Not much to write about here which is of course great for the CEC. But, this caught my eye on CEChome.com…
Bishop Michael Davidson, diocesan for the Central Province, mentioned there has been a lot of pain in the CEC: “When people chose to break covenant with us, there were a lot of broken hearts–especially the hearts of the women and the children.” Both bishops agreed that the Holy Spirit was leading them to pray for the women. A large number received prayer.
I doubt that the leavers (myself included) / covenant breakers / vow breakers … whatever you want to call us … did this to wound women and children. Hardly. Most of us left to maintain some semblance of spiritual health because most I’ve come across on this here blog were dealing with spiritual abuse (namely: power and control) to keep us in the CEC. Now, Michael Davidson breaks out the violins for the women and children of the CEC who have been hurt by the leavers / covenant breakers / vow breakers, etc., etc. …
Are +++Bates and +Davidson trying to keep this pain front and center for women and children to give them a reason to minister to them? Clearly, the Patriarch and the Bishop don’t quite understand why most of us left for good reason. I don’t seem to understand why they would seem to inflict pain on those who might be trying to move on and remain in the CEC.
4 comments
Comments feed for this article
June 20, 2009 at 1:18 pm
frjim123
Absolutely right! For these institutionalists there is no distinction between God and the hierarchy of the CEC. It is a typical problem for purveyors of religious abuse: an inability to distinguish the structure from the God the institution claims to worship. For them, anyone daring to question them or – GULP – leaving their clutches is an act of betrayal against God and worthy of their version of “Divine Judgement.”
Yes, many women and children were hurt by the exodus away from the abusive bullies of the CEC. But who is more to blame – those who fled the abuse or those who wore the trappings of Christian leadership but used the office for their own personal aggrandizement?
-Jim+
June 22, 2009 at 2:12 pm
anon4cec
I saw that too. I also found it irritating, though it’s been a couple of years now. I find it amazing that they are continuing to milk this for all the emotional neediness they can extract from people. Manipulating women and children like that is just really low, though.
If they really want to talk about “breaking covenant”, why don’t they talk about how they ignored or encouraged sacerdotal abuse among their people? Why don’t they talk about their own betrayal of +Mendez and ICAB?
I’m surprised people still take them seriously. How many people are left in the Cathedral in Olathe? It seems that the CEC is slowly burning itself out, thank heaven. Someday soon the “cathedrals” will be all that’s left.
And, did you catch #Bates’ “theology lite” history of the CEC? It would be funny if it weren’t so sad….
June 23, 2009 at 7:30 pm
papaz
I hesitate to even comment, because I am and have “moved on”, so to speak, but your remarks in your final paragraph are interesting.
I did go back to the link and take a look at the entire article. I must say, I found the “revisionist” history of the CEC by Bates to be most telling. There was a time in the CEC — (one that lasted until about 4-5 years ago) when a connection to an Apostolic Church was deemed to be a priority. His snide remark about Mary would offend both East and West, and his comment about Purgatory would certainly offend in the West. And for the CEC to continue to justify its own apostolicity, it must belittle; it must, by nature, become anti-Catholic and/or anti-Orthodox.
Davidson’s comments really don’t make a lot of sense, especially when viewing the facts of what actually happened over the past 5-10 years. My own departure came well before the sexual and financial scandals which rocked the denomination — and it is very telling that during the five years in which I worked for Davidson, he lost at least — AT LEAST — 25 clergy, including multiple cathedral Deans, Archdeacons, and Canons. When two people have a falling-out, chances are that both parties are to blame. When two-dozen people all have the same problem with the same person, one really must begin to ask some serious questions.
With regard to the comment about pain to the women and children, let’s get real. Pain to women and children was caused by the sexual misconduct of certain members of the CEC leadership. Pain to women and children was caused by bishops who interfered in people’s marriages and family life. Pain to women and children was caused when husbands and fathers were cast aside like so much rubbish.
Two things:
1) Keeping pain in the front and center serves function as a convenient scape-goat, and turn eyes away from how the church is actually functioning.
2) Keeping pain in the front and center, especially as used by Davidson in this report, is a classic example of something one sees often in politics, namely this: Damn the other guy very loudly and publicly — FOR THE SAME THING YOU’RE DOING QUIETLY IN THE BACKGROUND!
If the CEC truly wants to move forward, it needs to stop demonizing those who left (mostly for very good reasons) and truly MOVE FORWARD!
Just my thoughts . . .
Papa Z
July 22, 2009 at 2:02 pm
anon4cec
It’s very sad. If you listen to the recordings of the recent Convocations, it becomes sadder still. From Bates on down, they have spun everything on every possible axis, so that nobody can really tell which way is up. Now they are pitching themselves as Charismatics who just happened to appropriate signs and symbols from other traditions to be more relevant. This may be true, but it certainly goes against the party line of the previous decade. And, their shaky theology of Apostolic Succession is going to leave them without a leg to stand on.
The CEC is struggling for relevance in the face of a Christendom who looked them over, shrugged, then walked away. Their inability to face the past or the future leaves someone in a “narcissistic now”, which is exactly what we see coming from the CEC leadership. “We’re a move of God” seems to be all they can muster in terms of a self-identity these days.
As for the “broken hearts” of the women and children — this is classic cult/abuser language to keep people trapped in an abusive relationship. Just stick with us and we’ll protect you — no matter how much it hurts you. Sickening.