Saturday, September 21, 2002
Dale: We're back in my hometown of Alma today. We are attending the wedding of one of my cousins this afternoon. I'm looking forward to it, not least because of the fact that we are going to the Church. It's a beautiful building whose interior dates from the early twentieth century. It has magnificent altar rails, a peaked roof supported by varnished beams, and fantastic, recently-restored thematic stained glass. My favorite scene depicts Peter being crucified upside down. It is, hands down, the most beautiful Church in this overwhelmingly Protestant section of rural central Michigan. Sure, it does not have kneelers, but I am inclined to forgive on this point.
It is, after all, a Methodist church.
Tomorrow, we'll be going to Mass here. There's no stained glass, and there aren't any altar rails, either. On the, uh, "bright" side, the two churches share a lack of kneelers. But at least the tabernacle is in plain sight for once, just to the right of the altar.
On the real bright side, St. Mary's is finally getting a new priest (the last one was removed by Bishop Untener because he had a case of child sexual abuse in his background). The abuse lasted three years. Bp. Untener was aware of this, but hired the priest anyway and in 1999 assigned him to the parish. Knowing full well St. Mary's has a grade school... The good news is there were no incidents during the priest's three years at the parish.
When the abuse record came to light, the faithful were naturally very upset. They even held a protest meeting at the local high school, which the previous victim, now an adult, attended (he did not speak). Bp. Untener removed the priest, but not before griping about the protesting members of his flock.
I will not be subscribing to Ken!, the Official Newsletter of the Bishop Untener Fan Club, anytime soon.
It is, after all, a Methodist church.
Tomorrow, we'll be going to Mass here. There's no stained glass, and there aren't any altar rails, either. On the, uh, "bright" side, the two churches share a lack of kneelers. But at least the tabernacle is in plain sight for once, just to the right of the altar.
On the real bright side, St. Mary's is finally getting a new priest (the last one was removed by Bishop Untener because he had a case of child sexual abuse in his background). The abuse lasted three years. Bp. Untener was aware of this, but hired the priest anyway and in 1999 assigned him to the parish. Knowing full well St. Mary's has a grade school... The good news is there were no incidents during the priest's three years at the parish.
When the abuse record came to light, the faithful were naturally very upset. They even held a protest meeting at the local high school, which the previous victim, now an adult, attended (he did not speak). Bp. Untener removed the priest, but not before griping about the protesting members of his flock.
I will not be subscribing to Ken!, the Official Newsletter of the Bishop Untener Fan Club, anytime soon.
