Lauren Stanley Recalled from Haiti

Sarah,
I would say the glow is fading when each time a report comes out that Lauren is no longer involved in a particular ministry anymore.  Previous ministry periods and their conclusion has been pointed out aleday, so no need to rehash them.  But here is one more.  I’m sure there will be some kind of insider story.  But at some point even Ms Stanley herself must stop, scratch her head and reflect, “You know, there seems to be a pattern here, and I seem to be the common denominator.”
I’m going to be praying that she will offer her own prayer that I pray often (but especially as a Lenten discipline), “Lord, show me what needs to change in my life, for your sake.”

“aleday” at end of second line in my comment should have been typed as “already.”

Pattern recognition is not the EcUSA/TEc’s long suite.  Witness ASA and inclusiveness in general.  Just sayin’!

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Thanks.  That’s a great prayer for us all to use regularly, Fr. Eaton.  And maybe especially on this day when we celebrate the brith of John the Baptist, who called the people of God to radical repentance.

But I agree with Sarah that the final paragraph in that ENS story is just plain wierd.  You’d think they wouldn’t want to remind people of Stanley’s ignorminous departure from Sudan.  Unless, of course, they saw it as really being a badge of honor…

David Handy+

Oops, I meant Greg, of course, not Sarah.

David Handy+

Rob,

You also need to change “Sarah” to “Greg”

Right,
This is Greg’s posting, indeed. My apologies. I was reading Sarah’s latest just prior. 

Well, dw, “Yep.”

And, David, that’s what I’m saying.  But also I’m saying referring to a lesser glow, that this particular spin is a lot less than the first time around.  At some point, even the Lauren Stanley’s become less and less redeemable, if you will, from an agenda perspective, that is, no longer valuable to the cause, but greatly honored none-the-less.  Something like, “persona non grata, honoris causa.”

Where to next?  Perhaps liason to deposed bishop Ssenjonyo, who is trying to get that TEC supported church up and running in Uganda?

This is off topic:
Might I ask you all here on this thread, given the prayer I shared, and the topic of fragileness of humans in God’s sacred ministry, and David’s reference to John the Baptist Day, to pray for me and mine as I give thanks tomorrow morning for 25 years ordained as a priest?
I was actually ordained on “The Eve of the Baptism…”, but since my wedding anniversary is on the same day, I usually schedule the ordination thanksgiving to a day or two later.  Tomorrow (Friday) I’ve scheduled Holy Communion instead of Morning Prayer at 7:15am.
Thanks.
And signing off for now…

Will do, Rob+.

Given her pastoral sensitivity and the skill she’s demonstrated with her ministry to the local contexts, I say that she’s bishop material.

#12- You could nominate her for N Michigan.

“We’re in a different phase and Lauren’s role in that first phase was vital,” Rose said. She added “this is not about anything anybody did wrong.”

Well that sure set off a klaxon for me, anyone else?

Will pray for you, Rob+.

This is a lot like the crazy joke that Ron White does about the woman who screams out in a crowd that all the thousands of soldiers on a local Army base are terrible in bed—the punch line, of course, is “maybe the problem is YOU”. 

Sad, but I can say for a fact it’s been like this ever since the ordination process.  +Lee insisted on doing it, and now no one can either undo it or has the guts to undo it. 

So the band plays on…

The are (after all) the new “saints” of today’s church, which makes it a vital part of the story.  Suppose they called her back because they need a new bishop somewhere?

I suppose it would be impossible for this new international revisionist TEC-thingy to admit that perhaps lesbian priests are off-putting to those in their new faux “communion.”

#14: yeah, a phrase like “this is not about anything anybody did wrong” is a red flag.  It practically screams out “I’m lying through my teeth, can you tell?”

[Stanley] suggested ... the “blessedness” of committed Christian relationships between two adult persons—“would not be problematic for the Sudani people because they are more concerned with trying to stay alive.” 

Translation: “We’ll just sneak this one in quietly while the Sudanese are preoccupied with survival”.  Nice.

Yeah, “Sneak in and do it to them before they wise up and realize what’s happening.”

Actually it reminds me of the “Golden Rule.”
I.e. “He who has the gold, rules.”

I was banging my head on a conference table when Lauren said this one ... and was amazed (well I guess not so much anymore) that no one rose to challenge the statement. It seemed to me that by her statement she was saying those nice Anglican folk in the Sudan should be quiet and take our money and not worry about things like theology or salvation. Leave it to us, for we know better than they do. To me, and I don;t speak for anyone else here, it sounded amazingly patriarchal and naive, dare I say, Western and colonial, to say something like this.

And by the way, you should have heard the tone in her voice as she said these. She stared the Council down and said the words with as much force as she could muster, as if to dare anyone to stand and contradict her. Which was unlikely, since, of course, she had been there and had certain knowledge and the rest of us didn’t.

Until she got fired for it that is.

#2. Rob Eaton,
Speaking of “aleday”, when will you be celebrating that feast day and with what beverage will you be celebrating it?

#3. dwstroudmd,

Pattern recognition is not the EcUSA/TEc’s long suite.

But it is a fine measure of fluid intelligence and sensitive to frontal function. Low scores suggest someone with difficulty changing in response to corrective feedback and issues with perseverative behavior.

Dale,
aleday, today.
Tawny Port this morning.  Water most of the day as it will be close to 100, as you well know.  Maybe this evening a pale Belgian.
: )

[16] Bottom Feeder,

The more general case of that tale, if you are not already familiar with it, is captured by this poster entitled “Dysfunction,” at Despair.com, which states it as follows:

The Only Consistent Feature of All of Your Dissatisfying Relationships is You.

That is but one of many in their beautifully elegant series of posters which they call “Demotivators.” I only wish I had thought of the product—I would be a lot closer to financially comfortable now.

Pax et bonum,
Keith Töpfer

I’ve had a lot of trouble trying to figure out what the post is driving at here.  Perhaps the issue is the content of the link, but it all seems fairly obscure.  I read the link and see that, in response to changing conditions in Haiti’s struggle to rebuild, personnel are being changed in the Church’s program there.  OK.  Then there’s a reference to Stanley’s statement concerning the SSB resolution at the Diocese of Virginia convention and several efforts to expand on its meaning.  Is there a relationship between the comment in Virginia and the events in Haiti?

Sigh. NoVA Scout.  How about you read the article and tell us why she’s been removed.  Should be pretty short and clear?  It isn’t, and they took a lot of words and other comments/directions to hide it.  That’s the point.  The only clear thing is that she’s been sent home, not that she did so voluntarily.

#26, NoVA Scout,
I think I can help you out here without necessarily going beyond the ENS news article.  Prepositions are unsung parts of speech because they are words that indicate location and thus relationship.  The Rev. Stanley was the Appointed Missionary to Haiti but did not appear to be in Haiti. Note the remark that she “accompanied Jefferts Schori on her visit to Duracin in Haiti on Feb. 8,” not welcomed the Presiding Bishop upon her visit to the country.  She put together a clearinghouse blog of Haiti stories but it seemed, as did Rev. Stanley, to be US based - much like a missionary saying without chagrin that they weren’t in their appointed charge and with their people in the midst of a huge natural disaster.  The Sudanese story makes this all the more memorable but the line that she firmly believes “that we need to let the Haitians be in charge of their own future” conveys a certain arrogance as if the Haitians are to live and act by the gracious leave of some blanc who is not there.  Hardly the way we “respect the dignity of every human being.”

RE: “I’ve had a lot of trouble trying to figure out what the post is driving at here.”

Naw—whenever NOVA Scout toddles over here and asserts his confusion, we always know that he’s not confused, just irked over the thesis.  It’s like a tell and always delightful to see.

With Stanley, there’s a trend too:
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/sf/page/22634/

Not to worry, though.  There are plenty of grindingly impoverished Anglican Communion dioceses and provinces out there who can have such a “TEC gift” foisted off on them in a time of dire crisis, prior to learning of the theological worldview and values of the gift.

