Representatives of the Episcopal Church implied if they were victorious in the lawsuit and St. Vincent’s property was indeed vacated, it would be used for mission work. This was not the case when the building sheltering The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in New York City, valued at $386,400, was forced to be vacated and then sold for $50,000 in order to house the Islamic Awareness Center. Time magazine’s David Van Biema reported that Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church “would rather see the churches sold and deconsecrated for secular purposes than passed on to the departing congregations.”<\/p>\n
I wonder what kind of message is being sent to the world as ecclesiastical focus shifts from charity to greed. Is it not permissible to just walk away during a disagreement instead of suing one another? I remember those preschoolers in that tiny chapel during the late ’70s settling differences on the playground by a handshake. God bless this grownup mess.<\/p>\n