Will the Captain Be Going Down with the Ship?

A Short Opinion Note
By Dennis E. McFadden

An indication of the diversity of viewpoints found in the GEC can be seen in the differences of evaluations given to the recent round of ABC meetings held in Green Lake. The attitudes range from being offended because the verbiage was adopted adding support for heterosexuality to the identity piece, to cautious optimism (Susan Gillies), to moderate wariness (Dwight Stinnett), to abject negativity (cf. the quotes in my recent post). That Roy has done damage to his reputation among the leadership of the ABC can be proven by the following quote from a GEC member:

"My disgust with [Roy's] actions (not his person) started when he requested the resignation of Vic Gordon and Betty Berger a year ago over the Hector Cortez mess, and has only gone downhill since."

Prior to the Green Lake meetings, I predicted that there were only two viable ways to neutralize the PSW revolt:

1. For Roy to give a LBJ-esque "I will not run for re-election" speech and thus throw us into a prolonged interim period with calls for unity and peace OR

2. For Roy to encourage members of the left to give a positive vote for the IN/KY petition, even it it requires holding their noses, in order to "show" PSW that working within the system "works."

Passing a stripped down version of IN/KY falls between the cracks of my predictions. Will the GB action effectively co-opt the PSW or like-minded regions? As one clergy GB member mused:

"Will this be enough to keep the Pacific Southwest from breaking with the ABCUSA? I do not know. It appears that they want much more than this but it might be enough of a morsel to tease them to reconsider. I must admit that I had the feeling while listening to their executive minister speak that I was back in my childhood and someone was telling me that if I didn’t agree to play by their rules that they were going to take their ball and go home."

The quote from the GEC member registering "disgust" at Dr. Medley's leadership (not his person) suggests that regardless of the reaction of the PSW board next week (and of other regions to it), Dr. Medley's deep and genuine piety and affability may not be sufficient to rescue his second term from disaster.

The question remains: Can anything short of repentance and re-direction prevent the sinking of the good ship ABCUSA?

Dennis E. McFadden

[I'm about as far from speaking for the PSW as I am competent to explain the intricacies of the extra Calvinisticum vs. the communicatio idiomatum. These thoughts are merely my own musings, missing any authority within the PSW.]