from Jared Holloway

I received an e-mail from Jared Holloway directing me to a post on his personal blog and he graciously gave me permission to re-post it here.  Since this blog began, Jared has been an active commenter and a voice of reason from the CEC.  His thoughtful comments and respectful tone have always been a pleasure to encounter whenever he cared to contribute his two cents.  Read his post below or go to his blog here.  It’s definitely worth a read.

My own prayers continue for the Holloway family.

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I guess…
Posted by jzholloway on October 17, 2009

I never wanted to go here… well… yeah I did, but I hoped, even due to my nature, that I would never have too, but I do, and I do it humbly, and sadly…

First, I want to say that I love the Charismatic Episcopal Church… ICCEC, etc… however, I am discouraged by a few things, mainly, how my father, Bishop John Holloway, has been treated since his stroke in June of 2007.

In June of 2007, after the last night of the Mid-South Diocese convocation, my father suffered a terrible stroke. Since then, in absolute disbelief of doctors, and the clergy of the diocese and the CEC, he has recovered dramatically. However, praise be to God, this is not my concern.

My concern, is the taking care of my father, his wife, and his two youngest children. First, the Canons of the ICCEC state that the Communion will take care of clerical families in need after a death or in a case where the clerical member can no longer serve… if you want the reference, please let me know, I have both a hard copy and a soft copy of the canons. At first, this happened, however, after many excuses… the best being that my mother was receiving more income than anyone else in the diocese… a lie… it has decreased at timed intervals… coming soon to zero support. On the lie, it is easy to look at those employed by the state… and their income, and to make it even easier… certain clergy spouses made more than given to my mother for my father’s care and my families care. Second, we have been assured that the mortgage would be taken care of… no matter what… yet my mother has until Dec. 1.. this year… to be out of the house, unless God provides a miracle… in other words… no help on the mortgage… I was also promised my dad would have visitors of CEC origin… beyond those who have been faithful… very few… I can count them on one hand… well, maybe two… this has also not happened. Lastly… for some reason… as retired clergy, my father cannot be mentioned on the Mid-South Diocese web site… even though retired clergy, etc are almost always mentioned… keep in mind… with out Bishop Holloway… the Mid South Diocese would not exist, the Committee on Missions would have stalled, the Committee on Canons would have stalled, and St. Michael’s Seminary in the Southeast would not exist. He and Abp Chuck Jones would not be Bishop’s Tigger and Pooh… and the Philippines would not be the same. St. Paul commands us to honor our fathers and our mothers… well my father is more than my father… more than a father for the Mid South Diocese… he is a Father for the CEC… the ICCEC… and the Church… If I am wrong, please correct me… but remember… I know his faults… like I know mine… I was also his prime assistant for his committees, putting everything together… and I was also one of two sons who would sit, with a beer and a cigar who would sit and BS with him… I know him better than most… which is sad, because as our current Patriarch will remark.. we are a Communion based upon the Pro-life movement… I would say he needed to be there in 1992… we are a communion based on relationships…

In closing.. please pray for my father, mother, Josiah and Hannah… God called them to Thomaston, Upson County, Georgia… I hope is is more than just to have a stroke and get foreclosed on with nowhere to go…

Pax Christi… JZH

House of Bishops meeting

The CEC House of Bishops meeting has just concluded in New Paltz, NY.  The usual blah-blah-blah write up on cechome except for this little gem:

The HOB was joined today by the Most Reverend Ramzi Musallam, Archbishop Metropolitan of the Arabic Catholic Church. Archbishop Musallam was invited to be an observer to meetings, and he gave a presentation about the Arabic Catholic Church, which included their history and beliefs.

Sounds really lofty, doesn’t it?

Click here to go to the Arabic Catholic Church’s website.  From what I can tell from their website, this is one church in Pennsylvania run by an archbishop who is 30 years old (Click here for the biography of the guest archbishop).  Archbishop Musallam “gave a presentation about the Arabic Catholic Church, which included their history and beliefs” which probably took all of a few minutes as their communion is just one year old as of August with no real churches to speak of.  You can click on the Chancery Office page to see the same telephone number for each department run by the same 4 or 5 people.  The ACC website basically shows this group to be an offshoot by one priest formerly with the Polish National Catholic Church.  The words “archbishop” and “church” seem a bit extravagant considering that there are no other bishops and churches under Archbishop Musallam. 

The CEC turned a corner with +++Bates at the helm.  To Archbishop Bates’s credit, I’m sure that the CEC organization could not have survived under a different leader following Archbishop Adler.  Why this direction backwards instead of opening dialogues with actual churches and archbishops?

So, as other bodies grow from strength to strength (Anglican Church in North America for example attracting people like Dr. Rick Warren, Metropolitan Jonah and Bishop Todd Hunter in common ministry), the CEC seems content with cementing itself with a place of obscurity in the Body of Christ.  Could it be because of the company the CEC wishes to keep? 

Gone are the heady days way back when … back when the CEC was “in talks” with Rome via Phil Zampino and Randy Sly.

The article ends this matter with this statement:

The House of Bishops agreed to be in prayer about developing a further relationship with the Arabic Catholic Church.

I’m wondering what the CEC will gain other than another mitre and pallium by inviting the Arabic Catholic Church and its archbishop to common ministry.  The Arabic Catholic Church might gain some legitimacy outside of its one church, one archbishop and one deacon operation in Pennsylvania.