… about the goings-on in the Episcopal Church in general and the Diocese of Colorado in particular. Because I can’t quite get a sense of where you’re coming from when you start your column like this:
Their pastor is banned, the diocese seized their financial records and their bishop won’t answer questions. How much more unsettling can it get for Colorado’s largest Episcopal parish?
Or when you put the technical charges of financial impropriety against Rev. Don Armstrong in scare quotes (and personalize them as a vendetta) like this:
On Sunday, that’s exactly what a standing-room-only crowd of more than 230 wanted to know. They packed the Great Hall at Grace and St. Stephen’s parish in Colorado Springs, seeking answers about the removal during the Christmas holidays of their pastor of 20 years, the Rev. Don Armstrong, while Bishop Rob O’Neill investigates an allegation of “misapplied funds.”
Or when you quote folks who are clearly neutral on the subject:
“To date, the diocese has refused to supply any supporting facts whatsoever. That’s not just odd – it reeks to high heaven!” said parishioner Ed Montgomery, urging the crowd to support a petition accusing O’Neill of “an unconscionable and cruel act against our parish and its principal priest.”
Or when you write up balanced descriptions of the ongoing issues in the Episcopal Church like this:
The reek could also be coming from the meltdown of the venerable, 218-year-old Episcopal Church USA, now a sickly brew of liberals and conservatives stewing over a menu of irreconcilable differences.
Or when you play the “supporters” and “wife and daughter” cards, leavened with a healthy splash of conspiracy theory:
Armstrong supporters believe politics is behind his banishment. In other states, lawsuits and schisms are mounting, and fights are under way over church property.
At the meeting Sunday was Armstrong’s wife, Jessie, who came with their daughter Melissa. Both were touched by the shows of support. (Armstrong himself is banned from the parish during the diocese’s investigation. The diocese refuses all comment.)
Later, Jessie Armstrong cited politics as the culprit behind the crisis. If chaos triumphs in the parish, “the bishop comes down and dissolves the vestry and puts in his own person,” she said.
Or when the only acknowledgment that the diocese isn’t going to try the case in the media (the nerve of them!) and therefore is not going to be at all quoted or their position explained is hidden away in a parenthetical comment in the above block.
Or when the only person you can find other than fervent and tearful Armstrong supporters — I have no doubt you searched long and hard, Jean — who is willing to speak out in anything less than outrage over Armstrong’s suspension during an investigation of financial improprieties, is an anonymous catcaller from the balcony who asked for more transparency in church finances (and the snappy retort to whose request is then quoted in full).
Come on, Jean — tell us what you really think.
(via BD, who has his own commentary)