[ThePlaidRanger]

New Age practices divide liberal San Francisco church
Friday, February 21, 2003
Lisa Leff
Associated Press


SAN FRANCISCO -- The Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist has always prided itself on its inclusion and compassion. It welcomed the homeless and AIDS-stricken, hired openly gay priests and adopted the motto, "Diverse People, Inquiring Minds, Open Hearts.''

But after some of the congregation's leaders warmed to New Age spirituality, a big rift opened in the 145-year-old church that has yet to be fully healed.

The problems centered on a church-affiliated dance group, the St. John's Divine Rhythm Society, and allegations that it condoned -- if not promoted -- illegal drug use at all-night parties modeled after raves.

The Episcopal bishop for northern California has intervened, the Rev. Kevin Pearson has been ousted as pastor, and four members of the church's governing board have resigned.

"It's not the drugs that are poisoning our spiritual community,'' one parishioner wrote to the bishop, William Swing. "It is the lies and the secrets.''

The rhythm society was formed in the early 1990s as an exclusive club: The idea was to provide spiritual seekers a way to dance toward enlightenment.

Soon after, the society began hosting quarterly, invitation- only gatherings at St. John's, midnight-to-morning celebrations featuring DJ's, light shows and New Age themes.

The gatherings drew about 350 people, more than three times the number that belonged to the parish. They ranged from children to seniors, but the core group consisted of young adults.

The group never pretended it would use the dances to further the Christian gospel. But according to parishioners on both sides of the debate, Pearson's predecessor, the Rev. David Nogard, saw it as an opportunity to inject new energy into the dwindling ranks of his congregation.

Although the association seemed to work early on, it took a troubled turn after Pearson's arrival in 2001. Some church members became offended by what they saw as his embrace of the rhythm society at the expense of the rest of his flock.

They also objected to some of the changes he introduced to the established liturgy, such as directing the choir to chant the Hindu mantra "Om'' instead of the Nicene Creed, and inserting into the Eucharistic prayer the phrase, "You are loved, you are safe, you are free,'' an expression allegedly imported from the weekly meditation sessions the society held at St. John's.

The tensions reached a boiling point last summer when a man attending the rhythm society's June function was discovered unconscious in a church bathroom, the victim of an apparent overdose of GHB, the "date rape'' drug.

Contributing to the fallout was Pearson's handling of the situation, church and society members agree. When a church leader who had been told about the overdose wanted to inform her fellow governing board members, the rector allegedly wrote her an e-mail saying, "I think this is a situation that the fewer people who have to know about it, the better.''

Pearson did not return several calls seeking comment.

Last month, the Rev. Kevin Pearson agreed to resign from the Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist.

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I've been told there is quite a range of liberalism/conservatism among Episcopals - do they tend to be geographically oriented, or just random? For example, do all the churches in, say, Montana, tend to lean one way or the other?

[froggee501]

don't call that church liberal... MY church is liberal... THAT church is just STUPID.

[Ted Logan]

The liberal/conservative bent is definitely geographically-determined. The Diocese of Texas is a fairly conservative diocese, and both the Dio. of Dallas and the Dio. of Ft. Worth are extremely conservative. Ft. Worth only begrudgingly allows female postulants, whereas the Dio. of TX has a number of female priests and even a female canon. I'm not sure about the Diocese of Northwest TX or the Diocese of West TX, but I'd assume that they're fairly conservative as well. There's no chance that practicing homosexuals would be ordained in the Diocese of TX, nor would we sit idly by if the liturgy were affronted by such horrid material.