It’s time for the Diocese of South Carolina to join the new North American Province: Anglican Communion North America. Anything short will mark a complete failure of leadership.
The Rev.
The information about the rector at the church's website includes these words:
And if anything in the above list makes you nervous, maybe it would help to know that Steve married his childhood sweetheart, Jacqui, they have four sons, right now his favorite Bible verse is Ephesians 3.20-21, and, he also owns sixteen different versions of his favorite song, “Somewhere over the Rainbow.”
Not that there's anything wrong with that. And behave yourselves in the comments, please!
Sounds a teeny bit Dorothy-friendly there, doesn't he?
ReplyDeleteYou think so? The whole description strikes me as too cute by half.
ReplyDeleteIs this an example of what our British friends mean when they say "twee"?
ReplyDeleteamyj
LOL, Amy. I knew y'all would do me proud.
ReplyDeleteLapin, can you fill us in?
Must I behave? I read this and had an image of him dressed in a gingham dress and pigtails as he sang along with Judy behind the locked doors of the sacristy!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of the man before today, Mimi. Just that so many recordings of "Over the Rainbow" seems to be going a bit overboard. I also think he's a bit overboard on the Diocese of SC joining ACNA. Sarah Hey, who like me is in Upper SC, posted y'day morning on SF's thread on Wood's post that
ReplyDelete"I don’t think that the “right flank” [of churches in the Diocese of SC] that is “ready to bolt” is nearly so large as it would like to imply. 4-6 parishes, maybe, one of them quite large.
"But we shall see.
"I expect this post by Wood is an indication that he fears that there will be a “complete failure of leadership” [sic] by Lawrence wisely choosing not to join ACNA."
I think she's right.
There are 16 different versions to "Over the Rainbow" ???? shooot....
ReplyDeleteSCG, I warned you! ;o)
ReplyDeleteLapin, I was referring to Amyj's question about "twee".
But I believe that Sarah is right. Wood is throwing down the gauntlet.
Margaret, I had no idea....
ReplyDeleteMimi, did you catch the irony of referring to Ephesians 3: which talks about God expanding the Church in new and unexpected directions?
ReplyDeleteIt's probably been said before: the conservatives are trying to tell God what to do, whereas you liberals are trying to let God tell you what to do.
1. It's just a little "over the top."
ReplyDelete2. Do you think this is a coded message that he is a "friend of Dorothy?"
Sorry, I couldn't help it. I find him just a tad offensive.
Kishnevi, exactly. That's what comes of taking brief, isolated passages out of context. In the whole of chapter 3 in Ephesians, Paul speaks of INCLUSION of the Gentiles, which was shocking to many of the Jews of the day.
ReplyDeleteTwo Auntees, I giggled through most of my walk last night thinking about the listing of the manly man, hetero creds of Fr. Wood, followed by the information on the 16 versions of "Over the Rainbow". I have no idea what the message is.
Supposedly there is a small town in New Jersey called Dorothy. I've always wondered if they have a Quaker meeting house there.
ReplyDeleteHiding behind his beard.
ReplyDeletePriceless. As the saying goes, you can't make this stuff up.
ReplyDelete"Just in case the above items scare you(or something like that)" he's married to his childhood sweetheart and has kids! Bully for him...
ReplyDeleteAnd he likes baseball, and "The Godfather", AND he's head of one of the largest churches in the Low Country.
ReplyDeleteWhat I notice is that there is absolutely no mention of The Episcopal Church on the website (no surprise given the leadership's opinions about it), and the website frankly looks quite different from the typical TEC church sites I have seen.
ReplyDeleteTime for my nap so this comment isn't edited for content or coherence.
Caminante, It's not the usual Episcopal Church type of website. More like Saddleback or Joel Osteen, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteHis "favorite Bible verse" is two verses?
ReplyDeleteInability to count may be the very least of his problems.
Paul (A.)
Yes, very similar. Ceci n'est pas mon genre....
ReplyDeleteWhile Wounded Bird may indulge in irony, it might be better if she indulged in the pursuit of intelligence. To wit:
ReplyDelete1. The Bishop of SC is Mark Lawrence, not David Lawrence.
2. The rector of St. Andrew's is Stephen Wood, not Steven Wood.
3. His parish is bigger than some of our diocese (the DioSC website reported that he had 5000+ at his Easter services).
4. With his written record, the best you can do is take immature pot-shots at his bio (did you ever consider that his parishoners, knowing his enjoyment of the song, might have given him the recordings?).
5. Lapin, you never heard of him? How bizarre. He famously replied to the question "What would you say to the Episcopalians in the Upper Diocese?" proffered by The State in an interview a few years ago by saying, "Flee."
6. The Presiding Bishop certainly knows who he is, having visited his parish a few years ago, and then inviting him to a meeting of the Rectors of the 7 largest Episcopal Churches last September.
7. I disagree on almost everything I've read about him and by him, but y'alls petty personal attacks make our side look petty and lame. His written record is vast. Take on his arguments.
His "arguments?" They are ridiculous. Therefore, the appropriate response is ridicule.
ReplyDeleteSam, thank you for your corrections. Perhaps, I should have followed the practice on the church website and said "Steve", but otherwise the misspelling of the rector's first name was an easy mistake. There is no excuse for calling the bishop by the wrong name. I made corrections leaving my unintelligent mistakes for all to see.
ReplyDeleteThe information about Fr. Steve on the church website is in-your-face irony, and I took my lead from there to write an ironic post. Most folks I know would join with me in a laugh at their own expense and admit that the juxtaposition of the information on the church website is funny.
(did you ever consider that his parishoners, knowing his enjoyment of the song, might have given him the recordings?).
No, I never did, because I don't know the backstory of his 16 versions of the song.
If Fr. Steve wants to leave the Episcopal Church, and his entire flock wants to go with him, then I say to them, "Go in peace", as individuals, but he gets no admiration from me for urging his bishop to take the diocese out of the Episcopal Church and cause schism.
The large numbers in the parish don't move me one way or another, as I tend to prefer small congregations.
August 10, 2009 8:48 AM