Controversy in St George's Episcopal Church; Members referred to as 'rats'
According to host of the radio talk show Straight Talk, Donald E. de Castro, this event has caused ripples in the already disturbed waters of the house of worship of which he is a member.
Speaking on his show on Wednesday April 13, 2016, de Castro expressed disgust at the member of the congregation for referring to church members in such derogatory language, noting that at the time there were persons from other denominations in the congregation.
“In one of the general meetings one of the church members got up and said 'we need to get the rats out of the church'. This was in January 2016. How could you be worshipping and greeting people with peace every Sunday and you going to call your brothers and sisters rats in a church meeting?” he asked.
“[There is a lot] of division in the St George's Episcopal Church since about October or November last year when we got a new Rector Dr Ian E. Rock,” he said.
He went on to explain that the church normally has its annual general meeting every year, and this year one of the members of the church would usually record the minutes. But he said this year the Rector decided to bring in court stenographers from different denominations and from what he has heard, charges for those services could be as high as $350 an hour.
“Why would you bring in people from a different denomination to record the minutes of your church business?” he asked.
Controversy around Dr Rock
According to De Castro on the show, Dr Rock has ceased all fund-raising activities for the Church's schools, saying that this is child labour. “If that was child labour in the Public and Private schools the Government would have done something about it already,” he said.
“Myself and another member of the congregation sent in our concerns in the form of a petition to the Vestry. A number of members of the congregation signed the petition and neither the Chairman of the Vestry nor the Junior or Senior Wardens saw it fit to put our concerns on the agenda,” he said.
De Castro alleged that Dr Rock came to his office and threatened to sue him for defamation of character. He alleged too that Dr Rock fired a secretary in the Church who had worked there for almost 13 years.
“The Church's email address was changed. I don't know why it was changed. Right now the congregation is saying that he is never in office and that he has moved everything to the Vestry,” he alleged.
De Castro added that persons are inquiring as to the reason that Dr Rock was allegedly turned down for a position in a New York Episcopal Church. According to media reports out of Barbados, students of Codrington College where Dr Rock had been Principal, complained about the treatment that Dr Rock meted out to them, including denying of access to the college bus to attend classes at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus and being fingerprinted by Police following an attempted break in.
Persons staying away
De Castro said that because of the frustrations about the goings on in the Church, a number of persons including organists and others stayed away, leading to their substitution by other persons. He said that the Easter Sunday service was one of the worst ever because of the unpreparedness of the substitute organist and other players of instruments.
“None of them had practiced with the choir so it was a mess,” he said.
Approached for a comment, Dr Ian E. Rock told this news site that he has not heard the show but noted that he had been making efforts to secure a copy or transcript of it. He said that he preferred to reserve comment until he has heard what was stated by Mr de Castro.
70 Responses to “Controversy in St George's Episcopal Church; Members referred to as 'rats'”
A church that disrespected the Bishop of the Diocese.
It's a shame the church has come to this; and the ignorant members from Sea Cows Bay that are believing what they are told.
Dr. Rock has brought great experience to the church.
As for music, The organist are childish and the reasons they walkout are because they aren't focus on spiritual things but earthly things
Children of God it's time to wake up. St Georges has always been crumbling, what Fr. Branche did was become a activist and spoke on community issues but failed to deal with the internal issues. The issues that have are what they created of which Dr. Rock met; they fail to accept it so he gets the blame. With all the issues they will have it hard to find another Rector.
Who is donald fighting against? The Church, The Priest, or HIMSELF?
We at St. Georges's welcome everyone. We do not discriminate.
There is some truth to De Castro's side of the story. Dr. Rock needs to be a priest not only in name but in actions. Despite the fact that there are issues at every church there was never this level of segregation at st. George's. Where parishioners had to leave and find elsewhere to worship. This looks like a divide and rule. It is even spilling over into the school. St. George's do not discriminate but the new rector does. His comments about his concerns that some teachers not Anglican is a perfect example....... There is much more to be said....Father Branche wasn't perfect but this rector seem to be stirring up trouble wherever he goes..........His condescending remarks, and accusations about teachers and other church parishioners is something new to the St. George's family.......The experiences he has meted out to parishioners need to be made public.