You folks are far sharper than I at teasing meaning out of these things.  LL2, my problem was that I did read the article.  Sarah - the “thesis” of the article and the post were as obscure as the content of the link.  It may just be that I’m thick.  But, given that I seem to function effectively in other contexts that require reading on a daily basis, I think this may be attributable to confusions beyond my own.

RE: “Sarah - the “thesis” of the article and the post were as obscure as the content of the link.”

Just keep claiming that, NOVA Scout.  ; > )

I’m happy that you understand the thesis and that it’s got you riled enough to exhibit your usual sign.  . . . I’m easily pleased, of course.

[30] NoVA Scout,

I have no knowledge of your background and experience. Nor do I have any factual information concerning the situation involving Stanley with respect to her duties in Haiti. What I do have is almost five decades of working experience, including twenty years in the Navy, slightly more than fourteen of those as an officer.

This press release has all of the hallmarks of a statement intended to place in the public arena a defense of the conduct of the subject (Stanley) before any other critical statements or rumors can be aired in public. It repeatedly “damns by faint praise,” most instances of which are obviously gratuitous, and in several cases are strikingly and pre-emptively defensive in tone.

If the person receiving such an evaluation has actually performed her duties in a fully satisfactory manner, and has completed all of the tasks for which she is qualified, then any normal press release upon her transfer would simply note her transfer, thank her for a job well done and wish her similar success in her next assignment. Either that, or Mary Frances Schjonberg has no idea how to do her job as a press officer, which (I guarantee you) includes among its objectives to ensure that all articles about people in TEC who are “liked” by the administration are depicted in a purely favorable light.

I have seen fitness reports on officers in the U.S. Navy who had screwed up in some way which were less damning than is this article. It should be unnecessary for me to inform you that those officers were not selected for promotion by the Selection Board, but I don’t think I will leave that to chance.

Pax et bonum,
Keith Töpfer

OK - let’s try again to help out poor old Scout.  What happened here?  And Sarah, I was trying to say that I didn’t understand the thesis, not that I did.  Sorry I didn’t make that clear for you.

So Rev Stanley has now been invited to leave from both Sudan and Haiti for taking positions unpopular with the Bishops of those two countries.  Since she had to know her positions would not go well with those Bishops, I can only assume she believes expressing her opinion is more important than the mission she was sent to do and the people she was sent to serve.  In this action I would ask Rev Stanley “who has won?”  Her actions taken in obvious defiance of these Bishops have cost the people of both countries her services as a missionary.  They are the losers from her arrogance and nobody wins.

Good Shepherd (Hmm…that’s a bit presumptive for a pseudonym, isn’t it?)
Anyway, out of Sudan for teaching wrong stuff; but not necessarily the reason for out of Haiti.  That may have been something to do with leadership and organizational style.

[35] Rob Eaton+,

Actually Father, not to be pedantic, it isn’t presumptive, but it is presumptuous.

Pax et bonum,
Keith Töpfer

Dear M.A.,
Your so rite.
How malapropiscuous of me.

And nearly homophonic.

Well, you know what they say. “Spell Czech is hear two stay.”

Best regards,
Keith Töpfer

Bishop Duracin’s voting record, while not as strongly anti gay as that of the Bishop in Sudan, still seems to indicate views on this topic strongly divergent from those of Rev Stanley.

Why is the pseudonym considered presumptuous?  Webster’s definition of the word is “overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy) : taking liberties”.  I’m failing to see where my selection does any of these.  Perhaps because my views are different than your’s?  That’s showing arrogance.

#40-
I believe that what Fr. Eaton was making reference to was “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.”  It does seem a bit arrogant for a blogger to claim that level of authority.
Perhaps a better response on your part would be to tell him you are the rector or parishioner of Good Shepherd parish, if that is the case.

You are correct about Bishop Duracin- he does seem to be one of the more conservative bishops of TEC.  I believe he voted for consent for +Lawrence, and against consent for Forrester, which may indicate his theology to some degree.