Threatening Letters

It's rather disappointing to see a church who is supposedly committed to be open-minded and communication only communicate through threats.

The letter, dated January 9 and received by Iker on January 15, was intended to be a pastoral exchange between the Presiding Bishop and Iker, according to Episcopal Church Public Affairs Officer Neva Rae Fox.

In a short statement posted on the Fort Worth website along with a copy of the letter, Iker termed the letter "a second threatening letter."

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Pastoral exchange? Pastoral is pertaining to or consisting of shepherds. It's an appropriate word when speaking of the office of Bishop. They are supposed to be a shepherd to their diocese or their followers (in the case of a primate to his or her bishops.) I've never heard of a shepherd knocking a sheep unconscious and dragging him or her back to the fold. These two interpretations are very much not compatible. You cannot be pastoral and threatening at the same time. There are lots of examples of how a good shepherd is supposed to act in the Bible. In fact, Christ is known as the Good Shepherd, and bishops are supposed to represent Christ on Earth. Therefore bishops are supposed to act pastoral not threatening. I suppose this should seem rather obvious to most people, and I shouldn't have to spell it out, but apparently, there are still some confused people out there.

Let's look at why these letters are threatening. I've already posted the second letter here. There is no doubt in anyone's mind, liberal or conservative, after reading the second letter, that the Presiding Bishop will sue the Fort Worth Diocese and Bishop Iker if the diocese leaves. That seems clearly threatening to me. What is a threat? A threat is a declaration of an intention or determination to inflict punishment in retaliation for some action. Do what you are told, or I will sue you. That doesn't seem very pastoral to me.

If your course does not change, I shall regrettably be compelled to see that appropriate canonical steps are promptly taken to consider whether you have abandoned the Communion of this Church -- by actions and substantive statements, however, they may be phrased -- and whether you have committed canonical offences that warrant disciplinary action.

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The first letter is clearly threatening as well. Do not leave TEC, or I will devest you. Recent actions show that these threats are not completely empty. The Presiding Bishop has started the process against two other bishops. I am sure you all know about that already, but here is the link anyway.

I suppose there are shades of grey between threatening and pastoral, and there is a need to call back the lost sheep and even go looking for them. However, I feel that the Fort Worth Diocese is not the lost sheep here. The big question is how will all this play out.