Grace Episcopal Alexandria, the clergy perjury parish, has been advertising since February for an assistant rector. With that in mind, a few thoughts for candidates and other interested parties:
- The mere fact that Grace is trying to fill this position should tell all involved something. The parish is still shorting the diocese on its pledge, still is not not setting aside adequate funds for future maintenance, and still has no maintenance staff. And while it babbles on about social justice, it does not pay a living wage to its assistant rector. And never forget that, at almost the same time it was implementing health care cost sharing for employees to “balance the budget,” the vestry voted to grant perjuring priest Bob Malm a 100K bonus. Meanwhile, Lisa Medley, aka the Princess Porcine, wanted to give Bob a 200K bonus. All that despite the fact Malm was overpaid and a feckless rector at best. In other words, Grace is a narcissistic organization, spending far too much of its resources on itself.
- Grace has not dealt with 30 years of perjuring priest Bob Malm’s narcissism. Just like Malm, the church is ostensibly friendly. But underneath the surface run swift undercurrents of toxic conduct, including Sugarland Chiow’s courtroom fabrications, Kelly Gable’s toxic dishonesty, and more.
- It’s worth noting that the church rejected my proposal for a mediated solution to my long-running conflict. That speaks to the depth of Grace’s Christian faith — or lack thereof.
- The way people talk to each other and treat each other is appalling. Whether it’s Linda Waskowiscz making ladies on the altar guild cry, Sugarland Chiow’s fabrications, Kelly Gable’s lies, Alison Campbell’s childish girl games with the altar guild, or bullying within the choir, this is a place where the baptismal covenant is a nothing more than a bunch of empty words.
- There is absolutely no notion within the church that misconduct should be an impediment to leadership roles in the parish. Whether it’s Sugarland Chiow, Kelly Gable, Lisa Medley, or any of the other bad actors, the assholes just stay involved.
- Not once have I ever seen the church even try to address its past misconduct. Even with Anne Turner, the whole MO is, “That happened before I got here.” But that doesn’t fix the issue and it’s far too easy to just sweep it under the rug.
- There is a toxic level of clericalism at Grace. People refuse to believe Bob Malm is a perjurer, even though the evidence is indisputable. Why? Because they worship Bob, despite his bullying and other misconduct.
- This is a church so toxic that people think it’s okay to urge others to commit suicide. I’ve posted that screen cap above.
At the end of the day, we become like the people we surround ourselves with. So, if this is what you want to become, go ahead and apply for the job.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.