Sunday, April 10, 2005

Episcopal bishop suffragan will quit - Richmond Times Dispatch

[Originally published at The Emirates Economist, 3/7/2005]

I recently wrote that Anglicans (Episcopalians) are very civil. That doesn't include these two:

Last fall, an in-house committee report, which contained 66 recommendations, said the diocese was one of the most dysfunctional in the country. The report was highly critical of Bane's leadership style. The report called the relationship between Bane and Gallagher disastrous. "The degree to which the parties disagree is legendary," it said. "Until very recently, communications between them were non-existent; the suffragan was limited in when and where she could speak and what she could speak about." The report further stated that no specific duties were assigned to Gallagher and that she "has displayed an explosive temperament under a variety of circumstances." Gallagher was elected bishop suffragan Oct. 13, 2001, and was consecrated April 6, 2002. A member of the Cherokee nation, she is the first American Indian female bishop in the Episcopal Church, the first indigenous female bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion and the first female bishop in the three Episcopal dioceses in Virginia.
Bane and Gallagher both need to grow up. She's been bought out by her diocese. Buyouts really gripe me -- a reward for being incompetent and destructive. It's a ransom paid for the diocese to get back to a normal life. The Episcopal Church needs a way to fire these sorts of bishops.

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