A Good Reminder To Check In on Your Vestry Now and Then
St. Margaret’s, Palm Springs, CA Struggling Financially
St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, where the late President Gerald R. Ford worshipped, is operating in the red and is tightening its financial belt.
The church has a budget shortfall of more than $200,000 and debt of about $2.1 million, according to church staffers.
The situation forced church officials to lay off half of the staff and to begin a new push for fundraising and pledging.
Those are impressive figures, especially when you consider how progressive and all-embracing this flagship parish is and how well everything in general is supposed to be going in the good 'ol Episcopal Diocese of San Diego.
<wink>
Truly, this is a good reminder to all parishioners not to assume your vestry has any clue at all what they are doing. Don't hesitate to ask for the financials from time to time.
This isn't the kind of publicity your church needs.
Comments
Anyone have any info on this event (posted here and originally from a commenter on Stand Firm)?
That's impossible. TEC doesn't do SSMs, right? That's just so not in the spirit (or letter) of Windsor. <wink>
I say we ask Bishop Mathes himself. He should be able to confirm or deny this. It's a fair question, given the documentation and public nature of the event.
David Turney
Site Editor
David - I took your advice and asked Bishop Mathes by email for a comment or clarification. I've posted the response I received from Howard Smith (Canon for the Ordinary) here.
Well done, Anne. Saw it earlier today on your excellent blog. Thanks for the reporting.
From the email and other context you've posted, we might infer that Mathes is allowing SSBs but not SSMs (for the time being, anyway).
All that nonsense in Smith's reply about journalistic standards and blogs--valid or not--is a thin smoke screen designed to obfuscate the fact that the question has not been answered. I'm w/ Mike L. on that one.
The question remains: did St. Margaret's clergy celebrate a full-on same sex marriage or did they "merely" bless something that God could never bless.
Bishop?
David Turney
Site Editor
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