Owego rector denies finance allegations
Episcopal church leader says retaliation is diocese's motive
BY NANCY DOOLING
An Episcopal parish in Owego has been without its long time rector for nearly six months while church leadership in Syracuse pursues an investigation into allegations of misuse of money at St. Paul's Church.
David Bollinger, St. Paul's rector for more than 20 years, said central New York diocesan officials broke into his personal bank account using identity theft and that Bishop Gladstone Adams' allegations of financial impropriety against him are without merit.
Bollinger also said the investigation is being conducted in retaliation for Bollinger's claim that the diocese mishandled a decades-old allegation of sexual abuse from a former parishioner against another rector.
"I maintain my innocence," Bollinger said of the diocesan investigation. "And I want this nightmare to end."
And at St. Paul's, where Bollinger has been temporarily banned, membership is dwindling while the rector is unable to celebrate the Eucharist and the bishop fails to resolve the issue, parish leaders said.
Most parishioners and its vestry -- the leadership chosen democratically from parishioners -- back Bollinger in the dispute and are unhappy with the way they say Adams handled the investigation into Bollinger's discretionary accounts.
"We are very much in support of our priest," said Patty Ellis, one of two parish wardens representing the 10 members of the parish's vestry, which handles parish finances and acts in the absence of the rector. She declined further comment, citing legal issues.
But in a Sept. 8 letter to Adams, the vestry, including Ellis, said parish membership and morale was strained by the rift. Regular Sunday attendance numbered about 125 before Bollinger was removed as rector on May 31. Now the number has fallen to about 70, the letter states: "This inhibition (Bollinger's temporary removal) is having a highly detrimental effect on the morale and finances of our parish and we need you to know this." The parish is paying a supply priest to conduct services on Sundays.
Adams, who oversees about 22,107 Episcopalians in central New York, said he and other diocesan leaders are awaiting an investigation conducted by a private attorney they hired to look into church finances before any decision is made about Bollinger's future. "My hope in the whole thing is that by being diligent, that we'll find out what the truth is and respond to that," he said.
The wait has been devastating to Bollinger, who continues to receive his salary from St. Paul's, he said. One of his three daughters is suffering from thyroid cancer, and the stress of the accusations against him has taken a toll on his heath, Bollinger said. Bollinger's wife, Kelly, is a former mayor of the Village of Owego.
Bollinger said the trouble began when a former parishioner came forward in 2002 making allegations of sexual abuse against another rector no longer in New York state. Bollinger said he reported the abuse to the bishop, but that no action was taken. Bollinger pushed unsuccessfully for an investigation, he said.
Adams said that the alleged victim never came forward to meet a diocesan response team that investigates such allegations, nor was the committee provided with a name -- a process that's a requirement for an investigation. The committee was created since 2002 in the wake of priestly misconduct in the Roman Catholic Church, Adams said.
Bollinger claims that the diocese, in retaliation for his complaints that the bishop refused to pursue the abuse allegation, began improperly prying into his personal finances -- a claim Adams denies. The investigations are into accounts handled by Bollinger. The diocese conducted an audit that has not been made public.
Financial matters in Episcopal parishes are handled not by the rector, but by the wardens and vestry. The leadership at St. Paul's has been hurt and angered by the accusations of financial wrongdoing because they believe the accusations reflect on their own conduct. They say in the September letter to Adams that they can prove Adams' allegations to be without merit, but that Adams has refused to meet with them.
Bollinger's removal from the parish as rector was recently extended for a third 90-day term.
Under Episcopal policy, Adams could restore Bollinger to the parish or he could have him defrocked.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Is This Really Via Media?
The Diocese of Central NY has been associated with the Via Media movement in ECUSA. Here are some aspects of this movement that you might not know about:
The Via Media curriculum, developed and licensed by Every Voice Network of San Francisco (everyvoice.net/viamedia), is the most ambitious evangelistic effort by liberal Episcopalians in many years. An eight-lesson DVD disc, print curriculum, and facilitator training are sold as a package, and prices vary based on how much training a parish desires.
The Rev. Buddy Stallings of Staten Island, N.Y., referred to Alpha as he helped lead a Via Media training session last May in Jackson, Miss. “We, like you, have watched it and have admired it,” Stallings said. “But we do feel like its fairly narrow evangelical approach leaves us wishing for something bigger, more comprehensive, broader, that gives us more breathing room.”
The producers of Via Media have succeeded, in this sense: Their curriculum will appeal to Episcopal parishes that consider Alpha too evangelical in its theology, too “literalist” in its reading of Scripture, or somehow not truly Anglican in its ethos.
