...that I asked the question this weekend, "Why would anyone be a member of an organization in which the leaders aren't accountable to its members?" This insolence was met by much eye-rolling from my siblings, and one of my brothers said, "By that standard, you'd never be a member of any organization."
I only bring this up again because of something I read in Maureen Dowd's column in the Times today. Her brother related that,
A boy in my class told me much later that the same priest climbed into bed with him in 1958 at a rectory sleepover, but my friend threw him to the floor. The priest protested he was sleepwalking. Three days later, the archbishop sent the priest to a rehab place in New Mexico; he ended up as a Notre Dame professor.
The point I want to make is that not all organizations need to be run this way. I know of one Unitarian church, for example, in which the congregation "calls" or "hires" its ministers. At one time, this church had a minister who had a drinking problem, was a womanizer, and plagiarized his sermons. The congregation eventually caught on and a vote was taken to oust him. The measure failed and the disgruntled members bolted to start a new church. After a short time, however, it became apparent to the remaining members that the minister needed to go and a second vote resulted in his departure. Since no other Unitarian church would "call" him without a reference, the troubled minister ended up selling boats in Florida.
Churches don't have to be dysfunctional.
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