It will be interesting to see what the congregation of Seabury will now do now that the court battles are done: depart or rent. I don’t see them going the Roman Catholic route given the “Jesus is our Rector” thing.
I imagine that the congregation will do as four of the other CT 6 congregations did. They will find a new place to worship, and they will do fine.
The diocese will be stuck with a largely empty building. A few parishioners may decide that their ultimate loyalty is to the building or to TEC, and will stay. A liberal priest in charge will likely be imposed, which may attract a few liberal congregants. After a year or so, the bishop will have to make a decision. If the numbers are not able to preserve the illusion that there is a continuing congregation, the parish will be disbanded, and the building will remain empty unless it can be sold.
Alternatively, there may well be something of a rump congregation. In this case, the priest in charge might eventually be replaced with a vicar (not a rector), but the diocese will continue to have to pump money into the church year after year to keep it from going under.
Orthodox TEC parishes will have learned that, in CT, at least, it just makes more sense to walk away and leave the bishop with the keys. Over time, a few more may do so. Those orthodox parishes that do not leave will continue to struggle with being an unwelcome presence in the diocese, and their numbers will dwindle slowly as parishioners who leave or die are not replaced. They will live in fear of having a rector leave or retire because the diocese will do what it can to replace orthodox priests with “moderates.”
The real test, I think, will not ultimately be seen in how many stay and how many leave with Fr. Gauss. The test will be in how many stay and then how many return because of their affinity with the building and the memories encapuslated therein, such as what happened (again, I think?) in Moyer’s parish. And perhaps a secondary test will take place after Fr. Gauss retires and they no longer have him at the helm.
It will be interesting to see what the congregation of Seabury will now do now that the court battles are done: depart or rent. I don’t see them going the Roman Catholic route given the “Jesus is our Rector” thing.
I imagine that the congregation will do as four of the other CT 6 congregations did. They will find a new place to worship, and they will do fine.
The diocese will be stuck with a largely empty building. A few parishioners may decide that their ultimate loyalty is to the building or to TEC, and will stay. A liberal priest in charge will likely be imposed, which may attract a few liberal congregants. After a year or so, the bishop will have to make a decision. If the numbers are not able to preserve the illusion that there is a continuing congregation, the parish will be disbanded, and the building will remain empty unless it can be sold.
Alternatively, there may well be something of a rump congregation. In this case, the priest in charge might eventually be replaced with a vicar (not a rector), but the diocese will continue to have to pump money into the church year after year to keep it from going under.
Orthodox TEC parishes will have learned that, in CT, at least, it just makes more sense to walk away and leave the bishop with the keys. Over time, a few more may do so. Those orthodox parishes that do not leave will continue to struggle with being an unwelcome presence in the diocese, and their numbers will dwindle slowly as parishioners who leave or die are not replaced. They will live in fear of having a rector leave or retire because the diocese will do what it can to replace orthodox priests with “moderates.”
Such are the fruits of victory.
The real test, I think, will not ultimately be seen in how many stay and how many leave with Fr. Gauss. The test will be in how many stay and then how many return because of their affinity with the building and the memories encapuslated therein, such as what happened (again, I think?) in Moyer’s parish. And perhaps a secondary test will take place after Fr. Gauss retires and they no longer have him at the helm.
RE: “It will be interesting to see what the congregation of Seabury will now do now that the court battles are done: depart or rent.”
Hopefully they won’t rent — why give money to heretics in order to foster their being able to keep a building which they legally stole?
Much better to watch the building be sold to another entity several years down the road after the diocese fails to grow another congregation for it.
An opportunity for Ian Douglas to bring in one of the new model trans-sexual priests he is advocating for in General Convention.
Gay priests are so, like, last decade. Just like decent Connecticut attendance figures when you think about it.
Asylum Road, indeed! Rightly named, I think.
I don’t think Bp. Seabury is amused at all this pother.