Some persons felt that Dr Rock should have covered it up and others felt that he should have waited a year before exposing it but he decided to do it NOW. Truth is, some people like to cover up shit although it stinks but Dr Rock did not create the mess. I will not go into details but the mess is very messy and, if I were Dr Rock I would hurry up and leave Donald de Castro and others of his thinking to sort it out. He and they might have the finalcial means to do it. But I don't think any of them has offered to sit down and find ways to correct the problems.
The Secretary was not fired by Dr Rock. He did not hire her. She was asked to resign by the Vestry that Dr Rock came and found. She refused to resign. The new Vestry met with her and tried to sort matters out. A majority of them and Dr Rock wanted to find a way out of the mess. It seems that they found that they had no choice but to let her go. If her dismissal is unfair, there is a procedure under the Labour Code available to her and there are a lot of lawyers in the BVI. No need for ranting and raving. From what I gather a lot of mess continues to be uncovered that has not yet been told to the church members. I hope they are told about it soon, regardless of whosoever it pleases or displeases.
The sermons that we are having at St George's are of a very high standard. Dr Rock preaches the WORD and explains the Bible like no one before him ever did. It will be a pity to see him leave but it will not be surprising if he gets fed up and leaves. But one thing is sure, no priest will ever come to St George's if he or she knows of financial mess that Fr. Branche left. They will stay away from it.
To make matters worse, two Sundays ago, Fr. Branche was in the BVI visiting from Trinidad and he conducted a service at a hotel in Road Town at the same hour that St George's was having it worship service. I don't know if he had permission from the Bishop to conduct a service in the diocese or whether he thought he was doing the right thing. Maybe the organists and the Donald de Castro do not consider the holding of that service to be a divisive act since I gather that there is an untruthful rumour that Fr. Branche held that service because Dr Rock would not allow him to come to St George's. That rumour has to be a lie as we all know that no one can prevent a person from coming to church. Not even the priest can do that. It is a place where whosoever will may come. It is not known whether Dr Rock was even aware of Fr. Branche's visit before he came. Perhaps he heard about it like most of us after the gentleman was here. The problem is that: "Give a lie a head start and ask the truth to catch it".
One sure thing, those who come to St George's to worship a priest or a secretary seem to have made their exits after those persons left. Those who worship God Almighty appear to have remained and will help to solve the problems. Remember that the church has had to face problems all through the ages just like man on whose death and resurrection it is founded.
Christ had his enemies and there was no better man that ever walked this earth so, who is Dr Rock or the Bishop or any of us, for that matter?
Perhaps consideration of what WE can all contribute to fix the issues in a RESPECTFUL manner would better advance the entire situation. The church is not about Branche or Rock but about The Father, Son and The Holy Spirit.
Let's commit to putting the devil back in his hole instead of choosing sides.
What is currently happening at St. Georges is just a down right shame and in my opinion all involve need to be checked. Neither parties are right. I blame the bishop for allowing this to progress and I blame the current priest, vestry, members and past priests also. Reason being, the new priest arrived already aware of some members, he did not take the time to get to know us and we the members did no take time to get to know him. Straight out the gate we had all this confusion to deal with. He is here less than six months. Changes must happen but how you do it and how it is perceive and receive makes a big difference. It can make or break any church, organization or someone.
It has only served as the mother of mistakes and the father of irritation.
. What I am hearing is very upsetting and disappointing. ..Recently, things have been happening in my life that are steering me to Seventh Day Adventist church. This has now convinced me that I am to join the SDA church. .things happens for a reason. I wish St Georges church all the best and God's guidance. As for me and my house SDA here I come . I know a church cannot save a person but the going ons at St Georges will distract me from my spiritual growth.
You go to church to worship God not a man, man has faults. Are you in a cult where you praising man or the Church where you follow God. Remember Jim Jones they followed a man to Guyana to drink koolaid. De Castro you willing to go Trinidad and drink yours. What happens in darkness will come to light. The only people dividing the church are negative ignorant people like Decastro and others, who want to do what they want in the Church, Misuse funds and other things against the work of God and the Church. Someone pray for Decastro.. mental illness is real and it look like he have it bad.
