The inhibition against the Rt. Rev. Edward H. MacBurney, retired Bishop of Quincy, has been temporarily lifted following an announcement on April 14 from the canon to the Presiding Bishop.
“In light of the personal tragedy that Bishop and Mrs. MacBurney are facing, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori wishes to offer the bishop the opportunity to function liturgically in any services for his son if he desires to do so,” said the Rev. Canon Charles Robertson in an e-mail message.
A wonderful choice.
“Presiding Bishop Grants Permission to Bishop MacBurney to ‘Function’ at Son’s Funeralâ€
“Herod Lets Bethlehem Infants Return for One Evening; Offers ‘Time of Healing’â€
[Also posted on Stand Firm]
Translation:
While we don’t care much about the faithful, we’re really uncomfortable with bad press.
Well…it does say she apologized.
Apologized?
It’s with the same pastoral touch as TEC’s response to Windsor:
“For the life of me, I can’t understand why you’re upset. I’m just doing my job in enforcing the hell out of the Canons. But, if you’re upset, well then I’m sorry you were so thin-skinned as to take offense. So, just this once, I’ll give you a break and let you do this officiating you insist on. But when it’s over, I want you to understand that we’re back to business.”
Would it be better if she left the inhibition in place and said he can’t? A serious question.
The “personal tragedy” is the PB’s soul-less attitude and guns-a-blazin’ style as she charges forth to rid the Church of….well…anybody who shows the ability to save it. The average person sees through this and knows what it is. Perhaps an encounter group should be scheduled at 815 in Manhattan very soon. The topic: “Why We Are Increasingly Irrelevant”
[blockquote] But when it’s over, I want you to understand that we’re back to business. [/blockquote]
[size=1][color=red][url=http://resurrectioncommunitypersonal.blogspot.com/]The Rabbit[/url][/color][color=gray].[/color][/size]
Dr. Shori will win very few points over this one time approval of the bishop’s ministry. If fact, maybe she would have been better off just remaining silent at this point. The damage is done and this won’t erase it.
I love that she continually utilizes powers that she never claimed to have in the beginning. She really does think that all bishop’s of the Episcopal Church work for her, at her bidding.
“Perhaps an encounter group should be scheduled at 815 in Manhattan very soon. The topic: ‘Why We Are Increasingly Irrelevant'”
—Choir Stall [#5]
No, Choir Stall, you don’t understand. The topic: “The Power of Hatred: Why They Don’t Appreciate Our Ministry of Reconciliation.”
I don’t get it. What advantage does this give +MacBurney? The services are being held in other congregations. If she hadn’t temporarily lifted the inhibition, would that mean that he would have had to wear a big scarlet “I†on his vestments? Does the inhibition have meaning for anybody other than her?
“What advantage does this give +MacBurney?”
None whatever. KJS evidently took this action on her own initiative and for her own benefit, hoping to mitigate damage to her own reputation. Cf. comment #1.
But note, this was given to Bp McBurney through a spokesperson, not from her personally. What sort of an apology is that?!!!
It is damage control……and nothing else. I saw absolutely NOTHING in the way of a personal apology directly from Schori herself, and whatever “apology” there was amounted to nothing more than a press release.
“Damage Control” here merely serves to recall the original damage, and thus becomes “Damage Amplification.” Rule of thumb: reiterate it and the damage doubles.
I’m willing to give KJS benefit of the doubt here and acknowledge her attempt to be compassionate. Would that we would see more of it.
Read it all: she telephoned Bishop McBurney. May God bless the McBurney family at this time.
Isn’t it more than ten days after the fact? Is the body still unburied? What does this achieve other than political points?
Shari
I’m really surprised at this thread of comments. Not because thirteen of them were vitriolic and mean-spirited, but because three others were at least neutral. I think PB KJS is serving a purpose for the readers of T1:9–she serves to drain off the tender mercies which otherwise might be spent on kicking cats or putting razor blades in Halloween candy.
Razor blades in Halloween candy, Wolfie? And we’re the mean-spirited ones? Whatever, sunshine. Actually, given the number of canons Mrs. Schori has treated as so much toilet paper recently, all we’re being is honest. If anyone thinks that this gesture is anything other than a desperate attempt by Mrs. Schori to claw her way out of a public relations disaster of her own making, all I can say is that you really need to get out more.
“What does this achieve other than political points?”
Giving Bp. MacBurney even more opportunities for “white martyrdom”—profound self-abnegation while still alive.
#17 – According to the full article, the wake and memorial service are to be held later this week/weekend, at Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches, respectively.
