Incoherence: Non-Licensed “Episcopalian Priest” & Assisting “Priest” at AMiA Church Charged

Incoherent is correct.  The Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida has no current/retired clergy in Winter Springs according to their website.  Oddly he is not listed at New Covenant Anglican Fellowship. Can not find a list of AMiA clergy. A very unfortunate situation if true.

He is listed on the diocesan cycle of prayer for 2012:
http://www.cfdiocese.org/sites/default/files/June 2012 Cycle of Prayer.pdf

“Honesht, offisher - NONE of us was driving.  We was all in the backsheat, singing…”

How odd that he would listed in the cycle of prayer and yet is not found in the clergy directory for CF diocese.  I can’t explain it.  Very odd situation.

2009 Clerical Directory has Brian G erald Shriner in Winter Springs, FL. Born 12-7-65 in Akron OH, BA Florida Southern 1988, MDiv TESM 1997, Deacon January Priest August 1998, Assistant All Saints Winter Park 1998-2002.

Interesting but their current clergy directory does not list him. Whatever his “affiiliation” ( TEC or AMiA) this is not a good situation. Like Sarah, I am sad for any of his present or past victims.

I’ve added in an update with further details.

In a nutshell it appears that he was the registered agent for an Anglican start-up parish in 2010.  The Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida asserts that while he is an Episcopal priest he has not been licensed to act as a priest in the diocese since 2010.

So he was a priest who departed TEC but remained, so to speak, in TEC.

I can’t help but ask . . . was he still contributing to the church pension fund?  And whether or not he was, why on earth would any entity or individual choose to foster or live with such . . . incoherence?

Sarah, I have no idea why he supposedly remained within TEC yet was involved in Anglican parish start up. Oddly the info for Christ the King Anglican is accurate until August 2011. That makes me wonder what happened after Aug. 2011. Who knows?  This sort of incoherence as you point out is something many people could NOT live with. Most of us would make our choice and then move along.  Mental illness perhaps?  I don’t really know. Very odd situation indeed.

I don’t think it’s so hard for a lone wolf to find himself with a startup Anglican church…  You take a group of people who finally leave a TEC church because they’ve had enough, decide to start a new church, but where do they find a priest to do Eucharist for them?  Out in the hinterlands, a group of people who haven’t thought through what they want to do, haven’t consulted with someone to guide them.  You add to that sexual predators in general are phenomenal in their ability to ingratiate themselves with people and place themselves in positions from which to act out their predations.

For me this is a very cautionary tale.  A new church needs to be careful in getting good counsel, and all of us need to be careful to get training on these predators who present themselves as priests, Sunday School teachers, scoutmasters, coaches, counselors…

RE: “I don’t think it’s so hard for a lone wolf to find himself with a startup Anglican church…”

Sure—except he was still a TEC priest, even though it was obvious . . . he wasn’t and had left TEC—but he didn’t.

I’m sorry—but it’s grossly hypocritical to leave TEC for another entity and remain “in TEC” so that you can profit in some way from your old organization.

And it’s grossly dysfunctional for bishops or clergy of *either* entity to enable such hypocrisy.

Oh, it IS hypocritical, and it IS dysfunctional.  But for a predator (and I mean to speak generally, as I don’t know all the facts in this case, “innocent until proven guilty” and all that) there’s nothing better than having one foot in either door.  Double the opportunity.

“What, me TEC?  No, no no…  I’m just in till I get vested in my retirement, then I’m out!”

“What, me schismatic?  No, no no…  I’m just helping that particular group because I know some of them, and I’m trying to nudge them back to TEC!”

It is bad in many ways, but this is how predators think, and we must be as innocent as doves while as wise as serpents, whether we’re a startup church, starting a Sunday School, developing a youth group…

This might come as a shock, but dioceses don’t always do their paperwork.  It may be the case that this fellow was inhibited, but wasn’t ever deposed.  Because TEC won’t transfer clergy into AM or ACNA, the only options they give are “renounce your orders” or “you vill be deposed.”  The simplest explanation here is that he was inhibited, then, someone in the office dropped the ball on deposing him later. 

Now, since this guy was in a teaching institution, i.e., “non-parochial” ministry, its extra easy to fly under the radar.  Non-parochial clergy are usually working when parochial clergy are meeting at this clericus and that conference.  He very well may have gotten the continuation of ministry thing while teaching, while still in TEC.  Then, he leaves TEC, gets inhibited and welcomed into AM, but TEC forgets to depose him.  Did he continue to contribute to his pension with CPG?  Who knows?

Always heartbreaking, but I do remember meeting him and his family on a few occasions, many many years ago.  We lived in the house they had been renting, and I remember moving in to all the last and lost vestiges of the family before us.  Its been a long time and the former owner of the pink flowery wallpaper (that I removed promptly as I was expecting a son) is probably a grown woman now.  *sigh*  Anyway, it gives a human face to all of this and there are a lot of people out there right now who need our prayers through all of this.  Alas.

RE: “The simplest explanation here is that he was inhibited . . . “

I’m afraid it’s fairly certain that the Diocese of Central Florida would have mentioned the little matter of “inhibition” in their statement, especially since they took the trouble to mention that he was not licensed in the Diocese since 2010—a fact that they appeared to believe was significant.