All of you blogging do you really know what you talking or are you just talking. Find out before you open your mouth or type on the keyboard. People like DeCastro are looking for news, and causing confusion.
You think that mismanagement of funds happened before, wait until ....is through with you all.
As a young person of the "church," I find this entire situation to be completely disheartening. I believe that the new "priest," a term I use very loosely, should seriously consider taking a step down from the ego trip that he is currently on. It appears to me that the priest came into the church with preconceived ideas that had been gathered prior to his arrival and he allowed those thoughts to be the driving force behind his actions towards some individuals. I also believe that he has a personal agenda and is trying his best to remove anyone that would be in a position to stop him from executing it.
The way in which they treated the secretary, someone who has contributed significantly to the development of the institution for many years was atrocious. While I do understand that they have the right to choose who is employed there, I also believe that there is a proper way to execute one's actions. Why was she being forced to resign? What were the grounds for her dismissal? She served in that capacity for many years and had she been ineffective in her position, why didn't anyone say something then? If you wanted her to be fired, why not just fire her? That thing called severance pay, I guess.
I don't think that we realize the huge generational gap that exists in the church and instead of creating initiatives that would allow more young people to remain active in the church, we prefer to listen to the ancient beings that have been there forever and refuse to entertain the thought of succession planning because they have no intention of changing their ways. They should have seen this as an opportunity to include young people in the process while serving as an example in which they should live their lives. But no, he has allowed the church politics to be the determining factor in everything he does and it is sad.
When you have the church saying "the affluent persons in the church won't be happy with this," you are creating a classist environment. Why is the church engaging in this "worldly" way of thinking?
It is said that we should listen to the message and not the messenger, but I think this way of thinking is complete garbage. In an office environment, we choose the best medium to send a specific message; email vs. phone call for example, so why are we forcing ourselves to believe that the message is going to be received best by someone that wrapped their neck in a collar and called them self a pr8888? Sometimes we have to accept the fact that the messenger that we choose isn't the best one to deliver the message.
Why are we allowing one man to contribute so much negativity to our lives? We speak about young people turning their back on the church, but if the church is worst than the world, why should they view the organization as a "safe space?" This man has been around for roughly six months and there has been nothing but confusion since he has been here. Does he really care about the spiritual development of the Virgin Islands? This is just the beginning and I want nothing to do with the shenanigans.
Please take your concerns to Ran in prayer. Only Ran can help us to overcome this.
Some of the facts before us are:
Since October 2015 the following things have happened:
1. A number of persons have stopped coming to church
2. A number of persons have written to the vestry with concerns
3. The organists have stopped coming to church
4. The choir has dwindled
5. The conveners of God's Treasurers have stepped down
6. The Parish Secretary was fired
7. A vendor who has provided lunch for the students for years was told to leave
8. The principal is frustrated
9. The moral of the teachers has hit an all time low
10. The church is split to the point where people are being referred to as rats
11. The school is split
12. Concerns have been raised about non-Anglicans teaching at the school
13. St.Georges now looks and feels like an abandoned place most days
14. The steel pan orchestra seems to have died
15. The vestry is divided
17. There are concerns about children raising funds
18. The church's email address was changed
19. Based on all the negative things that have been said about the former priest, he refused to visit the church when he visited week before last.
20. The former priest was invited to bless the opening of Clarence Thomas
21. Over a hundred church members attended a Sunday morning church service that was held by the former priest.
22. The St. George's Liturgical Dancers is no longer active and many of the members have stopped coming to church
23. For the first time in many years, St.Georges did not have an Easter Cantata
24. There are serious issues and concerns that need to be discussed. Sweeping them under the carpet will not solve the problem.
25. The vestry dropped the ball. They heard the concerns. They received letters outlining members' concerns. They saw the dwindling church numbers and they chose to ignore the issues. How can you be leading an institution and all these things steering you in the face and you do nothing ? I blame them. If they had responded to the concerns chances are all this dirty laundry would not have hit the air waves.
