Universalist is, in this context, the notion that all religions have their valid points. Sort of like ecumenism squared.
Thanks, Nava!
Actually, I’m going to amend that. He has spoken of “feminist theology” and likes to point out images of strong women in the bible - for example, wisdom is personified in the feminine in a longish passage (in Wisdom I think - I wasn’t able to find the passage online). I’ve always been taught that God is incorporeal and possesses in abundance the positive qualities of both genders, so I don’t think “he” gets hung up on pronouns; but feminists have tended to be hostile to the sanctity of life.
I know this was intended facetiously, but it brings up another reason I’m reluctant to seek Father NewGuy’s removal. The big thing that bothers me about protestantism is the tendency for churches to split, and that’s something I’d really like to avoid. Basically divorcing our priest (assuming we could convince the bishop to agree to it) would leave scars on the parish for years.
I’ve considered that, and I see that this assignment makes sense on paper.
Father OldGuy’s homilies had an intellectual rigor some people found off-putting, and Father NewGuy’s are much more folksy. (I personally find them a bit insipid, but I get that people with a smaller vocabulary don’t want to have to run for a dictionary after mass.) Also, Father OldGuy tended to be very hands-off about running the parish; Father NewGuy has just done a review of the staff and made some cuts that were probably necessary and might have been avoided if Father OldGuy had been more vigilant.
However, Father NewGuy’s “staff efficiencies” seem to have been made without warning. And this is after everyone was already on edge about him. It often feels like he’s doing his utmost to be as disruptive as possible.
Ugh. Sorry to hear it.