Pastor Daniel Meeter, of Park Slope's Old First Dutch Reformed Church, preached last night at the Interfaith Memorial Service for World AIDS Day at St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church in Park Slope .

An OTBKB reader had this report about Saturday morning's protest by the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) at Congregation Beth Elohim.

A Kansas-based anti-gay Baptist church may be planning to picket three Brooklyn synagogues—including Congregation Beth Elohim—on Saturday but one local church is lending a helping hand to the Park Slope synagogue on the holiest day of the year.

On Yom Kippur, Park Slope's Old First Dutch Reformed Church will roll out the welcome mat to Congregation Beth Elohim and let them use their church on the high holy day because the ceiling of their synagogue is falling down.

Here's the story:

On Thursday afternoon, Rabbi Andy Bachman of Congregation Beth Elohim telephoned Pastor Daniel Meeter of Old First Dutch Reformed Church to inform him that the ceiling of the Beth Elohim sanctuary had just come crashing down. He feared that it would be impossible to hold Yom Kippur services in the sanctuary on Sunday night and Monday.

Rabbi Bachman asked Pastor Meeter if he would be willing to let Beth Elohim hold their Yom Kippur services at Old First Church. Not surprisingly, Pastor Meeter told him that he would be honored and he was confident that his congregation would agree.

A structural engineer visited the synagogue on Thursday afternoon to determine the extent of the damage.  After a thorough investigation, the engineer recommended that they close the synagogue because he deemed it unsafe to have people sitting on the upper balcony.

At 5 p.m. on Thursday, Rabbi Bachman came over to Old First Church and met with Pastor Meeter, who told him that he would delighted to host services at his church.

Pastor Meeter expressed his excitement about hosting Kol Nidre on Sunday night and a second service on Monday morning in an email to his congregation. "Yom Kippur is the highest of the High Holy Days of Judaism and it's an incredible thing for us to host our Jewish neighbors for these two services."

Pastor Meeter is reaching out to members of his church to help get the church ready for 1,000 people expected on Sunday night for the Kol Nidre service. "Starting Friday morning, the church custodian and I will start to get the balcony ready," Meeter said in his email. "We need to clean it up, relocate storage boxes, move pew cushions, move some of the pews and stabilize them, clean them, move the harpsichord, and set up the wooden chairs."

Pastor Meeter hopes to have the church ready by Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon at 1 pm—after Sunday morning church services—Beth Elohim will send a volunteer crew  with 100 folding chairs over to the church to begin setting up for the Kol Nidre service.

Rabbi Bachman has invited Pastor Meeter to say some words at the Sunday night service. Bachman also invited church elders and deacons to attend. Pastor Meeter attends the Kol Nidre service at Congregation Beth Elohim every year.

"I consider this a landmark event for Old First, and such an expression of our Third Mission. I believe it's a gift of God to us," Pastor Meeter wrote in his email.

On Saturday morning, Congregation Beth
Elohim will be picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church, an
extremist anti-Semitic, anti-gay independent church based
out of Topeka, Kansas.

They plan to send
representatives who will stand in front of the synagogue on Garfield Place displaying
disturbing signs and provoking those entering the building. According to an email from Rabbi Andy Bachman "Their aim is to create enough confrontation to
incite others to provocation. It is their constitutional
right to picket." 

Rabbi Andy Bachman, CBE's Executive Director Elana Paru, and CBE's President David
Kasakove, sent out this email to synagogue members.

This morning I received yet another email from the well-organized supporters of principal James Flanagan, the veteran Catholic school principal who was dismissed by Saint Saviour's pastor, Fr. Murphy.

Outraged
parents and parishioners are now calling for Fr. Murphy’s removal as pastor because, they say, he fired Principal Flanagan so he could "give a friend
the job."

This "friend" of Father Murphy is Maura Lorenzen, the co-director of the Early Childhood Center at Congregation Beth Elohim (ECC).

The parents at Saint Saviour are very angry about losing their longtime principal. And they are enraged about the pastor's autocratic style of leadership and his refusal to take their concerns seriously. It is, after all, a Catholic school, and the pastor does run the show. It must be infuriating to have to succumb to that kind of undemocratic decision-making and feel powerless in the face of it.

That said, the outraged parents obviously don't realize what a gem Ms. Lorenzen is.

