The Bishop - Chapter Ten: Eavesdropping

Chapter Ten: Eavesdropping

Canon Suzanne Sharpe stood at the door of Archdeacon Robbie Ready’s office.  Before she spoke, she gave him that stare for which she was known throughout the Diocese.  It was a stare that made even the most seasoned, battle-worn, experienced cleric shake a little in their boots, but Robbie just smiled. Robbie was not like other priests.  He was not afraid of her. I’m not sure Robbie was afraid of anyone.  Robbie was a political mover and shaker.  He had a certain charm and he could be cool as a cucumber under pressure. So, when Canon Sharpe gave him that stare, he simply smiled back and said, “So, you look like you’re having a wonderful day.”

“What are you going to do about him…” she demanded, her arms folded, referring of course to the Bishop.

“I’ll handle him,” Robbie responded. “He’s the sort of fellow you have to humour. You have to let him believe he’s in charge.  It’s important to let him have his say, take the high road, and so forth…but he has so little interest in what we do here that he will leave us alone if we humour him…and keep him busy.”

“Well, you had better get on that, Robbie.  Yesterday, he was downstairs meddling in the Congregational Development department. He was going over demographic studies…”

“Hmmm,” Robbie mused, “that seems very uncharacteristic of him.”

“There’s more to him than you think. He’s shrewd, Robbie, and he’ll outsmart you if you don’t keep a firm leash on him.”

“What was he doing with those studies and statistics?”

“They told me he was going over all the demographic studies for the delinquent parishes and asking questions about how we might reconfigure some of them as ‘missions’ rather than ‘parishes’…like St. Brigid’s.”

“Good grief,” Robbie shook his head in exasperation, “We have a developer interested in that property, and if we can close that deal, we will have some funds to do some real ministry where there’s a chance of success.”

“…And finally put Percy out to pasture, as well,” added the Canon.

“What about Percy?” asked the Bishop who had silently approached from behind.  Canon Sharpe and Archdeacon Robbie gave each other a glance as if to say, how long has he been there?  

Canon Sharpe turned to look the Bishop in the eye and said with absolute composure and self-confidence, “I think we were talking about putting him out to pasture, Bishop…and closing St. Brigid’s, too.”

“So we can sell the property…” added Robbie, not to be outdone by the Canon’s steely bravery.

“I’m very confused by that,” said the Bishop, “You see, I visited that church on Sunday, and I was very impressed.”

“Pfaw!” exclaimed the Canon.

“Do you know they have a foot clinic for the homeless?”

“Yep,” she said curtly, “and a soup kitchen, and a food pantry.”

“…And a priest who baptizes dogs,” Robbie added.

“And all of this could be done…minus the canine baptisms…in a much smaller, affordable, storefront location,” Canon Sharpe asserted, staring the Bishop down.

“Well, I suppose,” he replied, “But there is something grand, even numinous about that old building, and seeing all the wonderful ministry going on there.  You know, there’s a window of the ‘feeding of the five thousand’, and when the light comes through it, it shines right down on the homeless who are having their soup?  And there’s a window picturing Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, and right underneath that window volunteer nurses are caring for the soiled and infected feet of the homeless.   And did you know….”

“Yes, and it can all be done much more efficiently…”

“Tell me, Canon, do you think that the old mercantile gentry who used to come through those doors one hundred years ago, and their mothers and fathers who put in those windows, would have ever thought that these things would be actually happening in the nave of their church?  Do you wonder how many parishes have those same McCausland windows throughout this diocese but not the same ministry?  Surely our Lord must be smiling down on what is going on there. As I see it, this must be one of the most faithful parishes in the Diocese.”

Canon Sharpe just looked at him, unmoved by his pious sentimentality.

“There must be some way that we can support this ministry,” the Bishop continued “…perhaps by declaring it a mission of the Diocese. This would relieve them of the burden of having to find churchwardens, it would allow us to help them with infrastructure and capital repairs, support their outreach ministry more directly…”

“Bishop,” Robbie said gently but with a hint of condescension, “There really isn’t any money for that…”

“…And if we bail out every parish who has not paid their way…” added the Canon.

“Not paid their way? Canon…I’m a bit baffled.  What is ‘paying one’s way’ if not feeding the hungry and washing the feet of the poor?  This place is probably the most profound witness to our Lord’s gospel as any other church in the Diocese!”

“Don’t say that too loudly,” Robbie interjected, “You mustn’t play favourites - you must love all your children equally.”

“And punish the delinquent, as well?” The Bishop added, not hiding his sarcasm.  He was becoming very annoyed, in spite of his near superhuman capacity to ride out any storm with his calm demeanour. 

“Bishop,” said Canon Sharpe, “You have the responsibility as bishop of this diocese to see the big picture and not get distracted by every charming little piece of ministry in any given parish. Every parish does its good work, but if you get seduced by any particular piece, impressive as each part may be, you will never be able to govern the whole.  This property is worth an awful lot of money.  When we sell it, we will be able to support good, viable ministry in this diocese in many more places than this single, dilapidated old building, which is simply not sustainable.  It’s a question of good stewardship.”

“I see,” he said knowingly, “I see. Clearly a decision has been made on this.”

“Not a decision, Bishop,” said Robbie, “Rather, a recommendation, a strong and reasonable recommendation is going forward the Council” (now, the ‘Council’ was the executive governing body that met between annual meetings of the Synod) “based on an attractive offer being made by a real estate developer on the property -  a very attractive offer.  Our capital investment committee has been working on this for some time.  In fact, Bishop Verity was very supportive of the idea. She had been strongly in favour of closing St. Brigid’s for years, assuming the right offer came along.”

Bishop Perkins bit his tongue. It would be neither constructive nor conciliatory to remind his colleagues that Bishop Verity was dead and that the Synod had chosen a very different bishop to lead the Church. Instead, he simply said, “Somehow, someone has neglected to brief me on this initiative until this very moment, Robbie. And I am truly mystified as to why we are trying to collect the relative pittance this parish owes the Diocese in arrears when we plan to sell the property out from underneath them for what would clearly be a sum in the millions. I will be requiring some clarity on this.”