(ENS) Episcopal clergy arrested after entering Trinity Church property
Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * Economics, Politics, Economy, Episcopal Church (TEC), Law & Legal Issues, Parish Ministry, Politics in General, Stock Market, TEC Parishes, The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--, Urban/City Life and Issues
What – No Indaba here? Or is Indaba only for foreigners so they have to listen to you? No gracious hospitality and collegiality? No prayer and participation in open, honest, and forthright conversation? Apparently not in Trinity Wall Street nor in Pittsburgh Cathedral nor in Christchurch Savannah.
No room at the inn? It must be Christmas.
I couldn’t tell from the photo…. which one was the Bishop? 🙂
As we forgive those who trespass against us…
How do you know if something is from the Holy Spirit or not?
[blockquote]“This is the wind of the Spirit blowing forcefully into our lives,†she said. “This could have been an amazing opportunity for Trinity and an amazing moment for the entire church, but they chose private property over people and principles.â€[/blockquote]
Clearly, if it involves trespassing, protesting, singing songs, then it must be from some spirit.
Truly, I do not understand these people. I’ve tried and tried, but I do not hear any of them posing any productive solutions to any of these problems they allege exist. Having lived in Europe for a while, I think the OWS movement smacks of anarchism, and I’ll have nothing to do with it unless they can prove to me otherwise. I mean, trespassing on private property when the owners have asked you politely to leave. Why would the Holy Spirit be involved in that? The Holy Spirit does not force people to do things against their will, nor does the Holy Spirit ask people to be rude to their neighbors. I just don’t get it.
Put the doobie down: the ’60’s are over.
Re #4
[blockquote] I think the OWS movement smacks of anarchism[/blockquote]
Bingo
A man in a purple dress was arrested for trespassing just south of Greenwich Village. Just another day in NYC.
I don’t understand. How can Episcopal clergy by arrested on “private property owned by Trinity Church.” I thought the Episcopal Church held all property in trust per the Dennis Canon. What am I missing? Oh, I know. The bishop is “retired.” That’s it.
So why is the OWS movement only trying to occupy this vacant lot? Why doesn’t it occupy Trinity Wall Street instead? If the church is expected to fork over the keys to the lot, then why shouldn’t it be expected to fork over the keys to the front door as well? Is TWS insufficiently committed to the Cause of Social Justice? Does this church not understand that the future is being created before its very eyes? Will it stand with the reactionaries and wreckers of the Revolution? It must FIGHT for a guaranteed middle-class income, lots of free stuff, incessant public drumming, student loan forgiveness for unemployed liberal arts majors, and the god-given right to public urination! That means OWS needs a comfy warm place to sleep every night so it can continue fighting for Social Justice. Who wants to sleep in a tent in the cold anyways?
carl
Mrs Packard reveals her ignorance of history and social justice when she writes: “This could have been an amazing opportunity for Trinity and an amazing moment for the entire church, but they chose private property over people and principles.â€
Private property is one of the surest defenses of persons and principles. Just ask the former residents of Communist lands. To own your own produce stand or small business and your own home was, they knew, to be free. The rights to life, liberty, and property are basic. The position of the Trinity Parish leadership is morally right and indeed ethically unassailable.
Anyone who expected TEC to do something other than lock the gates has clearly not been paying attention for the last several years- as soon as this became a PROPERTY issue, and the PB got involved, the outcome was inevitable. It is PROPERTY, not something ancillary like theology or ecclesiology. OWS had better get some pro bono lawyers- they may need them before TEC is done.
Bishop Packard becomes the first bishop in history, outside of Zimbabwe, to be arrested for trespassing on property indisputably owned by the denomination of which he is a bishop. (Actually, I think after the 1600s, it is only rarely that churches arrest bishops of other denominations for trespass- it wouldn’t be ecumenical.)
#8- Could you get them to make those student loan refunds retroactive for those of us who got our liberal arts degrees in the ’70s and managed to pay off our student loans?
No. 10: But property IS a theological issue.
And I can’t help feeling that if some of these protesters sat humbly in a pew for a few minutes instead of squatting self-righteously outside for many days, they might learn something valuable.
John Macquarrie’s words–quoted in SPIRITUAL COUNSEL IN THE ANGLICAN TRADITION–are worth remembering here: He said he could wander around Piccadilly Circus for hours and not recognize Christ in his neighbor, but if he spent a few minutes in the presence of Christ on the altar, then he could discern Christ in his neighbor in the world.
“When Trinity closed its ears and refused to negotiate, the path of civil disobedience was clear.â€
Give us your lunch money or we’re going to get physical…
I guess OWS hasn’t heard about the drive to end bullying.
Christopher Johnson (MCJ) nails it in his devastating critique of Jim Naughton’s stupid ENS rant on this incident. It’s hard to believe that a veteran bishop like Packard could be so foolish, proudly wearing his purple cassock and pectoral cross while engaging in this “prophetic” behavior. But alas, there is no end to the insanity of which TEC bishops are capable these days.
But it remains significant that the editor of the ENS blog dares to attack Trinity, Wall Street, for being politically incorrect. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. It may be a sign of how our “progressive” foes can turn on each other and berate each other from time to time for failing to jump on the latest liberal bandwagon to come along.
Bottom line: this incident shows how the Boomer generation of clergy in TEC just can’t seem to face the grim reality that the 60’s are over. The OWS movement is NOT a replay of the Civil Right’s struggles of the 60;s, however much some crazed Boomers want to imagine otherwise. And the leftists in control of TEC actually think that PR stunts like this are going to help the public image of TEC??
“[i]Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad[/i].”
David Handy+