I do have personal experience with the situations at both parishes mentioned here. The only thing almost everyone can agree on is that the Bishop’s high-handed, Friedman-fueled and non-pastoral management style has stoked the flames, and encouraged minor disagreements to grow into major wars. Instead of promoting reconciliation and understanding, he took harsh measures designed to “break” both parishes. As a result, long-time parishioners (both liberal and conservative) have been driven from the Church and are in great pain. How can this be serving God’s purposes? With all due respect, Ralph, I’m waiting for someone to write Congregation Killers. Â
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RE: “If anyone considers him a “dubious†source, there are many other sources.”
I wholeheartedly agree.
There are only *some* [not all, for sure] sources about dysfunctional groups of laity that are ridiculous — rather like Bishop Spong writing about how to defend the Church’s doctrine and Gospel — something like reading [i]When Heretics Write[/i] by Jack Spong.
; > )
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