HVAC, Misunderstandings, Slander, Libel and “Step Back” 

Dear Reader:

After sleepless nights and a deep pit in my stomach that won’t go away I need to explain why I won’t be coming to St. James Episcopal Church for the foreseeable future, if ever again.  To make things worse, after a 74 year relationship with the church I have been married to all of my life, I may never set foot in another church in this diocese again.

The church has always been my extended family.  The Body of Christ on earth has always been my refuge, my strength, a place to meet wonderful loving people, and it is to those wonderful loving people I am writing this.  There is no short way to tell this story, I apologize in advance.

This past Tuesday, July 16th, in a meeting with Kate and Jon, I was told that I was being “Stepped Back” by the parish due to two allegations of sexual misconduct with two (adult) parishioners.  To be clear, the allegations did not include any physical contact or forced behavior by myself.  And they are absolutely not true, and have no factual basis.  After the meeting I asked (via text) if anyone knew of this decision and was told the wardens and the bishop had been informed (as required by canon law).  I then asked if those persons had been informed before or after the meeting, and I have yet to get an answer to that question.  I am left with the gnawing speculation that the entire decision was made well before the meeting.  I would add that the meeting felt more like a Human Resources employment termination than anything remotely like pastoral care.

Below is my story regarding all this.  If you want to take the time to read it, I would appreciate that.   In any situation such as this, rumors and assumptions can become the reality, so I need to tell my story because Kate and Jon never took the time to hear mine.  At the meeting I was so dumbfounded by their accusations (yes, imagine me not being able to talk).  Also, from their demeanor and tone, it was clear they had no interest in my story.  Getting rid of me was already a “done deal” and I suspect it was made before Sunday July 14, 2024, two days before the meeting took place.

I have been a CA state licensed mental health professional since 1990 (CA MFC27181).  I am the Board Chair of a Federally Qualified Health Care Center that provided 15 million dollars worth of services in the 2022-2023 fiscal year.  I spent decades in management of treatment programs.  This nightmare that has occurred was not handled according to professional or legal standards that are protocol to protect all parties in such situations.  In doing what they have done, and the way they executed it, Kate and Jon have created a situation that can directly affect my livelihood and mental health and well being.  For that reason, I have been thrust into a situation where I must protect myself from “lying thoughts” that have now become a horrific nightmare in my life.

I apologize that the story is lengthy.  There is no other way to explain it and try to answer any questions about what happened, so I thank you in advance if you wish to read on.

Yours in Christ,  Edward George Garren, M.A., L.M.F.T. 

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HVAC

On June 25th, 2024, I went to St. James for my monthly meeting with Dr. Kate Cress, Rector of St. James.  Our meetings are usually pleasant.  We often talk about our lives, hopes, dreams, and vision for the parish.  The church has recently embarked on a capital improvement campaign to renovate and update our 100 year old building.  I live in a renovated 100 year old house in South Los Angeles, where I also have an office, seeing mental health clients and families.  In my youth, I was an installation and service technician for a utility company, later I put myself through university doing all sorts of skilled labor.  Because I am originally from Florida, I have lived with air conditioning (now referred to as HVAC, Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) since I was 5 years old.  For at least two years, I have repeatedly offered to parish leadership my expertise in these areas.  I have actually installed AC systems, including a donated Arkla-Servel gas air conditioner (60,000 BTU) in the parish hall of the Episcopal House of Prayer in Tampa Florida.  My specific concerns about St. James is that contractors see a large prosperous looking church and see deep pockets and money to be made.  St. James has finally pulled itself out of a long financial slump and I don’t want to see us waste money on an excessive elaborate HVAC system that will also cause excessive energy expenses for decades in the future.   

Several years ago, I had been introduced to retired architect David Shaw to discuss an HVAC system in the church building.  I had proposed ductless heat pumps, up to 16 total, one each about two feet above the points of the windows on the side aisles, and four (two on each side) above the choir area in the sanctuary.  

This would place them above anyone’s heads, so they wouldn’t “blow” on anyone.  All refrigeration devices remove heat and in a large open space like any church, natural convection (heat rises, cold sinks) would evenly distribute air flow.  This system would give the church 576,000 BTU’s of cooling capacity, and I had an estimate from the company that sells the units I have in my own home for less than $3,000 installed per unit.  Approximately $50,000 to heat and cool the church building, with 21st century technology that uses 40% less energy than traditional ducted HVAC systems.  

It turns out that David Shaw had proposed virtually the same system a few years prior. I recently was told by Jr. Warden Chris Woodyard that an HVAC contractor had told the church that the same thing. When discussions of our impending HVAC installation came up, I presumed that the church leadership would easily consider that for reasons of low installation costs, and operating efficiency, installing ductless units would be a no brainer.  

