My Sisters and Brothers;
Over the next month, Jan and I will enter a period of deep prayer and discernment to discover where God is directing our hearts and souls. This will include being unavailable from about May 16 through May 24 – we are taking some much-needed “us” time to heal and work through what has happened since the end of March.
For those who are not aware, near the end of March, the organization under which I was serving released a person from leadership who made claims about their credentials. After a lengthy investigation, it turns out they had lied about their credentials and consecration. We also discovered that the person had sewn deep divisions within the organization. After that person left, however, the division continued.
Yesterday, I withdrew from my positions in the organization and asked to be returned to the lay state. After some discussion, I agreed to remain within the communion under the sacramental authority of another bishop.
In the past few years, I have learned many lessons, with a great many of them manifesting just in the past month. I’ve seen people who feel they are “owed” the priesthood and episcopate. I’ve seen others who believe they can accuse and say things without backing and expect not to be confronted. I have seen the antithesis of what it means to be a trauma-informed, chaplain-informed, and priestly organization – and because of strong personalities, I have been drawn into the fray myself and fully accept any responsibility for my actions. But that does not mean allowing myself to be beaten over and over.
I know there is another side to ministry – one that focuses on the +Christ and on +His teachings of love, compassion, FORGIVENESS, and healing. I know there is a side of ministry where people put away their differences and allow themselves to be true servants to the People of God, which means sometimes having to do things that make us uncomfortable even when we do not have the “bandwidth” to deal with others – as was expected of me.
So, Jan and I are returning to our “centers.” We are returning to prayer and to our +Christ to rediscover our direction. My little thorn has been silent for a while because I have lost sight of what is really important – BEing an authentic voice of the TEACHINGS and not of my own needs and desires. To get there, though, I need to withdraw, regroup, and refind my +Christ, even if that means leaving the very thing I hold sacred – the priesthood.
So I ask for your prayers during this time of discernment. I KNOW there is a place where one can just BE a servant to the People. I know there are others out there who feel the same and who need just to BE the calling.
And so, one final order of business – The Pastoral Center at Sacred Wandering is fully under the protection of Sacred Wandering, Inc, a registered CHURCH entity under the IRS and the State of Wisconsin – and will remain independent of any organization for the foreseeable future. In that way, we can assure those under its care that they will always be respected and loved. As a ministry, we are deeply aligned with the vision of the Anglican Free Communion International. I currently celebrate my sacramental authority (the ability to celebrate the sacraments) under the archbishop of the United States.
