- May 5, 2012
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I was visiting some friends in Vermont last week, and one of them mentioned a "cult" (her words) located in the nearby town of Marshfield, Vermont. I did some Googling after I got back home and discovered two disturbing facts: 1) The church did indeed have some uncomfortably controlling behaviors, as reported here: Looking in from outside Former church members concerned for those who remain . And, 2) This church is an Anglican Catholic Church.
I'm not really familiar with the Anglican Catholic Church in particular, beyond that they're one of the groups that broke away from the Episcopal Church in the US over the ordination of women. But I had assumed that they were a church very much like my own Episcopal Church, aside from our disagreements over gender and sexuality. In particular, I would have expected a bishop to take a close look at the parish in Marshfield and to step in to correct its worst behaviors.
I know we have some Continuing Anglicans here in STR. Are you familiar with the ACC? Is this Marshfield church typical of the ACC's approach to church governance? Or is this parish just an odd exception, a little church doing bizarre things in a town so small that it escapes the attention of the national church? (And, yes, all our denominations have weird pastors doing weird things here and there. It happens. So it's quite possibly an exception. But I was ... surprised.)
I'm not really familiar with the Anglican Catholic Church in particular, beyond that they're one of the groups that broke away from the Episcopal Church in the US over the ordination of women. But I had assumed that they were a church very much like my own Episcopal Church, aside from our disagreements over gender and sexuality. In particular, I would have expected a bishop to take a close look at the parish in Marshfield and to step in to correct its worst behaviors.
I know we have some Continuing Anglicans here in STR. Are you familiar with the ACC? Is this Marshfield church typical of the ACC's approach to church governance? Or is this parish just an odd exception, a little church doing bizarre things in a town so small that it escapes the attention of the national church? (And, yes, all our denominations have weird pastors doing weird things here and there. It happens. So it's quite possibly an exception. But I was ... surprised.)