The Unbearable Lightness of Katharine

Last night, for the first time ever, I was disappointed in the Presiding Bishop.

Let me just say first that I have always been the current Presiding Bishop's biggest fan--Katharine Jefferts Schori has been my hero since she was elected in 2005. I think she's been an excellent leader, a holy example of Christ's love and witness in the church, and an inspiration to millions of Episcopalians.

Which was why I was surprised to find myself in a room with about fifty other people, looking up at the Presiding Bishop and feeling a sinking sense of sadness.

She was visiting the seminary to give us the rare treat of a live Q&A session with her, which was a wonderful thing, and for the first few questions everything was going swimmingly. But then Keith, one of my husband's classmates, asked her about student debt, and her answer left me...hungry. Unsatisfied.

Keith pointed out that, as a result of both his undergrad and seminary debt, he had about 100K in educational loans, and it was keeping him awake at night. He wondered how Episcopal seminary students, most of whom must finance their educations with loans, could possibly hope to pay off all their debt if the Episcopal priesthood is moving towards more part-time and bi-vocational jobs. How was the church going to keep itself out of what amounts to an impending student debt crisis among its clergypeople?

The response the PB gave pretty much amounted to this, when summed up:

1. Things shouldn't get to that point;
2. Bishops shouldn't let people who already have educational debt go to seminary; and
3. Well, there ARE still some full-time jobs with benefits. Not many, and not enough for everyone, but they exist. Somewhere.

While I'm sure the answer would have played out well in front of the House of Bishops, it was a distinctly UN-pastoral response to a person who was sharing his very real, very frightening pain in a very public setting and who was not even expecting easy or instant answers in return. It was also a response that seemed very un-Anglican in its disregard for the working class and the less fortunate. If you refuse to let people who already have undergrad debt go to seminary, know what you're gonna get? A priesthood entirely made up of older white people from upper-class backgrounds. Which, y'know, we already sort of have an overabundance of them, anyways, so maybe we shouldn’t make it worse, eh?

And how does "well, you shouldn't have gone to seminary" help the people who are already here?

And how can we limit people's callings to their financial situations? How can we say, well, if God really wanted you to be a priest, he would have given you more money?!

The reality is this: Episcopal seminary is expensive. Episcopal seminarians are coming out of seminary with massive amounts of debt. This is a problem that is systemic and institutional, not the result of poor financial planning on the part of two or three individuals. This is something that is going to impoverish the priesthood and further the breakdown of the institutional church and drain the coffers of smaller parishes and confuse and frustrate the heck out of the laity, and it's not going to bite us in the ass some fifty years from now or a hundred years from now, but ten or five or even two years from now. There’s a storm coming and we’re refusing to evacuate because we think the weatherman should have told us about it three days ago, but that doesn't change the fact that we are going to drown if we don't figure out a plan, rapidly.

This is also a problem that we just aren't seeing in many other denominations. My friends who have husbands in seminary programs in other denominations (most notably Lutherans) are always aghast when I explain that we are expected to go into debt for an MDiv here. That sort of thing is inconceivable to them because their churches take responsibility for the entire postulancy process. Their mission isn't just to guide seminary students spiritually-- it's a financial responsibility, too. Which, y'know, is how it should be.

There are very real, very concrete changes that we must make at the multi-national level-- and yes, at the NATIONAL LEVEL, TOO. This IS something that is mostly happening in the American Church, so it IS something that should be addressed, not just at the diocesan level or the worldwide level, but by the Protestant Episcopal Church USA, by American Bishops and American clergy and American laypeople and the American Presiding Bishop. I understand the impulse to say "we're not just a national church, we're a worldwide church," but really, THIS IS VERY MUCH AN AMERICAN PROBLEM. It's the American educational system that is feeding and abetting this oncoming freight train of a disaster, so we need to come to terms with that and work with it.

Last night, I was disappointed with what the Presiding Bishop had to say. I hope it’ll be the last time I have to say that. I don’t think it will be, but…I can hope.