Page 77 - MLD Book

I was a longtime member (secretary) of the CMCL board of directors, but when I was fired, I suddenly was no longer invited to attend, as Erdman replaced me there too. No official word was ever imparted! I did get elected to the board of the Master Chorale (the group directed by Mark Walker), and am finishing my second term there. I do not like board meetings – not so painful virtually, however!
2016
To set the stage for the happenings in 2016, I would like to reprint Elizabeth Back’s Priest in Charge report that was submitted for the annual meeting in January of 2017. It says much
about what transpired, and of course I will elaborate! The Year in Review
In January 2016, I served as your Children, Youth, and Family Minister.
The supervisor who hired me (Erdman) resigned under circumstances that required the efforts of attorneys. The Rector’s last Sunday was January 10, 2017. The Choirmaster and Organist’s last Sunday was also January 10. Shawn Dawson began to serve that role (interim) on January 27. I supplied until an interim (Ron DelBane!!!) arrived on March 15. The Senior Warden (Jessica Whitehead) resigned and a new warden was appointed. The interim departed on September 15. On December 1, Elizabeth became Priest in Charge.
Imagine the chaos each one of these events caused! This time, we had no Dick Humke to rescue us, as in previous rector crises. I thought it was reasonable to offer my services in the realm of music, but that was rejected by some members of the vestry who thought that a fired person had no business reinserting herself into a floundering music program that had flourished under her direction. And so enter Shawn Dawson, who was still in school and had done some accompanying for Lavery during the previous two years. Lavery lobbied hard for Shawn, and so that came to pass. I stuck to Food and clothing, which by now had evolved into a Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday volunteer position, with Jim and me doing most of the food purchasing as well (except for Trevor and the chickens!). Jessica was treated very badly by the vestry members who thought they knew a lot more than she did, and they made it so difficult that she not only resigned, but left Calvary as well, never to be seen again.
The interim rector was a total disaster (and this word, a favorite of DJT, is used properly and appropriately!) He hated the clothing and food being distributed in the north entry, not because it was too crowded, but because he did not understand or condone our helping the poor or being nice to them. We had a couple of chairs set up and served coffee and cookies, so people were free to stay and talk for a while. He got mad one day and said that we were NOT a social club, and made us remove the chairs. He also removed me from the music committee, not sure why. He also had not been honest with us with regard to his pension guidelines, and later dropped a bombshell by saying he could only work 19 hours a week. Somehow it was tied in with health insurance for his handicapped daughter, although his age of 74 was the deciding factor. Nobody was sorry when he resigned Again, we were priest killers? But not so much this time, since it was his deception that had caused it.
Although I had been rejected from taking over the music program, I did end up playing quite a bit because Shawn was commuting from Cincinnati and often had conflicts, especially funerals. I ended up playing for nine, most of which wanted me anyway. But the bench fee law that Erdman had enacted in previous years to protect ME from strange organists came back to bite me, as I generally was expected to and did give Shawn the money for ME playing. Well,heneededitmorethanIdid.Ididsomeaccompanyingforhimtoo(including