It is true that the leader of God's Treasures resigned. She was a niece of the Parish Secretary . The organists backed the Parish Secretary and some of the members of the choir followed the organists. The Parish Secretary was made the issue. But the issue remains and will remain and will have to be addressed even if the Rector leaves.
The issue is the finances of the church and how to address them. The mortgages must be paid to stop the threatened foreclosure on the schools by the Bank. The several creditors that have not been paid for years must be paid. More and more are coming forward. None of these debts were accumulated in Dr Rock's time. All of these must be paid. Getting rid of the Rector will not pay them. Getting rid of the Parish Secretary or reinstating her will not pay them. The walking out of the organists will not pay them. The filling of the choir stalls will not pay them. The return of the organists will not pay them.
On hindsight, it is a good thing that Dr Rock exposed the issues because, if he did not, he would be blamed for the mess. Look how he is being blamed for what he found and how hell's foundations quiver, but the gates of hell will not prevail. Yet no one is asking why Fr. Branche was allowed not to act contrary to the Canons of the Diocese and not have Vestry elections. Why did the Vestry accept to act unconstitutionally?
If Dr Rock needed my advice, I would tell him to stand firm and get down on his knees and storm the citadels of Heaven with prayer and thanksgiving. For if we truly begin to give thanks, we will not have room or time to ask God for anything. Alternatively he should leave and leave these problems behind him. He can do without them.
Finally,we are not rats but it is the same God who made us that made the rats and the mice and he hates nothing that he has made.
I agree that the financial mess should have been brought to light long before the last parish meeting. Like you, I am annoyed that that was not done but why blame Dr Rock and the present Vestry for it? Are you saying that matters are not as bad as is now being made out simply because the past Rector and some of his chosen few on the past Vestry chose not to disclose it at an earlier parish meeting? By not disclosing it, matters got worse.
Remember that the past Vestry did not want Dr Rock to expose it either and, when defied them and did so , a member of the congregation stood up and asked that discussion of the Rector's report be deferred. It was not deferred and that person and some of the old Vestry left the church and did not come back. Two or three were offended because Dr Rock wisely avoided persons being misquoted by procuring a verbatim record of the meeting.
If the past Rector and the past Vestry wanted the true state of the finances disclosed, they would have done so. But it is clear that they did not. You cannot blame Dr Rock for what that group hid from the congregation. Let me tell you that since Dr Rock's disclosure in January, it has been discovered that the financial situation is much worse than he or anyone else thought. Only half the story has been told. The past Rector and the former Secretary knew more than the Vestry did.
If Dr Rock holds a special meeting and exposes what came to light since his January report, he will be accused by some of attacking the past Rector and they will want to martyr him.
Just to answer blogger who wrote under the name "The Facts". The current Vestry did not "drop the ball". They are proceeding correctly. It is the past Vestry that allowed present issues to develop by incurring debts and not paying them. Let us be fair. The issue remains the finances and they must be addressed. If we address them, everyone will be too busy to be unfair to the current Rector. Do not borrow unless you know how you can repay. Psalm 37 says "The ungodly borrows and does not repay".
The current Rector is also right to respect the Bishop of the diocese. The Bishop has been disrespected for so many years that some of the congregation now believe that he is an intruder and are saying that Dr Rock is too close to him. Dr Rock will have educate them and let them know that a priest cannot come into the diocese and conduct a service or preach unless the Bishop is informed. Neither can one remodel a church without the consent of the Bishop. These things happened in the past but they were wrong and everyone who condones it is a lover of wrong doing.
Too much blame is being placed on the present Vestry for trying to clean up the mess. The should proceed undeterred. Like Nehemiah, you are doing a good work. Do not come down to anyone's standards.
The Book of Common Prayer
Could it have something to do with his leadership style ? Just asking.
Di'd we expect a miracle ?
1. What is the temperament of the person
2. Does the person suffer from any illness that may interfere with his job.
3. How did the person perform in his / her previous job.
4. Does the person have a family and has he / she been able to keep his /her family together
5. What are your aims and objectives ?