Tuesday, November 27, 2007

An Example To Us All

A brief survey of Bishop Walter Righter (ret'd) formerly bishop of Iowa.

Walter Righter was consecrated Bishop of Iowa in 1972. He retired in 2003. During his tenure he was tried, unsuccessfully, for heresy.

Since his retirement he has been a consistent voice for the reappraiser cause on the HoBD mailing list.

In 1992 the Average Sunday Attendance of the Diocese of Iowa was 4,574. In 2003, when he retired it was 3,705. This represents a growth rate of -9.7%.

His ordination ceremony and vows may be found here.

He was exempted from being found guilty because the ecclesiastical court found that the "there is no Core Doctrine prohibiting the ordination of a non-celibate, homosexual person living in a faithful and committed sexual relationship with a person of the same sex."

For what it is worth, the same rationale that the court used in the trial could be used to justify darn near anything.

What I'd like to know is, what sort of shepherd has a smaller flock when he ends than when he started?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is there a provision preventing the Boston Strangler from ordination?

mousestalker said...

Not as such, no.