Just over two months ago, when Heather Elizabeth Cook, a newly ordained Episcopal bishop, was involved in an accident that left a bicyclist dead, the tragedy made headlines around the world, while sparking controversy within and outside the church.
Cook ”” who was drunk at the time of the accident, according to Baltimore police and prosecutors ”” had been made a bishop despite an arrest on DUI charges four years earlier. The Dec. 27 crash raised questions about how the Episcopal Church, already split over dogma and facing steep membership declines, chooses its leaders.
And it has put the stewardship of the national church’s presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, in the spotlight.
1.9 million members!!! I know membership is traditionally inflated but does anyone have a valid number?
Bede Parry has found his way into Baltimore Sun journalists’ research.
What an absolutely *PRICELESS* choice of photo for Jefferts Schori
What a hard-hitting article. Despite the sound bites from conservatives David Virtue and Alan Haley, I get the impression that its impetus comes from many unhappy liberal Episcopalians in the Dio Maryland.
And from others:
[blockquote] “Among [critics of KJS] is David Clohessy, the national director of SNAP, the nation’s largest advocacy group for victims of clergy abuse.
“In both cases [she] has shown a fairly stunning degree of recklessness and deceit,” said Clohessy, who studied and wrote about the Parry case. “I know that sounds harsh, but if she wants to ordain, or is willing to ordain, troubled clerics, she could at least be honest with members about their past difficulties. … She has flat-out failed to do that”.” [/blockquote]