What makes Via Media appealing to those parishes, however, also will limit its appeal to parishes that believe the Christian gospel answers certain questions definitively. While Alpha relies on videos featuring one teacher, the Rev. Nicky Gumbel of Holy Trinity Brompton, Via Media gathers five people at a time around a table for a discussion.
The conversation format works fairly well on most topics, but it’s also a clear indication that the curriculum considers theological opinions equally sound, at least if expressed by Episcopalians. Participants in the conversations reinforce this notion repeatedly. So, for instance, the Rev. Jay Johnson of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and
Ministry says that Anglicans are “uncomfortable with faith by decree,” whether by a pope, a bishop, or a text (including the Bible). Anglicans are instead comfortable with “faith by conversation,” he says, adding that truth comes from a chorus of voices rather than a univocal lecture.
One weakness in Via Media’s chorus is the absence of a decidedly evangelical voice. Rather, its participants cover the spectrum from center-left to further left. Most of the participants are charming and intelligent, and nearly everyone says at least one thing to which an evangelical Anglican could say amen. Many of these voices also say things that would ruffle nary a feather in a seminary but stray from historic Anglican theology or from the fairly generous boundaries of the prayer book.
For example:
– Via Media presents “open communion”–by which it means offering the body and blood of Christ to the non-baptized and to non-Christians–as normative, though it is far from a churchwide (or officially approved) practice.
– The Rev. Susan Russell of All Saints, Pasadena, says Anglicans are “not limited by the language of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” when describing the Holy Trinity.
– The Rev. Winnie Varghese, chaplain at Columbia University, rejects the doctrine that Jesus died for sinful humanity, asserting instead that goodness and love incarnate is killed, and that Jesus came to us in vulnerability rather than power. “There is actually a danger and idolatry in making an idol of Jesus,” she says in response to whether Jesus is the only way to the Father, as the Gospel of John records him saying of himself. “Jesus never asks us to worship him. Among all the gospels that we have, that’s not one of the stories. Jesus asks us to follow.”
– In a discussion of sin, the Rt. Rev. Stephen Charleston of Episcopal Divinity School and other participants agree that it’s wrong to compile lists of rules (especially about sex). Nevertheless, Charleston gives his own list of corporate sins: policies that cause homelessness, economic oppression, environmental destruction. He identifies the church’s sins as “blindness, an inflated sense of privilege, prejudice, sexism, racism, and homophobia.”
Via Media offers some moments of warmth, such as when participants describe what they love about celebrating the Eucharist or receiving the elements of Communion. The Rev. Shannon Ferguson Kelly of All Saints, Pasadena, tells a sweet story of a boy from her second-grade Sunday school class who was convinced he no longer believed in God. Kelly asks the boy who created the spark that led to the Big Bang, which led to many more conversations. She quotes the boy’s father as saying his son prayed for clarity about why he no longer believed in God.
The presence of the Rev. Malcolm Boyd–the well-known author of Are You Running With Me, Jesus?–is one of many ways in which Via Media celebrates the Episcopal Church’s increasingly liberal policies on gay clergy (the topic arises in all but one of the video segments). His voice is perhaps the most personal and passionate in the series. “Jesus has always been a companion–close, accepting, loving, guiding present,” Boyd says in one
segment. In another moment Boyd says, “Jesus loved me because I’m gay. Jesus loved me because I’m Malcolm. Jesus loved me because Jesus is Jesus.”
For most of this series, though, participants spend less time talking about who Jesus is, or how to have a tangible relationship with him, than how glorious it is to be an Episcopalian in the early 21st century. That’s fine for people who love this sort of thing, and at least several hundred parishes surely will find this a compelling message. Others, however, will think something important is missing–something that enables people to say, without pride, “I once was lost but now am found.”
Doug Leblanc, an episcopal layman, is the editor of the GetReligion blog.
The Via Media curriculum, developed and licensed by Every Voice Network of San Francisco (everyvoice.net/viamedia), is the most ambitious evangelistic effort by liberal Episcopalians in many years. An eight-lesson DVD disc, print curriculum, and facilitator training are sold as a package, and prices vary based on how much training a parish desires.
The Rev. Buddy Stallings of Staten Island, N.Y., referred to Alpha as he helped lead a Via Media training session last May in Jackson, Miss. “We, like you, have watched it and have admired it,” Stallings said. “But we do feel like its fairly narrow evangelical approach leaves us wishing for something bigger, more comprehensive, broader, that gives us more breathing room.”
The producers of Via Media have succeeded, in this sense: Their curriculum will appeal to Episcopal parishes that consider Alpha too evangelical in its theology, too “literalist” in its reading of Scripture, or somehow not truly Anglican in its ethos.
