10 Comments
User's avatar
Thomas Brackett's avatar

Katie, this is awesome writing! Thank you.

Expand full comment
Christopher Johnson's avatar

I recently had a chat with another priest about this. He’s quite conservative for an Episcopal priest, but he’s way more welcoming to people of color than most folks I know. He changed his church’s music to something more churchy, and it started to lose members until recently, when it started growing again. It’s reviving, but most Episcopalians seem puzzled by him. He doesn’t follow their rules, yet he handles a much greater diversity than most churches. I think our church values the wrong things or at least the shallow ones.

Expand full comment
Johanna Rengers's avatar

A sad truth, written with dignity.

Expand full comment
Marge Doyle's avatar

Katie, I think you hit it. It also affects small churches who can't give 10% to the Diocese, but are sustaining each other and their neighbors as best they can.

Expand full comment
Joe Hubbard's avatar

Katie, these are powerful words, here. After five years in ministry on the margins of “Our kind of people,” I’ve heard all these excuses and seen all the responses you’ve identified. What complicates my experience is that I present as OKOP. The disappointment — even betrayal — manifest when I land on the “wrong” side of a debate or decision still surprises me. But the consequences are always the same.

Keep preaching, Katie! Good news is not always easy to hear, but our common life depends on it.

Expand full comment
Pamela Hosey Long's avatar

I identify so much with the kinds of exclusion you mention. I think all of those have happened to me at different times. I'm going to subscribe because I want you to continue reflecting and writing on this. Love you!!

Expand full comment
Rev. Omar Reyes's avatar

Got to admit we need a new way of doing church plants

Expand full comment
Amy's avatar

So painfully true. And we need, desperately, to take down those exclusive/exclusionary walls. Thank you for saying this out loud and in front of God and everybody.

Expand full comment
Joe Rose's avatar

Thank you for writing what I see. Here in NH, the most "Our Kind of People" population density state in the US. I lead a very small congregation in a rural town after 7 years being lay led. The struggle is real. There are little funds to promote growth. I look forward to reading along and learning from your experiences.

Expand full comment
Peter Storandt's avatar

We had a diocesan event here in Kansas several years ago devoted to developing a greater sense of openness in our congregations. The visiting presenter's talk was entitled "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You-Really?"

Expand full comment