My daughter and my niece both attended the ECC and I have an enormous amount of respect for Lorenzen.  Like Flanagan, she is a beloved school administrator and educator, who works well with parents, staff and children.

The idea that she was fired from Congregation Beth Elohim is absolutely preposterous. Lorenzen made the choice to leave the school after a 14-year tenure as co-director. Beth Elohim's Rabbi Andy Bachman wrote into OTBKB to set the record straight:  "I'd like to make very clear, on behalf of everyone at Congregation Beth Elohim (CBE) who deeply admire and respect Maura Lorenzen as an educator and administrator, that Maura was NOT fired from her job at CBE.  Maura is leaving her job to pursue this new opportunity at Saint Saviour and our hearts are heavy saying good-bye!  She has performed her duties for the families in our community for years and years with great integrity and we will greatly miss her," he writes. 

Intelligent, honest, open, and straightforward, Lorenzen has been at the ECC since 1982 and is a highly respected co-leader of an extremely popular Park Slope school.

A graduate of St. Joseph's College with a degree in early childhood education and special education, Lorenzen received her master's degree from The College of Staten Island. Before becoming co-director at the ECC, she taught 2s, 3s,and 4s in the nursery school and co-directed the lower day camp since 1988. In 1995 Maura was appointed
the co-director of the ECC (with Jacqueline Israel) where she is very well liked by both parents and staff. Maura is the mother of
four sons, the oldest a college graduate and the youngest in middle school.

Putting aside the circumstances of James Flanagan's dismissal, the school is lucky to have such a decent, graceful and wise administrator as their new principal. She is obviously entering a difficult and divisive situation and I feel for her. From my experience as an ECC parent, Lorenzen strikes me as the kind of leader who can handle the tension and will not personalize it. She will, I believe, be able to help that community heal after this painful controversy. 

I must say that I object to the fact that the parents, as part of their efforts to fight their principal's dismissal, are trying to discredit Ms. Lorenzen's background. "Fr. Murphy states that Ms. Lorenzen was the director
of a local preschool. That preschool’s site, however, described her
role as co-director. He also ignored the fact that Ms. Lorenzen’s
background is in Early Childhood Education, not Elementary Education.
Eighty percent of the Students at St. Saviour, which goes from Pre-K
through 8th grade, are therefore outside her realm of expertise."

While it may be true that Ms. Lorenzen has been co-director of a nursery through kindergarten program, Saint Saviour parents should not underestimate Lorenzen's wealth of experience and wisdom.

They are also, understandably, questioning Fr. Murphy's hiring process.

"Compounding
the appearance of a backroom deal is the fact that Fr. Murphy failed to
interview qualified veteran teachers at the school and has failed to
answer questions sent to him by the president of the Parent School
Board about the hiring and selection," wrote one parent in an email.

Backroom deal or good choice? It seems that it is actually a little of both. Certainly Lorezen is a skilled leader and someone who is eminently qualified and prepared to run a school of any kind.

I hope the circumstances of Lorenzen's hiring as principal won't taint her ability to bring her experience and expertise to a school that is in need of good leadership after this painful controversy.

And the protests continue. Tonight parents, alumni, and parishioners of St. Saviour
Elementary School will line up again to picket their pastor’s
controversial decision.

My heart goes out to most of the players at Saint Saviour. Clearly Fr. Murphy needs to meet with the parents in person and explain his decision and how it was made. Refusing to meet with them is not the answer. While he may not change his mind, he needs to share his reasons for dismissing Jame Flanagan in an open and honest way. Perhaps mediation will be required to help this school community get past this. It is worth noting that principal Flanagan is close to retirement age and was actually planning to retire next year I was told. That said, this all could have been handled in a much more decent way. Perhaps Flanagan can stay on in a transitional capacity as Lorenzen gets her bearings at the school.

Maura Lorenzen begins her tenure at Saint Saviour's under incredibly difficult circumstances. Knowing her as I do, I suspect she will be able to set a positive tone and create an environment that is as open and welcoming of parents and staff and their needs as the one she created at the ECC.

She is a special person. And this school needs someone special to replace the special principal that they lost.

On Thursday a letter went out to parents and guardians of Saint Saviour Elementary School from Fr. Murphy. Here is a text of the letter, which was emailed to me by one of the school's parents.