What makes Via Media appealing to those parishes, however, also will limit its appeal to parishes that believe the Christian gospel answers certain questions definitively. While Alpha relies on videos featuring one teacher, the Rev. Nicky Gumbel of Holy Trinity Brompton, Via Media gathers five people at a time around a table for a discussion.
The conversation format works fairly well on most topics, but it’s also a clear indication that the curriculum considers theological opinions equally sound, at least if expressed by Episcopalians. Participants in the conversations reinforce this notion repeatedly. So, for instance, the Rev. Jay Johnson of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and
Ministry says that Anglicans are “uncomfortable with faith by decree,” whether by a pope, a bishop, or a text (including the Bible). Anglicans are instead comfortable with “faith by conversation,” he says, adding that truth comes from a chorus of voices rather than a univocal lecture.
One weakness in Via Media’s chorus is the absence of a decidedly evangelical voice. Rather, its participants cover the spectrum from center-left to further left. Most of the participants are charming and intelligent, and nearly everyone says at least one thing to which an evangelical Anglican could say amen. Many of these voices also say things that would ruffle nary a feather in a seminary but stray from historic Anglican theology or from the fairly generous boundaries of the prayer book.
For example:
– Via Media presents “open communion”–by which it means offering the body and blood of Christ to the non-baptized and to non-Christians–as normative, though it is far from a churchwide (or officially approved) practice.
– The Rev. Susan Russell of All Saints, Pasadena, says Anglicans are “not limited by the language of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” when describing the Holy Trinity.
– The Rev. Winnie Varghese, chaplain at Columbia University, rejects the doctrine that Jesus died for sinful humanity, asserting instead that goodness and love incarnate is killed, and that Jesus came to us in vulnerability rather than power. “There is actually a danger and idolatry in making an idol of Jesus,” she says in response to whether Jesus is the only way to the Father, as the Gospel of John records him saying of himself. “Jesus never asks us to worship him. Among all the gospels that we have, that’s not one of the stories. Jesus asks us to follow.”
– In a discussion of sin, the Rt. Rev. Stephen Charleston of Episcopal Divinity School and other participants agree that it’s wrong to compile lists of rules (especially about sex). Nevertheless, Charleston gives his own list of corporate sins: policies that cause homelessness, economic oppression, environmental destruction. He identifies the church’s sins as “blindness, an inflated sense of privilege, prejudice, sexism, racism, and homophobia.”
Via Media offers some moments of warmth, such as when participants describe what they love about celebrating the Eucharist or receiving the elements of Communion. The Rev. Shannon Ferguson Kelly of All Saints, Pasadena, tells a sweet story of a boy from her second-grade Sunday school class who was convinced he no longer believed in God. Kelly asks the boy who created the spark that led to the Big Bang, which led to many more conversations. She quotes the boy’s father as saying his son prayed for clarity about why he no longer believed in God.
The presence of the Rev. Malcolm Boyd–the well-known author of Are You Running With Me, Jesus?–is one of many ways in which Via Media celebrates the Episcopal Church’s increasingly liberal policies on gay clergy (the topic arises in all but one of the video segments). His voice is perhaps the most personal and passionate in the series. “Jesus has always been a companion–close, accepting, loving, guiding present,” Boyd says in one
segment. In another moment Boyd says, “Jesus loved me because I’m gay. Jesus loved me because I’m Malcolm. Jesus loved me because Jesus is Jesus.”
For most of this series, though, participants spend less time talking about who Jesus is, or how to have a tangible relationship with him, than how glorious it is to be an Episcopalian in the early 21st century. That’s fine for people who love this sort of thing, and at least several hundred parishes surely will find this a compelling message. Others, however, will think something important is missing–something that enables people to say, without pride, “I once was lost but now am found.”
Doug Leblanc, an episcopal layman, is the editor of the GetReligion blog.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
DCNY Annual Convention Story
From the Syracuse Post-Standard:
Ordinations conclude division-plagued Episcopal diocese convention
Give yourselves away and don't lose heart, the five newest deacons are told.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
By Renée K. Gadoua
Staff writer
Jesus sat at the same table as his betrayer, Bishop Gladstone "Skip" Adams reminded five new Episcopal deacons Saturday.
The newest servants of the church must model that behavior for the whole church, he said.
"We need this witness from you among us because we are in fear," Adams said, listing diocesan divisions, the future of the Anglican Communion, financial problems, declining church populations, and war and natural disasters as sources of anxiety.
"We're called to go beyond ourselves and give ourselves away," he said. "Jesus is Lord, and we do not lose heart."
Adams' sermon at Syracuse's St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral followed the Central New York diocese's two-day convention: "Hands Reaching Hands: Our Deacons in the World." The sermon also served as his convention address, sort of an annual "state of the diocese" speech.
