As To The Matter of Bishop Minerva Carcaño
Bishop Minerva Carcaño, of the United Methodist Church, has been placed on Administrative Leave while certain “charges”, brought against her are investigated. Minerva is a fire-brand, willing to face jail time in support of one cause or another. Everyone knew this before she was confirmed as a Bishop. What is different now?
Several factors may have brought about this turn of events. Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, in San Francisco, has, for many years, been a renegade organization. It was in need of closing throughout the term of Minerva’s predecessor, Bishop Warner Brown. Glide had come to be run by individuals whose views were inconsistent with Methodism. They had the temerity to tell incoming pastors that they were forbidden to hold Communion. Personally, I am not a fan of Communion, and do not participate in it. I also recognize that Communion is important to many Methodist. In Methodism, we determine what is right through what is known as The Quadrilateral. The Quadrilateral gives us the option of not only of reading Scripture, but of also considering what our own experience has been, and what we think about something. Some of us consider Communion to be barbaric. Others deem it to be quite a Holy endeavor.
For the Powers That Be at Glide to forbid Communion is beyond anything that is tolerable. I may also add that Glide had come under the corrupt influence of a certain well-known Bay Area politician … one who could turn the church into his own personal piggy-bank. The task of shutting down Glide Memorial was left to Bishop Minerva Carcaño. It had to be done. That Bishop Carcaño took action against the pirates who were sailing in Glide may have been the source of any complaints against her.
There is also the matter of church closings. The routine closing of churches that were diminishing in size of congregations was halted in the late 1900s … around 1975 or so. My wife and I attended services of a number of United Methodist Churches in our area. We saw attendance as low as eight members. When the North Sacramento United Methodist Church members voted to close the Church, six members showed up for the vote. True, the DS had arranged for that vote to occur absent two stalwarts, to maintain the façade of unanimity. But the two people, who were holding the church together, were present, and the two who were excluded had not taken on any of the responsibilities or running the physical plant. What was left, in the aftermath was a mountain of bills for utilities, taxes, and other services, plus lien notices … many of the envelopes unopened. That church was clearly not a viable entity. This was a church that chose to close. There were others that remained opened, beyond their expiration date, because the Conference had failed to close them. There-in lies the source of possible complaints against Bishop Carcaño.
Nope. Bishop Carcano is just plain incompetent. She has no idea what is going on in the local churches, and she has District Superintendents who don’t have the faintest idea what they are doing. The church is out of control. Suggested reading: The Book of Discipline 258.2 and 362.
@gtingley It is of interest that the opponents of Bishop Carcaño are now employing “bots” to shore up their enmity. Anyone who has seen Bishop Carcaño in action at Annual Conference would never apply the term “incompetent” to her performance. That some would claim that she “has no idea what is going on in the local churches” may be unaware that data is collected, by the Conference Center on an annual basis, that gives us the metrics that describe the performance of each individual church. Such vitriol is not brought about because Citrus Heights UMC chose to shutter its facility, or that Elverta UMC was forced to close. These, and many others, will need to be shuttered as re-vitalized congregations begin to take seriously the stated goal of the United Methodist Church, “To make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.
But all this discussion avoids the real issue. This is not about the closing of smaller churches such as Guinda UMC, Citrus Height UMC, Elverta UMC or even North Sacramento UMC. This complaint involves the inevitable backlash about the closing of Glide Memorial UMC in San Francisco.
Glide Memorial UMC had been taken over by corrupt influences. Glide had become the local religious piggy bank for a politician skilled in corrupt influence. Those who controlled the church were certainly not Methodists. Glide Memorial had become a celebrated symbol of San Francisco’s version of Christianity. Those who were in controlled were repulsed by Methodism. As an example, they forbid clergy from offering Communion. Communion is central to the Methodist faith for many of the devout. The prior Bishop knew of the problem, and took no action. It was left to Bishop Minerva Carcaño to pursue appropriate action, for which she is now held up on false charges of “incompetence”.
@spoo In my particular case, I was the victim of multiple violations of contract, mission statement, and The Book of Discipline. When I reported this to Carcano I was told my concerns were an “administrative matter.” The pastor was dismissed and never got an acknowledgment of wrongdoing from anyone in UMC. Complaint protocol as described in the The Methodist Book of Discipline 362 was not followed at all – not even remotely. To add insult to injury I was instructed to remain quiet about the improprieties committed by the deposed pastor and just move on. I agree with you that the Bishop has some fabulous qualities; unfortunately, she also has some fatal flaws. Another tragic moment in this sometimes puzzling world of ours.
@gtingley Had you taken the matter up with Schuyler?
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