Lionel Deimel, a member of St. Paul’s in Mt. Lebanon who blogs on church matters from a liberal perspective, declared his opposition to any local candidate before Father [Scott] Quinn was named. He argued that all local priests carry factional baggage and that the diocese was too ingrown….
The Rev. James Simons, a theological conservative who had a leading role in reorganizing the diocese after the split, hasn’t chosen a candidate yet, and said that the value of an inside candidate depends on the person.
“It can be argued both ways,” he said. “When you elect from within the diocese, the learning curve is less steep. You don’t have to learn the history because you lived the history. On the other hand, sometimes it’s good to have someone looking at things with fresh eyes. It all depends on who that individual is.”
How many actual people are in this club? More than, let’s say 900?
Thanks, Senior Priest. You’re right that we’re a smaller bunch after the division. About 30 organized congregations, but–to note one measure–only eight that are able to support a full-time priest at the diocesan minimum for compensation. ASA in 2010 was about 2000, with about half that number in three parishes. I wrote an overview in a blog posting last fall. [url=http://ourpghdiocese.blogspot.com/2011/09/little-more-about-who-we-are.html]Who we are[/url].
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh before 2008 was a medium-sized diocese with a fairly large central administrative structure supported by a significant number of larger and mid-sized parishes. The reality now is that we’re now in a different world, and the structure of diocesan life needs to be quite different. The changes can be painful and stressing, but the need to find new models of effective ministry can also be the source of creativity and renewal. Hope you’ll keep us in your prayers.
Bruce Robison
Statistics submitted from the 2010 Parochial Reports for the twenty-nine parishes represented at the 2011 diocesan convention show 8,682 baptized members. (See pp. 115 of the 2011 Pre-Convention Journal.) You might want to check that out. Interesting reading.