Dear Parents and Guardians:

It is with joy that I announce to you that Maura Lorenzen is the new principal of St.
Saviour Elementary School.

Maura is a life long parishioner of St. Saviour. She is a graduate of both our elementary
school and our high school. Currently, Maura is a member of our Parish Council, our
Welcome Team, and our Hospitality Committee as well as being a catechist in our School
of Religion. Maura is also one of the lay leaders representing St. Saviour at the cluster
meetings of our local parishes.

Maura has been an educator since 1982. After graduating from St. Joseph's College she
started her career as a classroom teacher at St. Francis Xavier Elementary School,
teaching 5th and 6th grade children. She then went on to teach at Congregation Elohim's
Early Childhood Center. Her experience in administration began in 1989 when she was
named Lower Day Camp Director at CBE. In 1995 she became a director of the entire
Early Childhood Center, including the nursery school, toddler program and the summer
day camp program.

Gail Harvey, our assistant principal, assures me she will work closely with our new
principal in order to provide a smooth transition.

In the 5 years that I have known her, Maura has consistently demonstrated to me all the
skills and qualities that are essential to lead our school into the future. Please join me in
praying for God's abundant blessings upon Maura Lorenzen as she assumes this
important position.

Enjoy the summer.

God Bless You.

Sincerely,

Fr. Murphy, Pastor

Michele Madigan Somerville, poet, friend, OTBKB contrutbutor and Brooklyn Reading Works Regular, has written a post for the New York Times blog, Happy Days. 

As described on the blog, " Happy Days is a discussion about the search for
contentment in its many forms — economic, emotional, physical,
spiritual — and the stories of those striving to come to terms with the
lives they lead."  Here's an excerpt from Somerville's piece called, Born Again in Brooklyn:

About a decade ago, moved by a convergence of my longstanding
fascination with religion and a time of great personal loss, I embarked
on a search for a church and wound up a born-again Catholic. It was not
a straight or untroubled path, guided as it was by both my attraction
to and enmity for the Roman Catholic Church into which I was born and
baptized.

Finally a public response from James Flanagan, who is principal of Saint Saviour's School in Park Slope.

June 17, 2009,

Dear Parents,

As most of you are aware, Fr. Murphy has refused to renew my contract for next year.  I am constrained from providing detailed information on this issue, as this matter is in mediation.  With the school year coming to a close, however, I wanted to thank you for your support & provide you some information about the situation.

Fr. Murphy’s informing me on April 3, 2009 that he would not be renewing my contract came as a complete shock.  Last April he told me that we had had the best year yet working together.  My contract required five formal meetings to discuss my performance and major school issues.  No meetings occurred.  This is why when I appealed the non-renewal, the Office of the Superintendent ruled in my favor.  The ruling in my favor, however, did not overturn Father’s decision.  This is why on May 13, 2009 I requested Diocesan mediation.

Fr. Murphy has stated that I am not the type of principal who can implement the changes called for in the Preserving the Vision Process.  In its review of the four schools of our cluster, the Preserving the Vision Committee commended St. Saviour for its strength and urged it to keep growing stronger.
I have taken part extensively in the meetings of the Park Slope Advisory Board for the four schools of our cluster.  The Board developed the marketing campaign for the cluster that resulted in ads for our schools on the sides of 15 Park Slope buses.

Over the last several years, I have instituted the program where several of our eighth grade students study French I at St. Saviour High School; worked with the Friends of St. Saviour to guide the library renovation (which begins Monday, June 22nd); hosted two very successful Art Fairs and several seasonal concerts; restarted the concept of a Science Fair & oversaw the installation & implementation of Smart Board technology & LCD/Laptop instruction.  Not bad for a person supposedly opposed to change.

Father Murphy’s major criticism of me concerns Tuition.  He wanted at one point to charge the actual per pupil cost as tuition.  This would have meant families of two would be paying $10,000 in tuition next year.  I stressed to Fr. Murphy and the School Finance Committee that such an approach would seriously hurt our enrollment.  Ultimately the Tuition was raised $300 per child.  Through fundraising & donations, we were able to raise sufficient funds to bridge the gap between actual tuition & per pupil cost without financial assistance from the parish.  Father Murphy considered my advocacy on behalf of the school as my being insubordinate.

