Several local Episcopal parishes are seeing continuing surges in online attendance amidst the COVID-19, with the result that some even say that going online is the best thing that ever happened to them. But Grace Episcopal, the clergy perjury parish, is seeing a precipitous decline in online attendance. The news spells trouble for the church and suggests that it is sliding further into existential crisis.
But one would think that virtual attendance would correlate loosely with ASA, perhaps running somewhat lower to account for elderly persons, those of limited income, and others who may not be able to access online services. (For the record, arrangements can and should be made for these folks, whether it’s mailing them bulletins and audio tapes, phone calls, or socially distanced visits.)
- Lent 5: 382
- Palm Sunday: 461
- Easter: 483
- Easter 2: 285
- Pentecost 3: 139
- Pentecost 4: 162
- Pentecost 5: 123
Michael Guy, on the other hand, appears sincere, but his delivery is solid, slow, measured. Thus, if you’re looking for the superficial theatrics, you’re going to be disappointed. In other words, Michael would have you ignore the storefront, but step inside, do some shopping, form your own conclusions.
Of course, it is not fair to compare one priest with another, for each brings his own skills to the table. Unfortunately, after 30 years of perjuring priest Bob Malm, folks at Grace Episcopal Alexandria, the clergy perjury parish, don’t have the spiritual maturity to understand this.
People tell me Bob Malm is gone to try to incentivize me to stop my criticism of the church and its conduct, but the reality is the church itself has done nothing to shift away from its worship of Bob Malm and his feckless years as rector. In just a few years Falls Church went from 115 members to being larger than Grace Church in every respect, while perjuring priest Bob Malm pulled in his 200K a year, played golf, jogged, and spent a month at the beach every summer. All while parish financial records were a shambles, governance a disaster, and the church continued to watch its budget, ASA, and membership shrink.
- Clergy to commit perjury.
- Clergy to lie to their parish and bishop.
- Members to engage in defamation per se (yes, that would be Kelly Gable),
- The church to try to drag a dying woman into court in violation of state law, and more.
And one has only to look to the numerous emails from perjuring priest Bob Malm, the ugly rhetoric from Sugarland Chiow, the utter unwillingness of Bishop Goff to provide adult supervision, and the blithering cluelessness of David Crosby with his whole “two sides to every story,” to realize just what a hot mess Grace Church is.
- There is no such thing as a good racist, nor are there good people on both sides.
- There is no excuse for bullying Mike out of the church.
- There is no acceptable explanation for clergy perjury.
- There is no excuse for defamation per se.
- There is no excuse for urging others to commit suicide.
- There is no excuse for trying to subpoena a dying woman in violation of the law.
- There is no acceptable reason for Sugarland Chiow’s courtroom fabrications and ugly rhetoric.
- There is no acceptable reason for clergy like David Crosby to make excuses for these behaviors. It’s time for David to grow a pair and say no to misconduct in the parish.
Meanwhile the church faces the grim reality that most insurance policies don’t cover punitive damages. And with multiple claims for punitive damages lurking, the parish faces the possibility of losing the trust fund, the building and more. Not to mention that, not being incorporated, Grace church offers parishioners no shield from personal liability. That means that if insurance does not cover judgments against the church, individual members could personally be on the hook, including a new rector. (This should not come as a surprise to members. Vestry members have a moral and legal obligation to provide accurate, timely information about governance issues to church members. So if you are hearing about this for the first time from this blog, you should be asking tough questions of the vestry and the diocese. I’d add that I long ago urged Bob Malm to explore setting up a corporate entity for the church. You can see how that turned out. Meanwhile, Kelly Motormouth Gable continues to insist that her claims are truthful. Talk about a great way to tick off both a plaintiff and the courts.)
I am not going away any time soon. I will not be bullied into silence. I will not be bought. Meanwhile, my blog is a few days away from zooming past 200,000 hits—many more hits than the church website garners.
Or as one priest, a noted author, canonically resident in DioVA said to me, “You couldn’t pay me enough.”