tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post2813401837640105031..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: We will never die. . . Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-78146255344656585492020-10-09T11:40:53.877-05:002020-10-09T11:40:53.877-05:00Some years ago, I was a layman in a parish that ha...Some years ago, I was a layman in a parish that had attempted to escape the Episcopal Church USA. The parish had gone about it it carefully, and thought that they had made a clean get away, including keeping their endowment fund. The (Episcopal) Bishop of Pennsylvania fought for the property (most of all, for the money), and the case went to the PA Supreme Court. The Court ruled for the Bishop, and the parish lost everything material. We had the final Mass, said goodbye, and walked out through the grave yard. The congregation survives today as a Roman parish in the RC Ordinaiate (St. John Baptist Roman Catholic), but the beautiful building, the cemetery, etc. are shuttered and decaying.<br /><br />The endowment was a two edged sword in this case. It enabled the parish to fight off the Bishop for quite a long while (6 years), but in the end, it was the primary target of his greed.<br /><br />Fr.D+<br />Continuing Anglican PriestAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-7439117815762037292020-10-09T06:19:37.934-05:002020-10-09T06:19:37.934-05:00You made some excellent points. The church cannot ...You made some excellent points. The church cannot rely on endowments anymore than a worker can be certain a pension system can become bankrupt when dire economic conditions prevail. Uncertainty should remove pride from our hearts, and humility should govern it. We have to plan, of course, but we can't set our hearts on the future, because we simply do not know it. Only God does alone. John Joseph Flanaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06596324816480709495noreply@blogger.com