Your phenomenal support has kept me going during this very difficult time.  I have been truly blessed to have served as principal at St. Saviour’s for 25 years.  I look forward to returning as your principal in September.  I thank God for you and your wonderful children & our faculty.

Sincerely,
Jim Flanagan

Here is an email from one of the Saint Saviour parents, who has been protesting the decision by Fr. Murphy not to renew the contract of the school's principal James Flanagan.

Here is a letter from a Saint Saviour's parent that contains some interesting information about proposed tuition increases at the Catholic school that may be the reason for a conflict between Fr. Murphy and principal Flanagan.

Yesterday's intermittent rain didn't stem the enthusiasm or energy of the Children of Abraham Peace Walk. For the sixth year in a row, a group of approximately 75 Christians, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Rastafarians, atheists, agnostics, and peaceniks (organized and sponsored by a large coalition of Brooklyn religious congregations) walked from one  religious institution to another with open hearts and curious minds.

The first stop on this uniquely Brooklyn walk was the Al Noor School, a private school on 21st Street and Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park, that provides a secular and Islamic education for grades K-12 and is one of the largest and fastest growing Islamic schools in the United States. The walkers went inside, where they learned about the school and watched "Cities of Light," a film about a time in Spain, over a thousand years ago, when Jews, Christians, and
Muslims, lived together and flourished.

From there the walkers walked to The Church of Gethsemane on 8th Avenue near 10th Street in Park Slope, a diverse Presbyterian congregation founded by men and women who have
been incarcerated, their families and friends. They share the church with Kolot Chayeinu, where Rabbi Ellen Lippman, one of the organizers of the walk, runs a progressive Jewish congregation made up of individuals of varying sexual orientations, gender identities, races, family arrangements,
and Jewish identities and backgrounds, who "share a commitment to the search for meaningful expressions
of our Judaism in today's uncertain world." A Vietnamese Buddhist group also uses the well-utilized space and the Children of Abraham Peace Walkers were treated to a brief chanting session with them.

I joined the group at the next stop on the tour: Congregation Beth Elohim on 8th Avenue and Garfield Place in Park Slope, where Rabbi Andy Bachman was waiting on the steps of the sanctuary. Once inside, he told the walkers that the synagogue was built in 1861 at the beginning of the Civil War. "Times change, communities evolve, institutions remain. Abraham Lincoln was president when this synagogue was built. Could the people praying here then have imagined our president today?" Rabbi Bachman asked the group.

Rabbi Bachman introduced Jacob, a 13-year-old boy who will be a Bar Mitzvah in November and asked him to explain the meaning of certain aspects of the synagogue to the group.

"This is the ark where we keep the Torah, the most sacred text in Judaism," Jacob told the group. "And this," he said pointing to a lamp "is the eternal light that doesn't go out."

"There has to be an eternal light, which is God's presence," Bachman interjected. "This one is a light bulb and sometimes it has to be changed. Don't tell anyone I told you that." Everyone laughed. "It requires a certain suspension of disbelief which is a legitimate theological position."

Jacob, standing on the stage of the sanctuary with an electric guitar, taught the group the words and melody to a song popular with members of the Israeli peace movement, which included the Hebrew and Arabic words for peace (salaam, shalom).

From there the group continued on to its final stop, the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture. Members of BSEC  welcomed the group as they walked up the steps of the elegant 1900 mansion, which is considered one of the best examples of the
rare neo-Jacobean style. It has been home to the Society since 1947.

The walkers sat down in the large parlor room of the mansion and listened as a member of the Society described Ethical Culture as a humanistic religious and educational fellowship that is ethics-centered. "We spell God with two O's," she said.

"The Society for Ethical Culture was started by German Jews escaping growing nationalism in Germany," one member told the group. "They were  immigrants hoping that democracy was more than a dream. They felt you could either do your good work with only your own or start something by joining with others."

Debbie Almontaser, one of the founders of the walk and a native of Yemen spoke movingly about Charlie Horowitz, the deceased
president of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, and another one of the  original founders of the Children of Abraham Peace Walk. "He felt it was
important to take this walk to different parts of Brooklyn as a way to
broaden the Brooklyn community together," she told the group. Alomontaser, a veteran of the NYC Public Schools was the founding principal of the  Khalil Gibran International Academy, a dual language public school that opened in 2007. She forced out before the school opened its doors because of a flap about a misconstrued comment that she made.

