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Lessons from the Episcopal Church in Maryland: Personal Responsibility and God's Grace
By Ladson F. Mills III
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
January 21, 2014
If as the poet Theodore Roethke portrays "we learn by going where we have to go", 2014 will be remembered as a year of tough going for the Episcopal Church. Even the most self-serving sycophant would be hard pressed to find a positive spin when even support of the courts is no longer a certainty.
Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin writes that conservatism seems to be enjoying a period of intellectual creativity while liberalism is dedicated to the status quo. Perhaps this may explain the resistance from the church leadership to abandon its failed policies. It is not through any intellectual deficiency, but to an intellectual laziness which is the inevitable result of having abandoned the Christian Gospel to embrace as its defining value system the American system of jurisprudence.
Bishop of Maryland Eugene Sutton's initial response to Heather Cook was about as good as could be expected given the horrific nature of what seems to have occurred. This changed when he added that she had returned to the scene after her twenty minute departure in order to accept responsibility. In Mr. Palermo's death a wife has lost her husband and young children a father and the community a good and decent member. Not only has a Christian sister and bishop failed, but she now faces criminal prosecution.
Several months ago Heather Cook was being touted by the Episcopal Church as a poster child for success, but now she is treated like a pariah. The presiding bishop who once posed happily beside her now is dismissive when asked if her situation was discussed at the recent Executive Council meeting. For those who believe that scripture is unimportant to Episcopalians the response from House of Deputies President Jennings should assuage any concern. Her remark that she is only a mere "acquaintance" of Cook is a performance worthy of Peter's denial in Gethsemane. Heather Cook is receiving a harsh lesson in Episcopal Church politics in that when they tell you that they love you it is only for the moment.
Compounding the situation is the latest statement from Bishop Sutton sharing that he has decided to accept the counsel of a friend in addiction recovery who advises him not to blame himself for Cook's failures. Having met Sutton several years ago I found him to a decent man who possesses much more depth than is currently being shown. I would urge caution in publicly sharing such messages of personal support as former Presiding Bishop Edmund Browning discovered in the mid-1990's when the treasurer for the Episcopal Church was discovered embezzling church funds including vast amounts from his discretionary fund. Most accepted his statements of being shocked and feeling betrayed until it was revealed that he had ignored numerous warnings concerning her behavior. Browning was left looking disingenuous and his statements as self-serving.
When I was ordained there was concern over the influence of what was then described as "the triumph of the therapeutic"; the influence of the medical model as definitive for the church. This was later replaced by the legal model which now permeates the church at every level. In fairness decisions are not made in a vacuum and regrettably the adoption of the legal model was a necessity in a world gone mad with lust for litigation. I do not believe that Sutton, Jennings or the presiding bishop are so disconnected as to be unaware of how their responses are being received, but I do believe they are misguided by legal advice.
It is now time for the Episcopal Church to cast this model aside and accept the flaws and inadequacies that this incident has exposed. In an effort to select a "designer bishop" critical information was withheld from those who were tasked to vote in the convention that elected her. Through the years the church has emphasized the recruiting of minority clergy, female clergy and more recently young clergy. In truth we should be looking for clergy who are faithful regardless of gender or ethnicity and then do our best to see that they are equipped for their call.
Yet in the midst of the insanity we find there are those who are willing to speak in clarity and grace. In Maryland the Rev'd Angel Scarborough is one who has correctly observed that this crisis was birthed by an "epic failure" from the diocese and all involved through the confusing of forgiveness with accountability. It has taken a lot of enablers for Heather Cook to end up where she is. A change in the way bishops are screened will not bring back Mr. Palermo nor help Cook. It may, however facilitate the beginning of a redemptive witness in the midst of this horrific and needless tragedy. It may set the stage in which the Episcopal Church can witness to the world that restitution and not vengeance is the Christian concept.
It is time to cast aside the legal smoke screen and spin in order for the church to be the church.
We can start by remembering that all recovery is about personal responsibility and it is about God's grace.
Ladson F. Mills III is a retired priest with over thirty years pastoral experience. He lives with his wife in South Carolina. He currently serves as Scholar in Residence at the Church of Our Saviour, Johns Island. He is a regular contributor to "Virtueonline."
