UCCtruths

Instead of actually addressing his own priorities, UCC Missouri Mid-South Associate Conference Minister John Dorhauer indignantly deflects criticism by making the issue about the UCC church that just closed. From Dorhauer's comments on his own blog today:

I want to be clear about one thing: what pisses me off is not the repeated attacks to my charachter. I don't have enough respect for Hutchins personally, nor do I place enough (not any) credibility in his writings to be affected personally by what he writes. What pissed me off was his use of this painful moment, approached with dignity and grace by the members at Holy Ghost, in order to try and further his twisted agenda. THEY deserve better than that, and every one of them would take offense at the implication that the efforts of their Conference staff were compromised because of other interests; or that their closing was the result of other work their Conference staff undertook. Without knowing any more than that a church closed; and with no other motivation that to sully my reputation, Hutchins implied that other work I had done led to the demise of this and other churches. Again, the good people at Holy Ghost do not deserve to be used by him in this matter. That is a disgrace; and whether he sees it, knows it, or can accept it, Hutchins comes out looking like an opportunistic bully. I have ignored a number of personal attacks - but this I could not ignore. Andyes, I'm pissed.

This isn't about Holy Ghost - this is about John Dorhauer's priorities. His clear priority publicly has been on a conspiracy theory about outside groups stealing UCC churches. Of course he would rather make this about Holy Ghost since he (and everyone else) knows where his public priorities lie - all you have to do is read his blog, his book or watch his presentations. I would argue that the problem isn't with churches being stolen, but with churches closing. Highlighting the fact that a historic church closed in Dorhauer's backyard was ironic but not opportunistic.

At no time did I accuse or blame Dorhauer for churches that are closing. I do think his work regarding the conspiracy theory is harmful to our denomination as a whole, but it's not responsible for any churches closing and I don't doubt that he did what he could with Holy Ghost. But this is about priorities. Publicly, Dorhauer's priorities are on a conspiracy theory that he himself acknowledges "all I have is circumstantial evidence".

Holy Ghost's closing wasn't circumstantial, it was real and, as an Associate Conference Minister, Dorhauer's public priorities should reflect that, not on a conspiracy theory.