an assistant curate of the Episcopal church in New York has been subjected to vile, misogynist and apparently entirely untrue coverage (which I will not reproduce) , after she ended a relationship she was having with a parishioner at her previous church. She was effectively accused too of being a paedophile, although the man she had had a relationship with, who instigated the media coverage, was an adult. As assistant curate she is an office holder in the church, and accountable to her bishop, to whom she made full disclosure. If you are an office holder in an organisation and there is lying shitbag media coverage about you, this (below) is the kind of statement those who are senior in the organisation should make to its members. Usually, they don't. Take heed. Especially those in politics.
July 9, 2012
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
We write to express our unqualified support for the Reverend Ginger Strickland, curate at the Church of the Incarnation in Manhattan, over an inaccurate and misleading article which appeared about her in Sunday's New York Post. The article reports the complaint brought against her by Mr. Erik Campano, a person with whom she had a romantic relationship while working as a lay minister at the non-denominational American Church in Paris. In 2011 she broke off the relationship with Mr. Campano and subsequently moved to New York to begin her employ at Incarnation. He then filed a complaint with this diocese stating that he believed that she had violated the church's policies regarding romantic relationships between clergy and parishioners.
The Episcopal Churches in Europe are under the jurisdiction of the Presiding Bishop, and the investigation of this matter was referred to her offices, where it has been conducted in full accord with established church policy. Our own preliminary investigation, though, showed that Mother Strickland had met every canonical obligation in such a relationship by disclosing her friendship with Mr. Campano to her bishop and superiors, and that there was no canonical breach of church policy.
We have complete confidence in our sister Ginger, as do the rector and congregation at the Church of the Incarnation. She is an able priest of good standing, and a person we believe to be of exemplary character. She did not deserve to have this story reported as it was, and we deeply regret the embarrassment this has caused her. We ask the prayers of this diocese for her and assure you of our complete support for her and her continued ministry in the Diocese of New York.
Read, and learn.
Update: Ginger Strickland has been fully exonerated by a range of church investigations. Now will the media SHUT UP.
2 comments:
Ok - let's cut to the chase. This wonderful statment is the type of thing that the NEC/Tory Party Central Office /Whips should come out with when MPs are persecuted without cause and with malicious intent for things that they have not done by media/internet vermin set on by toads in the Constituency Party or Association who have spread poison about the said MP.
Sadly, in both parties ( I have NO idea what happens in the Liberal Democrat Party) the oevrwhelming propensity is for those in authority to believe all the lies about the MP; proetect and embrace the accusers, and ensure that the MP is either hounded out of a job or at the very least, disgraced and shamed in public.In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, they used to duck witches....... Illegal and even criminal behaviour and action by the accusers is disregarded in its entirety. Crap.
Anon, if you want to know how it works in the Lib Dems... Lib Dem HQ takes at face value every lie from their favourite sons. They don't bother doing any basic fact checking. And when presented with prima facie evidence proving beyond all reasonable doubt that they have been told a complete steaming pile of Tottenham threaten the victims of tese lies with bringing the party into disrepute and cover it up.
So not much different from Labour or the Tories ;0)
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