Thursday, April 26, 2007

Breakaway US priests removed for sexual impropriety

I hate to get catty ...

But the Rev Praveen Bunyan of St James Anglican Church in Newport Beach, California, resigned after he confessed to inappropriate conduct towards a female parishioner. St James broke away from the Episcopal Church because they disagreed with the church's acceptance of LGBTs. The article is dated April 24.

In February, Samuel Pascoe, rector of Grace Church in Florida was removed from his post, also for having an inappropriate relationship with a female member at the church. Grace Church has affiliated with the Church of Rwanda for the same reasons as St James.

I don't see anything systematic in this. This is something that could have happened to anyone, in any church, on any end of the theological spectrum. This does underscore the fact that humans are broken and in need of healing. One hopes that these priests will be disciplined as allowed by their church canons, and will enter a time of healing with their partners. One also hopes that these two, at least, will make no further pronouncements about how the Episcopal Church is moving away from traditional sexual morality.

Update: An article in the LA Times gives some detail about what happened with Rev Bunyan. He did not engage in an affair, but he give "unwanted" attention to a female parishioner. The Rev. David Anderson, temporarily in charge of the parish, said, "It wasn't sexual, but it clearly crossed the boundary. He confessed and asked for forgiveness."

No comments: