Tuesday, April 05, 2005
AOTGA - Act 4
Life was growing difficult at St. Mark's. The two priests who were against the new developments began to tell parishioners to beware. This did not make for peaceful co-existence. We discovered if we kept silent about the Holy Spirit, people said we were cliquish and had a "secret group." If we shared the news, people said we were trying to "infect" them. It didn't matter what we did because it was always wrong.
One woman was very joyous over what, to her, was a wonderful new relationship with God. She was so happy that as she went about her church duties (she was the librarian) she sometimes gave a little skip. They said she was crazy. Seeing that she was displeasing some members, she went back to her customary solemn exterior. They commented, "Well, it didn't do her any good." Amazing stories were told. One elderly lady who had never attended a prayer meeting (and I doubt ever has since) told people she had been to one of those meetings and they all "rubbed elbows." A priest spread the rumor that we all sat in a circle and worshipped the rector. A teen-ager claimed the men held the women's ankles. Someone asserted that one of the men who had received the gift said he had a flower growing out of his tongue. The rumors circulated wildly and grew more and more illogical. Something had to happen. Something did when the rector preached at all three services on Passion Sunday, 1960, telling of his experience with the Holy Spirit and of how meaningful it was to him.
Nothing visible occurred at the 7:30 AM service; but at the 9:00 AM service one priest tore off his vestments, threw them on the altar, publicly resigned, and stormed out of the church. Confusion reigned. A man followed the priest out, ran up to him and said, "I'm right behind you, Father. Anything you and Father Bennett do is fine with me!" One man followed the rector when he left the church to commiserate with him because he thought he was having trouble with his wife. Few seemed to grasp what was happening.
I had Altar Guild duty after the 9:00 AM service and Father Bennett told me he was going to resign at the 11:00 AM service. I was against it, but he informed me it was merely a strategic move. The older priest came in then and cleverly "elbowed" me out as I tried to argue Dennis out of resigning. He obviously did not want Dennis to change his mind. This was later made clear in a letter from him received by a doctor, saying in part, "We had someone here who spoke in tongues. We got rid of him and don't want any more of it."
Father Bennett thought that since he had built the church from 200 to 2,600 people, the vestry would not let him resign. However, they would and they did.
At the eleven o'clock service, the rector repeated the story of his experience to the congregation. He also told them of the associate priest's resignation at the earlier service, and tendered his own resignation. The other associate, with the rector's permission, then arose and gave a short address to the effect that this sort of thing could not be tolerated in reputable churches. Rectors would come and go, he said, but he would remain. Things would proceed as usual at St. Mark's.
Father Bennett retired to his home after the service, but the two opposing associate priests spoke to groups of people on the patio asserting that the experience the rector and the leaders of the church had received was heretical and not to be condoned. The curate, who had received the baptism, was new to the church. Since he had only recently been ordained to the priesthood, he was not in a position to do much of anything.
Since the rector employs the assistants, by his resignation the church automatically became devoid of any clergy whatsoever. In the space of a few hours, a four-clergy parish had dwindled to a no-clergy parish.
There was much emotion among the involved parties, but the majority of the people did not comprehend what had taken place. My telephone rang for weeks with people inquiring what it was all about. I remember saying to one housewife, "But weren't you there Sunday? Didn't you hear his sermon?" She said, "Yes, but all I understood was that he's had a religious experience. What's wrong with that? I thought priests were supposed to have religious experiences." Not at St. Mark's.
There was some humor in the Passion Sunday events. I had been trying to persuade a sophisticated and attractive couple to attend St. Mark's. Of all Sundays, Passion Sunday was the time they chose for their maiden visit. When the service was over, we all left the church. My head was down and I was blushing with embarrassment over the controversy, when their daughter spoke up with, "I don't see what everyone is so excited about. My grandmother speaks in tongues all the time."
After every Sunday service, one sweet, little elderly lady would invariably approach the curate and say, "It was a lovely service, Father." On this particular Sunday the rector reported that he had been filled with the Holy Ghost and had spoken with other tongues; one associate resigned; one associate proclaimed that such things could not be tolerated; the rector resigned; the curate was automatically unemployed; women wept and strong men left the church with drawn brow. And that same sweet, little elderly lady took the curate's hand and said, "It was a lovely service, Father."
The rector was given three months to find another position. The three months were full of prayer meetings, information gatherings, plans and confusion. People felt threatened and insecure. No one knew what to do about anything. Sometimes it seemed as though the rector had a different plan every week. Satan began to take advantage of the situation with gossip, confusion and fear. "together we stand; divided we fall" isn't a bad maxim. We fell.
