Your Cassock is Showing

Today’s Boston Globe has a follow-up story on the new regime at All Saints Episcopal Church in Attleboro, which recently experienced a schism discussed in an earlier post. The article ends with this quote from a volunteer at the Attleboro church:

Armada Surgens , 27, who headed the All Saints youth group until 2005, when she left the church, said she was happy to return, and would try to revive youth activities. The people who left “say it is not all about the gay issue, but none of this started until a gay man was ordained a bishop,” Surgens said, referring to the ordination of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of new Hampshire in 2003 . “My view is that God loves us whoever we are . . . How can someone decide the word of God, to love one another, does not extend to Gene Robinson?”

That quote may represent the young lady’s viewpoint. It may also speak correctly about the events triggering this schism. But it paints those on other side of the schism in caricature.

By closing a newspaper article this way reporter Charles Radin and the Globe smell of liberal media bias at the least and more likely of advocacy journalism.

UPDATE: It’s interesting that the tiny local newspaper, the Attleboro Sun Chronicle has 2 stories today about this topic, one report from each of the churches. That’s not surprising since this story is in their own town, but note that a single Sun Chronicle reporter, Gloria LaBounty, managed to write two stories and report on both churches while the Globe’s reporter managed to cover only one. LaBounty writes reports on both the 9AM service at All Saints Anglican and the 10AM service at All Saints Episcopal. The Globe’s reporter apparently only attended the latter service.

Heh. The early bird catches the story.

LaBounty’s story is not any softer on the breakaway group than the Globe’s story, but the quotes she uses are more factual. Take away points from her for one humorous spelling error of the type that gets past automated spell checkers.