South Dakota enters Coadjutor Nominating Period - but profile is still not available

According to the Diocesan Bishop Election Page of the Diocesan website, the profile for Bishop Coadjutor was to have been made public at the start of the week.

But the profile is not up, nor is there any explanation for the delay.

Can a Bishop shun a parish? (Canon Law question)

According to Title III, Canon 12 of The Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church,

Each Bishop Diocesan shall visit the Congregations within the Diocese at least once in three years.

The Canon spells out that the visit is to include a celebration of Communion, Baptisms and/or Confirmations, and a Sermon.

Our last Canonical Episcopal Visitation was October 30, 2005. We are not included on the visitation calendar this year.

"Shunning" of out-of-favor clergy and congregations has a history in this diocese. Title III, Canon 12 spells out a process by which the bishop or the neglected priest and vestry can appeal to the Presiding Bishop, who then appoints a council of five (5???) neighboring diocesan bishops to work some kind of reconciliation voodoo ("reconciliation" in The Episcopal Church means submission to some penalty or other in many cases - or a lawsuit).

So, the choices seem to be no Confirmations at Good Shepherd, or appeal to a Presiding Bishop who uses lawsuits as her primary form of "reconciliation."

A question about the Episcopal Church Pension Fund

Just received The Church Pension Group Annual Report 2008.

An interesting tibdit on p. 25, in the section on "Special Funds":

The Restricted and Unrestricted Legacy and Gift Funds stem from bequests and contributions received by the Fund from individuals for the purpose of supporting the tax-exempt purposes of the Fund. The principal balance of the unrestricted account is available for use at the discretion of the Trustees; the principal balance of the restricted account is maintained as an endowment fund in accordance with the wishes of the benefactors.

In a chart on the same page, the Unrestricted Legacy & Gifts line shows "Benefits and Expenses" of $877,000 for 2007 and $885,000 for 2008.

In late 2006, The Episcopal Church reported its plans to sue congregations that wanted to disaffiliate from TEC, and also noted that Pension Fund money (at that time reported as $25,000) was to be used for this.

Is the Church Pension Fund deploying Legacy and Gift Funds to TEC's lawsuit campaign against Christians? If so, how much of the almost $1.8 million in Unrestricted Legacy & Gifts disbursements went to lawsuits?

The Apostle Paul's lament over "pew sitters"

Outing the spiritual, moral and even professional corruption of The Episcopal Church is a thankless task. Obviously, those profiting from the corruption get angry. And so many in the pews just try to ignore it all while their offerings are used for evil under false teachers. So many are lulled to sleep by flattery - "Supporting us proves that you are 'tolerant'... being with us shows that you are more intellectual than those other churches..." But as an Irish priest with whom I served liked to say, "So has it ever been":

You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face.
II Corinthians 11:19-20 (Morning Prayer, 1928 BCP)

Outing some rumors about Good Shepherd, Sioux Falls and yours truly

Normally, I let this stuff pass. But several sources have passed on several consistent reports of several priests spreading several rumors about me and about my parish:

1. "Tim Fountain is a troublemaker affiliated with some group in Texas."

• Yes, I'm a troublemaker if questioning or objecting to the direction of the Diocese and trying to share FACTS with others is "trouble making."


• I have no affiliation with any group in Texas. I am a member (not an officer) of the American Anglican Council, which has a South Dakota Chapter and national offices in Atlanta, GA.

2. "People at Good Shepherd are trying to get other people to leave their Episcopal Parishes."

• No, we are not. Most of our growth is new folks from the community.


• The AAC Chapter has sent letters out around the diocese, NOT to solicit parish defections, but to share statistics, quotes and other hard evidence of realities here in the diocese and around TEC. How else are we to raise intelligent discussion at diocesan meetings?


• We have a couple of families that have come over from other TEC congregations... but this was after their rectors told them to pretty much shut up, sit in the pews and give money. In other words, we've picked up a few "troublemakers." And their former parishes have ignored several requests for letters of transfer.

3. "All of Good Shepherd's people are leaving to go to Calvary Cathedral."

• This one is a howler. Calvary lost close to 100 in average Sunday attendance (ASA) over five years. Good Shepherd's ASA, in the dog days of August, is over 100 (higher than our ASA for 2007). We continue to grow, even if some people leave. Healthy churches do that.


• There are always people moving between Calvary and Good Shepherd. Usually, it is because folks get mad about something at one place and storm over to the other. The traffic flows both ways and this is a decades-old fact of life in Sioux Falls.


• Calvary has gone through something like 4 Deans in three years. They have their own problems.

4. "Tim Fountain is trying to steal Good Shepherd" (the building, that is).

• This question has been asked and answered so many times that those spreading the rumor are simply lying. The Articles of Incorporation were redrawn in the '70s (during the upheavals over Women's Ordination and Prayer Book change), and make it clear that the physical property belongs to The Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota.


• As a show of good faith, GS keeps it financial books open to diocesan inspection. There is simply no funny business with money or property - we are totally above board and the diocese knows this.


• I care about people and their souls, not buildings. All TEC stands to loose are a bunch of good people who want to love and serve the Lord, and a faithful and fruitful priest with a solid 20 year record of church growth and development.

5. "There's gonna be trouble for Good Shepherd..."

• Well, I'm not the one to answer this, am I? Especially since there has been no communication from the diocese telling us to remedy anything in particular.

Now, let me share some reality with you all:

1. I have tried to be in communication with the diocese over the four years I've been here. I have attempted to make my position clear but respectful. The response of the diocese has been sarcastic public broadsides and now shunning. Letters to the bishop, the Standing Committee and General Convention Deputies receive no reply. And now we have priests running around spreading what appear to be "talking points" which are totally false.

2. I have been clear with diocesan staff that my conscience might require me to step out of TEC, and to that end I have made personal (not congregational) application to a realigned entity as a contingency. This is not a secret. And, btw, the entity ain't "some group in Texas."

3. Why am I blogging this? I have attempted to address these matters discreetly, including direct answers to questions posed by diocesan staff. Yet the rumor campaign continues in the shadows. So, Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them (Ephesians 5:11).

4. I have had several clergy here warn me that the unwritten rule here is "stay out of sight." I appreciate their concern but cannot be invisible when soul-threatening issues are infesting the church. That would be a betrayal of my Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination promises - and of the Lord who died for me while I was still a sinner (Romans 5:8).