About 350 people - 300 of them eligible to vote - attended the conference Friday and Saturday at the Holiday Inn in Salina.
The most controversial resolution, which said that sexual contact be reserved for marriage and defined marriage as the lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, was withdrawn at the start of convention.
Homosexuality has been a high-profile and divisive issue among some Anglicans worldwide since the 2003 General Convention action supporting the election of Gene Robinson, of New Hampshire, as the church's first openly gay bishop.
Eight local elected deputies, plus the bishop, will attend the triennial General Convention in June. They were elected at the November 2004 local convention and were commissioned Saturday.
Homosexuality is likely to top the national agenda, said the Rev. David T. Andrews, a local deputy and rector of St. Paul's Church in Chittenango.
"I hope that a spirit of humility guides us in this time," he said. "May we be a people not consumed with being right."
Also at the local convention, delegates overwhelmingly approved a proposed $2,107,091 budget for 2006.
The diocese's operating income has declined about $200,000, said Bill Branson, diocesan treasurer. That includes a shortfall of $56,113 from nine parishes that did not pay their assessments to the diocese.
Six of the diocese's 94 parishes withheld their assessments as a protest connected with disagreement about the church's policies on homosexuality, officials said.
Conference business also included:
Ö A presentation from the Rev. Ramiro Chavez, of El Salvador, on companion diocese relationships.
Ö Elections to several diocesan boards.
Ö Approval of a resolution outlining clergy compensation guidelines.
At least 50 Episcopal clergy and about 250 worshippers attended the two-hour ordination service at the cathedral. The ceremony included a renewal of baptismal vows, and the new deacons publicly declared their lifelong commitment to serve the church and its people.
Ordinations conclude division-plagued Episcopal diocese convention
Give yourselves away and don't lose heart, the five newest deacons are told.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
By Renée K. Gadoua
Staff writer
Jesus sat at the same table as his betrayer, Bishop Gladstone "Skip" Adams reminded five new Episcopal deacons Saturday.
The newest servants of the church must model that behavior for the whole church, he said.
"We need this witness from you among us because we are in fear," Adams said, listing diocesan divisions, the future of the Anglican Communion, financial problems, declining church populations, and war and natural disasters as sources of anxiety.
"We're called to go beyond ourselves and give ourselves away," he said. "Jesus is Lord, and we do not lose heart."
Adams' sermon at Syracuse's St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral followed the Central New York diocese's two-day convention: "Hands Reaching Hands: Our Deacons in the World." The sermon also served as his convention address, sort of an annual "state of the diocese" speech.
About 350 people - 300 of them eligible to vote - attended the conference Friday and Saturday at the Holiday Inn in Salina.
The most controversial resolution, which said that sexual contact be reserved for marriage and defined marriage as the lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, was withdrawn at the start of convention.
Homosexuality has been a high-profile and divisive issue among some Anglicans worldwide since the 2003 General Convention action supporting the election of Gene Robinson, of New Hampshire, as the church's first openly gay bishop.
Eight local elected deputies, plus the bishop, will attend the triennial General Convention in June. They were elected at the November 2004 local convention and were commissioned Saturday.
Homosexuality is likely to top the national agenda, said the Rev. David T. Andrews, a local deputy and rector of St. Paul's Church in Chittenango.
"I hope that a spirit of humility guides us in this time," he said. "May we be a people not consumed with being right."
Also at the local convention, delegates overwhelmingly approved a proposed $2,107,091 budget for 2006.
The diocese's operating income has declined about $200,000, said Bill Branson, diocesan treasurer. That includes a shortfall of $56,113 from nine parishes that did not pay their assessments to the diocese.
Six of the diocese's 94 parishes withheld their assessments as a protest connected with disagreement about the church's policies on homosexuality, officials said.
Conference business also included:
Ö A presentation from the Rev. Ramiro Chavez, of El Salvador, on companion diocese relationships.
Ö Elections to several diocesan boards.
Ö Approval of a resolution outlining clergy compensation guidelines.
At least 50 Episcopal clergy and about 250 worshippers attended the two-hour ordination service at the cathedral. The ceremony included a renewal of baptismal vows, and the new deacons publicly declared their lifelong commitment to serve the church and its people.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Conventional Wisdom
CW has it that the extended inhibition of Fr. David Bollinger was for the express purpose of getting any larger action, like deposition, past the date of Diocesan Convention. The fact that the Standing Committee did not present any new evidence or charges, as required for an extension of the inhibition, certainly does not conflict with this interpretation of events. CW also believes that there is a likelihood that Fr. Bollinger will be deposed without trial as is being done in the Diocese of CT. Stay tuned.
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