Rev. Tom Martinez, minister of the All Souls Bethlehem Church in Kensington and one of the organizers of the walk, told the crowd that he knew that they were hungry and tired but that there was still one more item on the program.

"This year we've expanded to include Vietnamese Buddhists and now a Rastafarian. My friend Oosagyefo will read a poem."

Oosagyefo, a tall, handsome Rastafarian man with a rainbow colored knit cap on his dread-locked head stood in front of the room and performed his poetry using his arms with a dancer's grace.

Son of man tell Ian’ I
Something about life that have never
been said
Like how you will measured
The moments of infinity with
patient
Love your neighbor like yourself unconditionally
Entertain
strangers like they were your next of kin
Put an end to galactic wars

Sign everlasting peace treaty
That has no beginning and no ending

Like yesterday and tomorrow
Son of man tell Ian’ I
How to make this
earth dance again with your rhyme scheme 
How to breathe new life into
this ailing world with your prose
And how to rejuvenate this tired creation

With your metaphors
Write Ian’ I a poem to resurrect the dead
Give
sight back to the blind
Heal the cripple
Set the captive free
Make
your words sing a bittersweet Poetic melody
That even the Angels on Mount
Zion
Will once again sing in harmony
Yes we are knock knock knocking on
heavens door 
I say we are knock knock knocking on heavens door 

Yes we are knock knock knocking on heavens door 
Me say we are
knock knock knocking on heavens door.

And then it was time to break bread. This group of hungry and tired Christians, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Rastafarian's, agnostics, atheists and peaceniks enjoyed a feast of Middle-Eastern specialties donated by one of the great food shops on Atlantic Avenue. Participants spilled outside into the large garden of the Ethical Culture mansion and talked to one another, ate, and relished the sense of unity and shared purpose.

The Sixth Annual Children
of Abraham Peace Walk is today. This uniquely Brooklyn event begins at the Al-Noor School at 4 p.m. and continues on to the Church of the Gethsemane/Kolot Chayeinu, Congregation Beth Elohim and concludes at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture.

Organized by Rabbi Ellen Lippmann, Rev. Tom Martinez (OTBKB's Witness Photographer) and Adem Carroll, the Children of Abraham
Peace Walk brings together Jews, Christians, Muslims and those of
other faiths and all ages, who walk together and learn about each
other’s traditions and houses of worship.

In past years the Peace
Walk has explored Brooklyn Heights, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge over
to Ground Zero; and has visited many congregations, including an
Albanian mosque. This year, the Ethical Culture Society on Prospect Park West in Park Slope is the final venue.

The 2009 Peace Walk begins at 4 p.m. at the Al-Noor School (675
4th Ave. near 21st St.), where participants will view the film "Cities
of Light" and learn more about the school. "Cities of Light" is part of
the “Many Religions One Community” initiative.

The group will then begin the Peace Walk
around 5:15. The first stop is the Church of Gethsemane/Kolot
Chayeinu) at 1012 8th Ave. between 10th and 11th
streets. It is the home of both a Presbyterian congregation formed as an
“intentional community” of and for prisoners and their families and
loved ones; and the progressive synagogue Congregation Kolot Chayeinu
(which means Voices of Our Lives).

The Peace Walk will then progress to
Congregation Beth Elohim/Garfield Temple, (Reform branch) at 8th Ave.
and Garfield Place. The Walk concludes at the Brooklyn Society for
Ethical Culture, 53 Prospect Park West (between 1st and 2nd streets),
where participants will eat, talk, hear poet Osagyefoo and see a repeat
viewing of Cities of Light.

Sponsoring congregations include,
as of press time: Al-Mahdi Islamic Foundation; Al-Noor School; All
Souls Bethlehem Church; the Arab Muslim American Federation; the Arab
American Association of New York; Beit El Maqdis Islamic Center; Brit
Tzedek v’Shalom, New York chapter (Jewish Alliance for Justice and
Peace); the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture; Brooklyn
Congregations United; Church of Gethsemane; Congregation Beth Elohim;
Council of Peoples Organization (COPO); Fellowship of Reconciliation;
Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives; the Muslim Consultative Network;
the Park Slope Jewish Center; Temple Beth Emeth v’Ohr Progressive
Shaarei Zedek; and the Islamic Mission of America.