The temporary lifting (however motivated, and I grant the probability of its genuineness is not zero) does avoid potential interfaith tensions if Bishop MacBurney wants to participate as a cleric in the services for his son. If the inhibition remained in effect, potentially both the Lutheran and Catholic parishes would need to decide either to (a) decline to allow Bishop MacBurney to participate as a cleric, thus giving the already tragic story ecumenical legs; or (b) ignore the inhibition, thus making the already tragic story an ecumencial flashpoint. KJS may not win many PR points for the move, but she would avoid additional losses.
#16: Words Matter: Are you sure that asking for God’s blessing upon the MacBurney family isn’t against canon law? I wouldn’t want to see you inhibited.
So, from the “progressive” side, Bishop MacBurney isn’t fit to serve in the church, but we are going to let him anyway. This is, I suppose, something like a work-release program in a local prison. She has just released a dangerous schismatic back into the flock! Like a candidate who voted for the bill before he voted against it in the last election cycle. (or at least, that is what it must look like) It is more and more like the Red Queen of wonderland.
I have known the MacBurneys for twenty-five years or so. My prayers are with them for consolation, and also with Mrs Schori for conversion and repentance from her misguided institutionalist stance. What a clumsy move.
The GAAALLLLL!
“Letting” Bishop MacBurney take part in his son’s funeral. It was granted with true royal plural. How pathetic and snide. THIS CHURCH DESERVES more of this insanity so long as the crowds refuse to storm 815’s Bastille. For pity’s sake, WHAT has to happen before the sit-ins start? Before acts of civil disobedience start? Before a letter-writing campaign? Stop this safe punditry and turn up the heat and watch the frog boil!
Well, let the matter rest and save the invective against Schori. She has made a careless political move, but this is, after all, only one among many. One must conclude that she does not care about political fallout from Anglicans who, as she knows, have no use for her in any case. It is true that a reader must be unusually opaque not to see that she is giving with one hand and taking away with the other. But then, why should she care? No one has the will or the power to stop or alter her course. She does not need someone to dover her back or ride shotgun. She can act with impunity.
But this is all old news. Her present behavior is in no sense unusual. We will do well to leave her to her own devices. Larry
This makes no sense whatsoever. How could she forbid him taking part in a service in another denomination? She has no power over Lutherans. She is less than a flea to the Catholic Church. Furthermore, she has no leverage over Bishop MacBurney. She’s going to depose him anyway. What does he have to lose, even granting that he gave a shinola over her deposition of him in the first place? What, would she have threatened him with double deposition if he ministered without her special permission?
What a farce.
For her next demonstration of supreme authority KJS will now give the tide permission to receede.
#24 You will never see crowds storming the Bastille. Remember what church you are talking about. I venture that 90% of the dead population that inhabits this church doesn’t even suspect there is a problem. Keep the sermon short, the announcements brief and few, and let me go early to watch the game.
Bushwacker,
Two’s company – three’s a crowd. ARE THERE NO priests in this Church anymore? Are there no laity? All it would take is 10 people with signs of distinction out front of Schori’s Bastille to get attention. A sit in at the National Cathedral. Let twenty have to be dragged away because they won’t leave their silent protest and it will be a media event. The 815 Bastille holds the souls of this Church as surely as though we were captives. There are many souls bleeding and dying from the decisions being made there. Our Church is being held captive.
LOOSE THE DAMNED CHAINS !
A deposition proclaimed by a make-believe bishop is no deposition at all, to be sure, but this one is ludicrous in the extreme……and heartless to boot!
Bp. MacBurney will most certainly be “deposed” for his grievous sins. It’s clearly just a matter of time before the same fate befalls Bps. Lawrence and McPhearson, and their respective Standing Committees cease to be recognized by 815 officialdom. It’s been said that “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition,” but an Inquisition appears now to have been unleashed in TEC. And this during the watch of a PB who was elected (eventually) by a majority of exactly one vote. Go figure.
“What, would she have threatened him with double deposition…”
Yes – and everyone else is on “double secret probation”.
(Apologies to National Lampoon’s Animal House).
So…WATCH IT SMART GUY (Dean Wormer).
#26 – It hinges on how he participates. If he participates only in his role as grieving parent, 815 has no problem and no claim. If he participates or seeks to participate as a cleric (particularly at the funeral, which will be Catholic), 815 faces options they don’t like if the inhibition is in effect: either the Catholic parish has to decline to allow him to participate as a cleric (recognizing the inhibition), or they allow him to do so (ignoring the inhibition). Neither scenario is good, with 815 coming off as either cruel (yet again) or D-listers.
“All it would take is 10 people with signs of distinction out front of Schori’s Bastille to get attention” —Choir Stall [#28]
We should show up and start handing out leaflets when KJS makes a public appearance near where one of us lives or works.
