“For the last several months, the Vestry, the Wardens and I have been working and praying very hard to discern how best to meet the needs of the Parish and do the work we have been given to do in the name of Christ,” the letter [to the parish from the Rev. Rich Martindale] begins.
“At times, that discernment has been exhilarating; other times it has felt like a struggle.
“After consultation with the Bishop of Atlanta, the Wardens, and of course, my dear wife, my own portion of that discernment has led me to understand that the time has come for me to conclude my ministry to and with my friends at Trinity.”
Not to be crass, but so what? This happens all the time nothing exceptional here from the story reported in the newspaper. Is there something more to the story? Did I not get the memo on this one?
I was an associate at Trinity, Columbus at the ebd of the 90s with The Rev Tom Jones, an exceptional zealous and loving evangelical priest. The parish was booming and full of life, sending out clergy and people to start new parishes in the area. Every Wednesday night there was a dinner with multiple Alphas, book clubs and ministries meeting together after the fellowship meal. Participating in this was a particular joy in my years of ministry.
After Tom retired, things started to change.
So, yeah, David. It matters. Maybe you not getting the memo isn’t so important to the faithful people of Trinity who have been struggling these last 10 years.
I figured there was a back story somewhere here. I have known Tom Jones for over 20 years through his service as a SAMS Board member and also my friend and TSM classmate the Rev David Brannen a member of Trinity in the 1980s and early 90s — you ‘re right it was a great evangelical parish. They need to call another evangelical rector, that is, if the TEC Bishop of Atlanta lets them. My bet is he won’t or at least one who is willing to stand up and fight. That is why orthodoxy is one rector away from extinction is most TEC dioceses. Too bad –but true.
Fr. Martindale arrived at a very difficult time, when Gene Robinson was elected and ordained as bishop of NH. The parish stats show a very familiar picture for reasserter parishes during that next year. If they were working and praying very hard for discernment, is it possible that process was initiated because there has been a lot of work and energy and prayer and preaching, etc., going into the life of the parish, and not seeing the membership turnaround? And which people were left in the parish, but then trickled out, those being the ones who might have had a strong hand in bringing Fr Martindale in the first place, leaving a whole different kind of parish makeup? I’m asking…..
Quite frustrating.
The same situation exists for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Tulare, CA. Fr. Rob Eaton is a fine orthodox priest. Very doubtful the parish will be allowed to follow up with another of like faith. The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin has taken a long leap off a very steep cliff and it is doubful if anyone but a revisionist would be allowed to follow Father Rob.
Wow, Fr. Rob. I would have addressed that post directly to you had I seen yours. Maybe you could comment.
[blockquote]orthodoxy is one rector away from extinction[/blockquote]
Sometimes not even that. When hired, our current rector had an affiliation with ACNA in some form. The bishop required that he disassociate himself and he obeyed. Perhaps he was always milque toast but he now has his head buried so deep in the sand he can see the Great Wall of China.
Fr. Rob is quite correct. The present rector sure did arrive at a bad time. Trinity is still a well financed church but the 2002 through 2009 years were not kind with Members down 12 percent, ASA down 38 percent, and adjusted for inflation Plate & Pledge dowwn about 30 percent. Plenty of bad news to argue about. Statmann
I knew Fr. Martindale when he was at the Pro-Cathedral in Hastings, NE. He’s pretty high church and solidly conservative. By happenstance, my grandmother is from Columbus, so I am somewhat familiar with the city but not the parish itself.
I was hearing good things about Fr. Martindale, but the whole Gene Robinson thing has decimated the Episcopal Church in the Deep South. I can name literally over 100 people who have left the Episcopal Church from the South. The Bishop of Atlanta isn’t making morale any better in many parishes.
[blockquote]the whole Gene Robinson thing has decimated the Episcopal Church in the Deep South[/blockquote]
Let’s face it, TEC has been decimated all over the US because of her infidelity to Holy Scripture and the influence of theological liberalism and moral collapse in the approved Episcopal seminaries. TEC has also lost a lot of social cachet in the South. For people whom social connections are more important than religious content, it’s probably more prestigious to join some Club than TEC.
It’s pretty clear from the parish charts. In 2003/2004 there was a mass exodus [surprise surprise!] with a loss of almost 25% of ASA.
In 2006/2007 there was another mass exodus [surprise surprise!].
The parish is still strong — by TEC standards of course — with around 200 ASA. But it’s clearly in radical decline and then, one realizes that there was probably Yet Another Mass Exodus in 2009/2010 [wonder why?].
Like I say, every three years a tidal wave comes in, and further parishioners are swept out. They’re usually the more mature, discipled parishioners, leaving the newbies and ill-informed or the aged behind.
And the new “theology” of marriage is bringing them in in droves…
:-/
priestwalter,
Appreciate your concern for us. Your prayers and revelation-inspired intercession are most needed.
I’ve been the rector (rector #1 following approval to move to parish status) for 21 years. Ours is a unique situation in that regard (check out the stats for how many TECUSA clergy are in such long-term pastorates); such a pastorate has its pros and cons developmentally, and especially when termination comes. Dean Kevin Martin has a lot to say on that one.
If I were to leave St John’s, and TECUSA with it, and stay in Tulare looking to begin a new non-TECUSA start-up, most of the leadership, and well over half the congregation would come along. I would chalk that up to pastoral equity generated from the long-term pastorate fund, to use financial terms. The parish would no longer have anywhere near the revenue from tithes and offerings to support a full-time ordained ministry, despite an endowment dedicated to capital expenditures, and would be quickly devolved to “aided parish”, then “mission” status. Once that happened, then the search for a new vicar would be entirely in the hands of the bishop, and all bets would be off as to who might be appointed. Certainly, the congregation would be asked to consider who they are, where they are going, etc., etc., and to provide a profile. They would be invited to submit names, and fully participate in the discernment process. But push come to shove, the selection of a new vicar would be in the bishop’s purview.
Before saying anything about the scenario of my accepting a job elsewhere or just retiring, it needs to be said that the ability of the diocese to fund one half of a full time ordained position is quite unreasonable. I don’t think I need to say more about that in regard to gaining the attention of potential candidates. I should add, too, that the Lord has not released me from being a priest within TECUSA, so I’m here to stay, for all intents and purposes as He has.
The other scenario is if I should simply be called elsewhere within TECUSA, or outright retire, and remain available to the parish somehow. The parish would make a strong and viable push to find a reasserter replacement, which would be quite a difficult task, except for the divine intervention of the Holy Spirit. And as I have said bluntly and forcefully to three successive Senior Wardens now, a Parish is in charge of and responsible for its own process of electing a new Rector. To place the process into the hands of someone else outside of the parish – even with the enticing cloaking as “resource” – is to ultimately surrender the desires of the vestry and the parish. The most important part is doing the hard work of prayer – continuing to place the process into the powerful and merciful hands of God – and literally searching for qualified candidates. My Senior Warden has a list of names. In the event of my demise, the first call would be to the bishop; the second call(s) to the list. And so the process would begin.
Lots more to say about all that, but that’s enough for now. The purpose of my lengthy comment is in speaking against the “the bishop won’t let…” defeatism that raises its voice within the abandonment of hope.
Alleluia. Press on..
Still no word on what caused this priest to resign?