Finally a letter from Father Murphy, pastor of Saint Saviour Church about his controversial decision not to renew the contract of the elementary school's long time principal. This letter was sent to me by a Saint Saviour parent.

June 8, 2009

Dear Parents,

These past several weeks have been ones of tension and anxiety for some of you. Perhaps some clarification on certain issues would be helpful.

On April 3, 2009 I informed Mr. Flanagan that I was not renewing his contract for the 2009-2010 academic year as principal of Saint Saviour Elementary School. Mr. Flanagan knows that my decision is final. As his employer my decision not to renew Mr. Flanagan’s contract came after a lengthy period of prayer and consultation. In the month prior to April 3rd, I discussed my reasons for this non-renewal with several experts in Catholic education. Each of them supported my reasons and decision.

Although I have received much approval from parents for my decision, there is a group of parents that have been circulating information that contains completely inaccurate and untrue accusations, which include the following:

• That I intend to close the school and sell the building. This is a lie; there is absolutely no truth at all in that statement.
• That I don’t like children. That is just not true. Throughout my 39 years of priesthood I have always enjoyed a special bond with children of all ages.
• That I refused to go to Methodist hospital to baptize babies that are dying. That is not only a lie but also a calumny, a serious sin against the 8th Commandment.
• That I “shame the priesthood.” In a written statement to Bishop DiMarzio such a claim was made, however no evidence was given for that cruel accusation.
• That I said, “if you don’t like it take your children and go.” What was said was give the new principal a year before making any rash decisions.

A disrespectful and distracting tactic occurred on Pentecost Sunday, May 31st when students from our elementary school were directed by parents to hold picket signs in my direction as I greeted parishioners exiting Mass. I do not believe I need to elaborate on the unfathomable involvement of children in this situation and on this occasion. Furthermore, I have received telephone calls and written correspondences containing profanity and vulgarities. One phone call (from a male parent) used such language to our evening receptionist, a young (female) college student.

It is understandable that this decision may have raised concerns from some parents. My intention for writing to you is to clarity the fallacies expressed within such a discourteous crusade by some of these parents.

Sincerely,
Father Murphy, Pastor

Today an interesting new twist to the Saint Saviour Elementary School controversy:

Although many Saint Saviour Elementary School parents, alumni and parishioners were under the impression that their Pastor, Fr.  Murphy, was solely responsible for the decision not to renew the contract of James Flanagan,
principal of their elementary school, some parents now believe that he was acting on orders from Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, the
head of the Archdiocese of Brooklyn. 

In an article in today's Brooklyn Eagle, Fr. Murphy told BE reporter Mary Frost that in his decision not to renew Mr. Flanagan's contract he was just carrying out
Bishop DiMarzio’s long-term vision for the Diocese, a called Preserving the
Vision.

 “We need a principal with the leadership skills that look towards the
future…Principal Flanagan has done a superb job, but things
are changing. We need a principal with the vision for that change, so
we can implement Bishop DiMarzio’s plan well. This doesn’t just apply
to St. Saviour, this applies to all the schools in the Diocese…St. Saviour is
a strong school now, and it’s going to remain strong. The principal is
changing, but nothing else is changing. It’s a significant change, but
the only change," Fr. Murphy is quoted as saying.

It is still unclear whether orders to dismiss James Flanagan came from the Bishop or whether Father Murphy was just interpreting the Bishop's edict.

Some Saint Saviour's parents now believe that it was a direct order from the Bishop. But  Father Kieran Harrington, spokesperson for the Brooklyn Diocese disputes that interpretation. “We
try to facilitate the process but every decision is made at the local
level. The person who makes the decisions is Father Murphy. He hires,
he fires. He signs all the contracts for the parish. We don’t even set
salaries," he told the Brooklyn Eagle.

Sounds like everyone is shifting the blame. It will be interesting to see if the parents take their protest straight to the Bishop now. 

Rev. Matthew Westfox, associate pastor at All Souls Bethlehem Church, a Unitarian congregation in Kensington, works for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and was asked to say a few words of prayer as part
of a vigil in Union Square that was held in honor of Dr. Tiller, an abortion doctor, who was murdered in his church on Sunday.

