Rector Revokes Invitation

The Senior Warden of St. Andrew's Church in Vestal, NY, Warren Musselman was told last week by the rector of St. Peter's in Cazenovia, the Rev. Robin Flocken, that the invitation to dialogue with a group of his cradle Episcopalians is no longer on the table. His ostensible reason for rescinding his invitation is that he isn't interested in conversation with a parish that has voted to leave the Episcopal Church. I can think of some other reasons.

First, the leaders and membership of St. Andrew's are among the most knowledgeable persons concerning the Episcopal Crisis. Fr. Flocken may be one of a number of priests in the Diocese of Central NY who has kept his parish in the dark about the real situation in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. I wonder whether his people know, let alone are praying for, the primates meeting this week. I wonder whether they know that there is the possibility that ecusa may be disciplined at this meeting. I wonder how knowledgeable the leaders and membership of St. Peter's are about what is going on in ecusa and the Anglican Communion.

Second, St. Andrew's for a good number of years has offered extensive adult education. Through the years at St. Andrew's, classes have included the Bethel Bible series, Kerygma, and Education for Ministry. Our leaders are trained to think biblically and theologically. This kind of leadership might be daunting for a church whose people are less biblically literate and whose only theology is from a rector's sermons.

My two points are only guesses, but if I were the rector of St. Peter's, I would view an encounter with knowledgeable laypeople from another parish as dangerous. My people might wonder why their rector doesn't teach them Scripture and theology and keep them abreast of what is going on in ecusa and the Anglican Communion. But, as I said, these are only guesses.