A Clarification For Those Who Are Contacting The Parish And Its Rector

A few days ago, a former rector of my parish had a letter published in the New York Times.  As it concerned the conflict in Gaza, it stirred many, many passionate feelings.  It also filled my answering machine and e-mail account with a great amount of angry, dismissive, and sneering messages from those who thought that the former rector still works here.

So, I offer the following:

The Rev. Bruce Shipman, chaplain of the Episcopal Church at Yale, concluded his service to Christ Church in 1999.  He is not, nor has he been, a staff member of the parish since that time.  The parish of Christ Church has no comment to offer on this matter.

Some background about the controversy, as I'm sure just about everyone in town has now been made privy to at least a portion of it:

The original letter from the NYT

The first reaction to the letter from The Washington Post

The second reaction to the letter from The Washington Post

An article about the letter from The Yale Daily News

A guest column from The Yale Daily News

Commentary from The Wall Street Journal

A statement from Yale University: "Rev. Shipman is called to serve the Episcopal campus community at Yale, but is not employed by Yale or the Yale Chaplain’s Office."

As of this posting, the Diocese of Connecticut Episcopal Church in Connecticut has not issued a statement regarding this issue.