 We come together in mourning.

To
express our grief and sorrow at the murder of a doctor who spent his
life helping others. We grieve for all those who were touched by his
life, and tonight are feeling his loss.

For
all the women who will now find it even harder to access needed
services, services that may be necessary to preserve their health or
even their very lives, because Dr. Tiller is no longer with us.

We
mourn the loss that we all feel, the loss of our sense of safety. We
are reminded that when one of us is attacked, all of us are attacked.

We come together in mourning.

 We come together in anger.

We
are angry tonight, and we should be. Angry in the face of cold-blooded
murder. Angry at those who would lash out in violence.

We
are angry that someone who did so much to help others was taken from
us.  We bear witness to this terrible act, and stand together to
declare that violence against doctor or clinic staff cannot, must not
be tolerated.

We come together in anger.  Not to lash out, not to fight, but to cry out from our anger that this must never happen again.

We come together in celebration and thanksgiving. 

We
celebrate the life of this doctor who did so much to help others. Who
day after day refused to let violence and harassment stop him from
offering needed, often times life saving medical services to those in
need.

We
give thanks for the doctors and the nurses, the clinical staff and
administrators, for all those who work in clinics and hospitals, facing
danger and harassment day in and day out to provide abortions to those
who need them.  Let us come together in celebration and thanksgiving.

We come together in solidarity.  This vigil is one of many, as all
across the country, people come together in anger, come together in
mourning, come together in celebration. We come together to remember
that we are not alone.  To mourn the passing of Dr. Tiller and to give
thanks for all he did. To stand in solidarity with those patients of
Dr. Tiller who remind us that they owe their lives to his work. We
stand in solidarity with them, for there is no greater testimony to Dr.
Tiller and the goodness of his life’s work.

 PRAYER

Gracious
and loving God, known to us by so many different names and so many
different faces, tonight, in all our different voices we lift our
prayers to you.  Prayers for the family of George Tiller.  For all
those who were touched by his life and are grieving tonight at his
loss.  We pray tonight for all of us who are afraid, afraid of the
threat of violence, but still are willing to stand up and raise our
voices for justice.  Hear our prayer, spoken with our lips, and spoken
in our solemn silence. 

Gracious
and loving God, be with all of those brave souls who make abortion
possible.  Hold them in your loving embrace and keep them safe—
doctors, nurses, clinic staff, administrators, janitors and counselors
and receptionists—all those who labor to provide abortions to those in
need.  Bless them and keep them safe from harm
and harassment and intimidation and fear. Hear all of us tonight as we
lift up our voices to you, and say in all you many names- Amen.

 BENEDICTION

 That
any time a doctor or a nurse or a clinic practitioner goes to work to
provide abortions care to those in need, the spirit of Dr. Tiller lives
on. 

That
any time an elected official submits a bill or casts a vote in favor of
justice, in favor of clinic defense, in favor of access, that the
spirit of Dr. Tiller lives on. 

That
every time we come to a vigil and say “No more violence, no more
killings; clinic workers must work in peace,” the spirit of Dr. Tiller
lives on. 

That
every time we give of our hearts, through gifts of time, or money, or
energy or volunteerism, we make it possible for women to have access to
needed services, and the spirit of Dr. Tiller lives on.  By doing all we can to make abortions accessible and safe, the spirit of Dr. Tiller lives on.

Gracious
and loving God, let your strength flow through all of us.  Let all of
us honor the memory of this great man, and keep his spirit with us as
we work for justice, work for access,  and work together to make sure that no doctor, no administrator, no clinic worker is ever murdered again.

After two weeks of waiting, Saint Saviour Elementary School parents are finally receiving individual written responses to the letters they sent to Thomas Chadzutko, the Superintendent of Schools for the
Diocese.

The parents are hoping that Bishop DiMarzio and Aux. Bishop Caggiano will address their concerns after they review the situation.

Today during Sunday service at Saint Saviour, a Catholic Church on 8th Avenue in Park Slope, parents protested the decision by pastor Father Murphy not to renew the contract of James Flanagan, a respected and beloved principal at the Saint Saviour Elementary school.

