I took FrChip's dare and posted his response, and have waited some days to respond, so I could do so respecfully. As soon as I read his comment, I went back to re-read my post and thought that really, if he'd written his first, my post would have been a great response to his charges. So I won't say much, but there are two things that I think I might as well respond to, and they are these:
1) I chose the word organization purposely in my post, because it is with the organization side of the Church that I struggle. I'm flat-out, head over heels in love with the Mystical Body of Christ- in fact the existence of the MBOC is the reason I still have hope for the organization. I don't think we can just deny that the Church is an organization, and in fact I think it's really dangerous to do so.
2) I know FrChip's "BC boys" jab is just a lame attempt at a personal dig, but here's the thing. I'm not a cheerleader for BC, just went there because opportunity knocked. For the record, I didn't find it to be the bastion of liberality that everyone warned me it would be. But here's the important thing- I didn't get my theology from BC, not from the "boys" or the "girls" there. What I did get from BC, and for which I'll be eternally grateful, was encouragement not to live in fear of people like FrChip, who just want me (and people like me) to shut up and not make waves, who want me to leave well enough alone so that everyone can pretend the emperor's clothes are fine.
Thanks to everyone who sent me great encouragement off the blog. I hope my writing here is always as kind and thoughtful as it is honest, and I appreciate the opportunity to let my thoughts and feelings bleed out through my fingertips and onto your screen. Always, feel free to comment.
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2 comments:
Bravo!
Well said, Margo. The number one reason we left "the church" was that those on the "inside" were huddling together and giving the cold shoulder to lay people (whether staff or simply parishioners) in a misguided attempt to separate "the church" from "organization." We didn't leave because of the scandal. We left because of the way the church dealt with and reacted to the scandal - by battening down the hatches and drawing a line between the clergy and lay people. Even though I don't attend the Roman Catholic church anymore and feel fully a part of the Episcopal church, it is so sad to watch the church that gave me the foundation for my spiritual life foundering so badly. Not that my new church is perfect - but it does recognize that it is an organization run by flawed humans that works best when all members of the Body of Christ are part and parcel of the running of the church, from the smallest contribution within a parish to the larger administrative and pastoral contributions.
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