Another Ministry (or two) Falls to Raycism - Part 4

[Continued from HERE.]

A few readers of this blog pointed Devilhead to this article on the All Souls DC situation from the Washington City Paper.

I'm encouraging everyone to read it. It's very good.

In our last few posts we looked at the ongoing brouhaha at All Souls, DC, and found the usual mix of garbage that tends to destroy ministries and congregations: 1) a congregant who doesn't understand, or care about, congregational polity, and, as we shall see, 2) an Associate Minister who has no concept of what that means.

Once the UCC decided to do a ministerial fitness review of Rev. Susan Moore's ministry, an open letter went out to the congregation on October 25, 2017. It made it clear that there was a process in place to investigate the claims made by Mr. Tyndall and that for everyone's best interests, the process would be confidential. No one, including Rev. Moore would be allowed to talk about the investigation, until it was all over.

How do you think that went?

It helps if the minister under review has a clue about, a) confidentiality,  b) congregational polity, and c) Unitarian Universalism.

Rev. Susan Newman Moore had no clue about Unitarian Universalism, or Unitarian Universalists. This is ridiculously easy to demonstrate: Rev. Moore's insistence on being called "Rev."

Literally five minutes in any Unitarian Universalist congregation will give a first-time visitor the correct interpretation that Unitarian Universalists are almost rabidly anti-clerical. It shows up absolutely everywhere:

Example: There is almost always a "lay leader" in the pulpit... because God forbid we let the minister "have too much power." That's a quote I've heard in absolutely EVERY UU congregation I've been in. Seriously, visit a UU church and ask, during coffee hour, "Why do you have a lay leader in the pulpit with the minister?" The answer will always include something on keeping the minister in check, or balancing the power. Always. Every single time. Don't take my word, try it for yourself.

Example: Associates are "called" by the congregation, which all but guarantees that the Associate rarely, if ever, understands their role. Seriously, half of them go around thinking they are the "counterpoint" to the called senior minister of the congregation. The blame for this is frequently to be placed at the feet of the search committee. Many search committees who search for an associate minister do so with the idea that there will be a "counterpoint" in the pulpit. Senior minister is preaching one vision, associate minister preaches the opposite... yeah that's not a recipe for disaster. Just look around at the number of called associate ministers who destroy their ministry along with the senior minister's ministry. The exceptions to this are few and far between.

I spoke to a colleague about Rev. Moore's insistence on being called "Reverend", and his response was, "Does she not understand Unitarian Universalism? UUs would rather eat broken glass than refer to their called religious leader as 'Reverend."

I concurred. The only time I was every called "Rev." or "Rev. Dr." was when a congregant wanted to impress a family member who visited church that day. (Or they wanted to feel important because they knew someone with those titles.) Otherwise, the "Rev." or "Rev. Dr." was never used. 

Open message to Rev. Susan Newman Moore: Yo' Sue, you didn't understand this? How many years were you serving in a UU church? Are you too stupid to understand this? Or, do you have personal motivations that makes it impossible for you to understand? [Again, not a lot of middle ground here.]

The board gave Rev. Moore paid leave from October 31, 2017 - January 1, 2018. This was later extended from the beginning to the end of January 2018.

On January 29, 2018 a letter went out to the congregation regarding Rev. Moore's "separation" from All Souls DC.

[ORIGINAL HERE]

[ORIGINAL HERE]

Rev. Moore and Rev. Hardies chose to part ways. This was done under the auspices of the Unitarian Universalist Association under UUA staffer Rev. Hope Johnson and two unnamed good offices people. All in all what sounds like a good, healthy process. The letter to the congregation, dated January 29, 2018,  was appropriate given the situation.

And this is where the story should end...

But it doesn't.

Your Old Pal,
Devilhead

[Continued...]