"I'm not naive. Given Mr. Flanagan's age, which is 62, I know he won't be principal at the school forever. He probably won't be there when my son graduates from elementary school," a parent who asked me not to use his name told me. "But Mr. Flanagan has the right to stay as long as he wants and leave the school with the same grace and dignity that he has carried himself all these years. He has led a very successful school. There are no criminal charges against him. It makes no sense."

The outraged parents, who know that Father Murphy has the final say, know that "the only chance we have is if the public outcry is so great, Murphy will sit down with the Bishop and they'll figure out a way to let Mr. Flanagan stay as a way to save face on this."

Inside the church, Father Murphy delivered a homily, interestingly enough, about the importance of change. "The holy spirit is all about change," the parent told me.  "From Elvis to the Beatles or the Mets at Shea Staduium changing to Citi Field, it's all about change."

A parent, who particpated in the protest told me: "It hurt me to march outside the church but we had to get our message out. I grew up in this close-knit Catholic community in Brooklyn. I have a strong faith. But we are upset by this."

Based on the information provided, he noted that
there were a number of similarities in Mr. Flanagan’s and Mr. Herring’s
situations.  Both men were excellent and experienced principals
of thriving Roman Catholic elementary schools, respected and well-loved by their
parish communities.  In each instance the pastor has refused to discuss the
reasons for his decision on the grounds of privacy.  In each instance, the
pastor did not consult with, or even inform, any parish lay leadership, such as
the Pastoral Council or School Board, prior to executing his unilateral
decision.  In each instance the parishioners are the subjects in an
essentially feudal system of church governance in which the bishop or the
archbishop is the overlord, the pastor is the vassal or lord of the manor, and
the parishioners are the serfs, urged to pray, pay and obey.  It was noted
that this system, an autocratic one, rather than a democratic one, is a far
cry from the way in which citizens govern themselves in a democratic republic,
and publicly-traded corporations run themselves.  The system, although
archaic, works until the pastor stops acting in a pastoral and benevolent way.
 Unfortunately, in both Mr. Herring and Mr. Flanagan's situations, the
pastor has clearly not acted in a pastoral and benevolent
way. 

The gentleman from Nativity further advised that
he believed that the efforts and prayers of hundreds collaborating in an
organized way, contributed to Mr. Herring’s reinstatement.  He noted that
he was uncertain if the Archbishop of Cincinnati or his Auxiliary Bishop
reached out to Fr. Sherlock to either order or urge him to engage in the
ultimately successful mediation or to reinstate Mr. Herring.  We
advised him that we hoped that our Bishops, Bishop DiMarzio and Bishop Caggiano
would investigate this matter and, upon realizing the unfortunate
decision made by Fr. Murphy, would either order or urge Fr.
Murphy to offer a new contract to Mr. Flanagan.

He stress that he believed it was
totally appropriate that the lay members of the Church, including your parish
community, express their opinions about Fr. Murphy’s decision, as prayerfully,
respectfully, and effectively as possible, just as we had done in
our letters to Bishop DiMarzio.  He also noted that, throughout the
storm of controversy, Mr. Herring maintained an inspiring Christ like
approach and attitude.  Mr. Flanagan has conducted himself
similarly despite how he has been
treated by Fr. Murphy. 

The gentleman stated that he
was proud of his lay parish community for having chosen to
challenge the unilateral and truly lousy decision by Fr. Sherlock.  He
believes that his Parish is stronger, more vital and more engaged than if
they had just accepted what seemed like a nonsensical, tyrannical
decision.  In closing, he commended us for
our efforts to reinstate Mr. Flanagan as Principal and advised that our mission
is in his prayers. He also advised that he and his fellow Nativity
members would provide us with any assistance needed.

Newsweek along with Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman and CEO Michael Lynton, News Corp.
executive vice president Gary Ginsberg and JTN Productions CEO Jay
Sanderson put together a list of the vibrant Jewish congregations in the US.  God only knows how they measure these things. Most of the synagogues are in NYC and Los Angeles but Wellesley, Mass, Atlanta and Dallas are represented. Needless to say, the whole thing makes Beth Elohim's Rabbi Andy Bachman uneasy. Last year he made it into Newsweek's top ten pulpit rabbis in the US.

Here's the citing in Newsweek:

And here are Bachman thoughts on the matter from his blog,  Ideas.