Earlier I posted definitive proof that Bob Malm lied to the Episcopal bishop of Virginia when he claimed that I was the executive director of RPJ Housing before coming to Grace Church. Literally dozens of parishioners know that to be a lie. That begs the question: How many will have the integrity to tell the truth? And how many will be cowardly and play the, “I don’t want to get involved,” card?
This question goes to the very heart of the Christian faith, for it implicates the baptismal covenant’s promise to respect the dignity of every human being, as well as the promise to resist injustice and oppression.
That also raises issues of leadership and parental responsibility. We have already seen the results of parenting failures within the church in the form of twenty-somethings, raised in the church, who think it’s okay to urge others to commit suicide. We have seen the failure of leadership in the parish in the lack of accountability on Bob Malm’s part. We have seen the failure of leadership at the vestry in the years of slipshod record keeping, the ongoing prevalence of bullying and mobbing within the parish, the misconduct and disrespect within the choir and the altar guild. We have seen the failure of leadership in the defamatory statements from Sugarland Chiow, Bob Malm, and Kelly Gable. Indeed, the lack of any sort of Christian perspective even extends to the conduct of Lisa Gardner—a person not even a member of the parish. In short, like The Episcopal Church as a whole, there is a profound lack of accountability.
As things stand, Grace Episcopal Alexandria, the clergy perjury parish, is lurching further and further into existential crisis. Only a willingness to tell the truth will save the parish.