We’d need the right kind of leaflets, aimed at reporters and moderate pewsitters: factual and straightforward; nothing harsh or shrill. KJS’ words and deeds provide ample material.
— We could have the “What Does the Presiding Bishop Believe?” leaflet contrasting the teachings of Christ and KJS.
— We could have the leaflet contrasting KJS’ words (e.g., “inclusion” and “ministry of reconciliation”) with her deeds.
— We could have the Bp. MacBurney leaflet.
— We could have the leaflet asking, “What Is the Real Mission of the Church?” (e.g., evangelism versus lawsuits).
Truth: always, everywhere, inescapable, inexorable.
28 and 33 are exactly right, since, in the absence of leadership from the church upper echelons, it is probably necessary for the hoi polloi to take action. It is indeed time to break the chains.So, Irenaeus, where does one in fact start? Schori is not likely to come here to Maine at any time; the whole place is far too blue to need her. And yet, I would not hesitate to be on the street if she appeared and I would gladly hand out substantive material for media consumption. TEC MUST be confronted by people from the center, not the radical fringe. Larry
Father S: In a field of five (or was it six), it only ever takes one vote more than the threshold to elect. The related point is that she led in every ballot except the second, when Parsley tied her. For a “dark horse” to achieve the lead on the first ballot and then to win indicates that she had many sponsors from before the balloting.
Now the point is that she carries out this reign of “discipline” (sneer quotes to be sure) without being stopped by her sponsors. This is The Episcopal Church right now. LOL.
#32 – It’s true the inhibition would have created an awkward decision for the local Catholic bishop, but in the weird world of ecumenism, this mockery of the Catholic Mass is being hosted in a Washington D.C. Episcopalian parish during the pope’s visit, advertised on the TEC website. I wonder if Bp. Scarfe of Iowa would have protested were the inhibition in place? I wonder if Archbishop Wuerl called Bp. Chane to discuss the Women’s Ordination Conference event?
Thank God that some practicality has shown up on this blog. Be still my heart, but I see spines forming in the protoplasm of the Episcopal murk. If everyone who complains with gusto on this site were to take the lead this matter of Schori’s unchecked injustice would be disposed of. Why does Integrity get to have all of the loud and public voices? How is it that a group of reappraisers can gas up and “visit” dioceses across the country to monitor and complain, but many of the brightest and best sit with elbows at keyboard where its safe? Yes – make slick press kits. Yes – make a website devoted ENTIRELY to one topic: The insanity of KJS and her hired guns. Add downloadable leaflets to copy and pass out at convocations and diocesan meetings. The current websites and blogs are great but have a wide focus. Our true problem centers on KJS and the mindset of those bishops who put her in. Target THAT and change will happen. Souls are at stake. Listen to that in silence for awhile and tell me that it’s better to just analyze from afar.
“So, Irenaeus, where does one in fact start? Schori is not likely to come here to Maine at any time; the whole place is far too blue to need her”.
Larry,
support your local TEC events. Go to paid dinners, etc. Drop a stack of leaflets in the parking lot. Drop into a church and lay a few leaflets on the tract table. The reappraisers have been great at 5th Column tactics for years. Just visit somewhere and leave information. Call the wardens later. Prepare to get yelled at. But, the word will get out. Then – hopefully – one day somebody will organize a friend or two in each church and then more will happen. I personally don’t need to follow KJS to tell about her and her bishop sponsors to the people that matter.
“So, Irenaeus, where does one in fact start?”
Good question. Choir Stall [#38] has good suggestions. We could also keep our ears open KJS’ public calendar. Maybe Greg Griffith would consider including a sticky link on which we could share information about KJS’ next visitations.
[blockquote] Maybe Greg Griffith would consider including a sticky link on which we could share information about KJS’ next visitations.
[/blockquote]
And after those “pastoral” visitations, perhaps a [url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark+11:15-18&version=31;] Temple Cleansing [/url] team could go in?
And a biohazard team to bag all the Bull Gesheckta that will be spilled.
Do the canons allow for the temporary removal of inhibitions by the PB?
Do the canons allow for impeachment of a current PB?
Well, why don’t we discuss strategy. Maybe make up a team of folks to go demonstrate outside the National Cathedral, and to hand out tracts on lawsuits etc. Pity we missed Easter, and Christmas is a bit far away, however there are political events on a regular basis at the Nat Cat which should do us fine. We could also arrange sit ins elsewhere.
It seems to me that we might do well targeting the so called Windsor bishops who have done more to grease the liberal wheels than many a simple heretic.
Shari