Saving St. James

Some names and events have been redacted to keep the focus on the actions and the harmful effect it had on St. James. Some members in the Diocese have reported similar stories suggesting a need for a heartfelt and transparent conversation about these issues.

 

CLAIM 3

 

Respondent Bishop Provenzano is surreptitiously converting St. James’ into a learning and training center for the international Anglican community.  It is further alleged the Bishop used predatory practices to obtain control of the real and personal property of St. James’ to extend the Garden City campus, the Diocese’s administrative and spiritual seat, to establish the center. In addition, the Bishop has and is intentionally weakening the lay leadership and the bonds between congregants and the church in order to declare the church unviable.  The applicable TEC Canons are IV.4 (h)(6) and IV.4(h)(8).

 

1.  This complaint has shown on page 4 the remarkable resilience of St. James’ under Fr. Fred and the rapid decline under his successor. 

 

2.  Why did Bishop Provenzano adopt a laissez-faire approach regarding REDACTED harmful and damaging actions on St. James’ Church? As it will be shown, the Bishop was repeatedly advised about the detrimental effects on the church.  These effects were tangible and visible. Books on church revival and growth are replete with stories and examples of how churches fail. Despite REDACTED having 3 mentors and the experience of closing his previous church, he was on track to replicate most of the “do nots” from the books.  

 

3.  Before uncovering the Bishop’s plans for St. James’, the complainant wrote the Bishop:

 

“Frankly Bishop, if it were not for the mentoring you have provided [to REDACTED] I would believe, as many of the few remaining members in the church, REDACTED is a corporate version of a poison pill.  A person sent into an organization to purposely cause disunity, disharmony, and apprehension with the purpose of breaking it up for sale or some other purpose.”[1]

 

4.  A possible explanation for the Bishop’s apathy was found using a Google search in mid-July 2018.  The complainant discovered the Bishop had established the Lazarus Institute at St. James’ Episcopal Church.  According to the website,[2] “The Lazarus Institute (TLI) is a resource center, incubator, and network that delivers practical content developed for those catalyzing existing congregations and start-ups in the Anglican Communion.”  In the vernacular, techniques to revitalize or jump-start congregations.  Ironic in light of St. James’ predicament.

 

5.  A WHOIS search of thelazarusinstitute.org shows it was registered anonymously in March 2018.

 

6.  The website is fully developed and along with the institute looks like it was conceived some time ago, possibly in 2016.  The site provides a calendar of events, module and class information, a video section, and a platform for collaboration. 

 

7.  The site features the “Come Forth” Conference scheduled for 9/11/2020.  Dr. Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, will highlight the event with a keynote address.

 

8.  The complainant surveyed senior church members and the former warden if they were aware of the institute.  All said no. 

 

9.  The institute is led by Matthew Paul Buccheri.  According to his website, he consults on ecclesial strategizing and church planning.  He also provides coaching and spiritual direction.[3]

 

10.  Matthew Paul Buccheri can be seen in a YouTube[4] video sitting alone in St. James’ sanctuary introducing the institute.  The video cuts to a street scene showing the diversity of Elmhurst, NY.

 

11.  Matthew Paul Buccheri is a candidate for Holy Orders to the priesthood in the Episcopal Diocese of New York.[5]  He served as Diocese Canon for Ministry Development and Parish Support from June 2016 to November 2016.[6] 

 

12.  Bishop Provenzano contracted Matthew Paul Buccheri to mentor REDACTED on Mondays at St. James’.

 

13.  Placing events and people on a “string theory” board or timeline a picture emerges.  It provides a reasonable explanation for the church’s decline and Bishop Provenzano’s unwillingness to reverse it.  The decline offers a convenient vehicle to declare the church unviable making it more acceptable to overlay the institute onto St. James’.

 

14.  Did Bishop Provenzano intentionally keep REDACTED in his position to create conditions to weaken the connection between congregant and the church? It is undisputable that membership collapsed in numbers and spirit. Practically every program and initiative started before REDACTED tenure were eliminated.  He did little to replace it. 

 

15.  By the Bishop’s own admission, back in February 2017, he had decided on a course of action for St. James’: 

 

“We are addressing the concerns you have raised in a proper manner and will include the leadership of the parish when it is appropriate.”[7]

 

16.  Did the Bishop exclude the congregation believing their response would be unfavorable?  Did he know by allowing REDACTED to continue with his course of action it would drain the church of its talent and advocates.   The complainant updated the Bishop with emails which he acknowledged.    

 

17.  The Bishop’s action speaks to Claim 1 in this complaint.  The Bishop took action on a predominately minority congregation and it had a disparate impact.  Holy Trinity in a predominately White Euro-centric, upper-middle-class neighborhood in Nassau County escaped the same treatment.  

 

18.  The Bishop may have been stunned by the rapid revitalization of St. James’ and the growing strength of its ministry.  Distressed, he acted in a predatory manner, not unlike a seamy land developer who intentionally turns off the water, cuts off heat, denies entry to service providers, and refuses to make necessary repairs to create unbearable living conditions. It is a story that is routinely seen in the media and all too familiar to the poor and minorities living in urban centers.     

 

19.  The Bishop worked in the shadows to establish an institute that would transform the character of St. James’.  The Bishop seeks to extend the bucolic campus of his administrative and spiritual seat in Garden City to the urban center of Elmhurst.  He seeks to use the diversity of Elmhurst as a backdrop to showcase his institute.  A hamlet in a sea of color, poverty, and otherness—an outward appearance of Social Justice and progressivism.

 

20.  Perhaps in their rush to set up the website, the designers grabbed a 2014 picture of the congregation surrounding Fr. Fred.[8]  The picture documents the growth of St. James’.  Unfortunately, this picture could not be replicated today and serves as testimony to its deliberate decline.  It represents a disingenuous portrayal of St. James’ as a vibrant and fruitful church. The picture will be used as an example of the institute’s principles at work.  In truth, it hides the reality inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21.  It is ironic that the central premise underpinning the institute is diametrically opposite to the actions taken by the Bishop.  

 

 

“All churches must understand, love, and identify with their local community and social setting, and yet at the same time be able and willing to critique and challenge it.”[9] 

 

 

 The same principles also caution church authorities who:

 

 

“…adopt popular methods that are essentially “glued on” from the outside—alien to the church’s theology or setting (sometimes both!) And when this happens, we find a lack of fruitfulness.  These ministries don’t change people’s lives within the church and don’t reach people in their city.  Why not? Because the programs do no grow naturally out of reflection on both the gospel and the distinctness of their surrounding culture.”[10]

 

NOTES

 

[1] Keller, Tim. Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City, page 21.

[2] Ibid, page 16.

[3]. http://thelazarusinstitute.org/episcopal/episcopal-churches/st-james-church.  Scroll down.

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5X7kLEXLP8.

[5] http://matthewpaulbuccheri.com/about.html.

[6] https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-paul-buccheri-099278a3

[7] See Appendix D.

[8] See Appendix F.

[9] www.thelazarusinstitute.org

[10] www.matthewpaulbuccheri.com