Click here for the Table of Contents
One woman was very joyous over what, to her, was a wonderful new relationship with God. She was so happy that as she went about her church duties (she was the librarian) she sometimes gave a little skip. They said she was crazy. Seeing that she was displeasing some members, she went back to her customary solemn exterior. They commented, "Well, it didn't do her any good." Amazing stories were told. One elderly lady who had never attended a prayer meeting (and I doubt ever has since) told people she had been to one of those meetings and they all "rubbed elbows." A priest spread the rumor that we all sat in a circle and worshipped the rector. A teen-ager claimed the men held the women's ankles. Someone asserted that one of the men who had received the gift said he had a flower growing out of his tongue. The rumors circulated wildly and grew more and more illogical. Something had to happen. Something did when the rector preached at all three services on Passion Sunday, 1960, telling of his experience with the Holy Spirit and of how meaningful it was to him.
Nothing visible occurred at the 7:30 AM service; but at the 9:00 AM service one priest tore off his vestments, threw them on the altar, publicly resigned, and stormed out of the church. Confusion reigned. A man followed the priest out, ran up to him and said, "I'm right behind you, Father. Anything you and Father Bennett do is fine with me!" One man followed the rector when he left the church to commiserate with him because he thought he was having trouble with his wife. Few seemed to grasp what was happening.
I had Altar Guild duty after the 9:00 AM service and Father Bennett told me he was going to resign at the 11:00 AM service. I was against it, but he informed me it was merely a strategic move. The older priest came in then and cleverly "elbowed" me out as I tried to argue Dennis out of resigning. He obviously did not want Dennis to change his mind. This was later made clear in a letter from him received by a doctor, saying in part, "We had someone here who spoke in tongues. We got rid of him and don't want any more of it."
Father Bennett thought that since he had built the church from 200 to 2,600 people, the vestry would not let him resign. However, they would and they did.
At the eleven o'clock service, the rector repeated the story of his experience to the congregation. He also told them of the associate priest's resignation at the earlier service, and tendered his own resignation. The other associate, with the rector's permission, then arose and gave a short address to the effect that this sort of thing could not be tolerated in reputable churches. Rectors would come and go, he said, but he would remain. Things would proceed as usual at St. Mark's.
Father Bennett retired to his home after the service, but the two opposing associate priests spoke to groups of people on the patio asserting that the experience the rector and the leaders of the church had received was heretical and not to be condoned. The curate, who had received the baptism, was new to the church. Since he had only recently been ordained to the priesthood, he was not in a position to do much of anything.
Since the rector employs the assistants, by his resignation the church automatically became devoid of any clergy whatsoever. In the space of a few hours, a four-clergy parish had dwindled to a no-clergy parish.
There was much emotion among the involved parties, but the majority of the people did not comprehend what had taken place. My telephone rang for weeks with people inquiring what it was all about. I remember saying to one housewife, "But weren't you there Sunday? Didn't you hear his sermon?" She said, "Yes, but all I understood was that he's had a religious experience. What's wrong with that? I thought priests were supposed to have religious experiences." Not at St. Mark's.
There was some humor in the Passion Sunday events. I had been trying to persuade a sophisticated and attractive couple to attend St. Mark's. Of all Sundays, Passion Sunday was the time they chose for their maiden visit. When the service was over, we all left the church. My head was down and I was blushing with embarrassment over the controversy, when their daughter spoke up with, "I don't see what everyone is so excited about. My grandmother speaks in tongues all the time."
After every Sunday service, one sweet, little elderly lady would invariably approach the curate and say, "It was a lovely service, Father." On this particular Sunday the rector reported that he had been filled with the Holy Ghost and had spoken with other tongues; one associate resigned; one associate proclaimed that such things could not be tolerated; the rector resigned; the curate was automatically unemployed; women wept and strong men left the church with drawn brow. And that same sweet, little elderly lady took the curate's hand and said, "It was a lovely service, Father."
The rector was given three months to find another position. The three months were full of prayer meetings, information gatherings, plans and confusion. People felt threatened and insecure. No one knew what to do about anything. Sometimes it seemed as though the rector had a different plan every week. Satan began to take advantage of the situation with gossip, confusion and fear. "together we stand; divided we fall" isn't a bad maxim. We fell.
Click here for the Table of Contents
# posted by LeeSun @ 2:31 pm 
