Anglican Use Houston

Houston's All Saints Anglican: Are Rev. Jones and AMiA the problem?

■ When Bishop Jones of the Anglican Mission weighed in to sanitize this dysfunctional sanctuary on Renn Street, observers hailed him because they had anticipated hopeful rays at the end of the tunnel. Unfolding events question the credibility of this presiding bishop and his peace initiative and reveal a destructive shiftiness in sincerity and Faith. Realistically, the problems that suffuse All Saints are like the Gaza Strip. Community members had hoped a timely intervention by Bishop Jones representing the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA), under which this parish operates, would yield completely positive results – but it is indeed troubling that after the Right Reverend Jones lured, or compelled, All Saints Anglican to a pricey arbitration procedure headed by one Reverend Sims, the process which started with a retainer of $7,500 swelled to almost $26,000.00. For 18 months or so, International Guardian has monitored events at All Saints. It revealed in separate dissertations how this spiritual dome was threatened by a battle between the Board of Trustees (BOT) and the Parochial Church Council (PCC) over control, accountability, and style of governance.  Our editorial assessments also narrowed the issues to both internal governance, and fiscal management. It is much expected that the governance issues may have been structured according the AMiA order under which All Saints operates, while church administrators are duly audited for financial uprightness. Most disappointingly, after months of intervention by Right Reverend Jones, none of these issues were purely addressed. Rather, the process was not only commercialized, but was battered by schismatic tenacity, obsequiousness, hurtful rumors, and seemingly lack of faith in their own God. The Bishop, with his hired mediators, are being accused of tilting to the BOT chairman who writes the checks, and controls the church’s offertory, and we can now see why.