Central AC is a mid 20th century technology which I am very familiar with having lived through the evolution of their use in Florida.  Ductless units which both heat and cool are a late 20th century technology, utilizing an entirely different “Inverter” rotary compressor that is vibration free, and lasts twice as long as the reciprocating (imagine pistons going up and down) compressors of conventional central systems.  The were specifically designed to be easily installed in historic Japanese buildings, homes, and have rapidly been adopted by the entire world.  They are virtually silent, have minimal service needs and typically last 20 years.

The exterior installation of the compressor/condenser units would be on the roof of the side aisles on the west side, above the patio area.  On the east side, with its clear profile facing Wilshire & St. Andrews, I had suggested the outdoor units could be “masked” behind shrubbery, and a chain link fence be placed behind the shrubbery and over the units to protect them from possible vandalism.  The units and the fence would be invisible from Wilshire  because they would be behind the hedge.  

Since visualizing all of this may be difficult, Chris Woodyard and I went to a church in LaPuente to see their ductless systems and get input from the church leaders as to their satisfaction with the units.  The link to that video is here:

Visit to La Puente de La Esperanza church   The video is approximately 10 minutes and very informative. 

I sent the link to that video to the Vestry for information purposes and was later chastised at by Kate at a meeting with Jon on June 25th.  Her protest was that the video had confused the vestry, and was in direct violation of her request to direct any correspondence with the Vestry through her, to which I reminded her that I usually have honored her request for years but believed that passing on accurate, factual information was important in their decision making.

Yet in spite of all of these facts, Jon Feuss appears to be determined to install a central system into the St. James building.  On the 5th of July, the HVAC committee, chaired by Jr. Warden Chris Woodyard had it’s first meeting via Zoom with  

Absolute Consulting Engineers

Absoluteco.com

3839 Birch, Newport Beach, Ca 92660. 949 852 8700. 949 852 1918 Fax

The owner of the firm is:

"Dr. Saum K. Nour", PhD, CIPE, CPFP, CPD, LEED AP, ASPE Fellow
  PE Civil, PE Electrical, PE Mechanical
  Nuclear Engineering: B.S., M.S., Ph.D.
  Mechanical Engineering: B.S.

The principal, Dr. Nour is proposing two ducted systems, one on each side of the church. The stated capacity is approximately 575,000 BTU.  The two outdoor condensing units would be located adjacent (with possible intrusion into) the parking lot behind the church. Each side would require two large air handlers (blowers) approximately 6’X8’ or larger, one on the roof of the sacristy/chapel on the west side of the church, the other over the “Lady Chapel” at the Southeast corner of the church.  For that the roof of the chapel would have to be reconstructed to support the additional weight, and screening would need to be added to mask the mechanics from Wilshire Blvd.  

The location of the actual ductwork is still under study, but it would either need to be in the ceilings of the side aisles, lowering their height and cutting through the current arches, burying them in a new ceiling to mask the ducts.  The other option under consideration would be to place them on the roof above the side aisles, which would mean the actual vents would be visible in the main section of the nave, almost 20 feet up from the floor.

The cost of all this construction, was not discussed.  My own personal belief is that it would come in between $300,000 and could go up to $500,000 once the system mechanics are installed.

To his credit, when pressed by myself and Kate, Dr. Nour admitted that the ductless heat pumps would provide the same capacity as a central system.  In that exchange, Jon seemed deeply concerned that the cool air would not reach the center of the nave and repeated the question at least two times, thus displaying his ignorance about natural convection in any air conditioned space.  

In previous exchanges with me, Jon had asserted that ductless systems only lasted ten years, and that he had concerns about the vibration of the system in proximity to the stained glass windows.  

I sent him information from an HVAC contractor in Augusta GA that clarified that ductless systems actually last 20 years and ducted systems usually last 10 to 15 years.  

When I explained that the inside air handler of ductless units have no vibration, he was not satisfied, so I explained that they operate much like the “tower” fans we currently are using in the church, just turned horizontally, and have no vibration and are virtually silent.  That didn’t seem to satisfy him.  When I asked him how much he knew about ductless technology, he emphatically asserted “I know everything about mini-split systems.” 

In one text exchange on July 12th, Jon Feuss told me: 

“Hi Ed - thank you for all your continued research.  Dr. Nour is great and I have very high confidence he'll get us to the most appropriate  solution. I have not watched the video (of the system at La Puente de Esperanza church), but if there are key bullet points, please feel free to summarize.”

At that point I sadly realized that Jon has no interest in objective facts because I have repeatedly offered all of the key points, including a full recommendation report and another detailed eMail in the last year.

He has “high confidence” in an expensive engineering firm that is making money off of their services, with the potential of selling us an idea that will make them even more money if we choose it.  Jon is completely ignoring and dismissing any information from other qualified sources that have no interest in selling St. James high dollar outcomes.  

My objection to this is that I firmly believe that God abhors waste, and the money this vanity project will cost could be spent in much better ways.  Also the ongoing expense of operating the system seems to have no consideration from his perspective.  

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

MISUNDERSTANDINGS

Last fall, I met a new member of the parish and her two friends.  I prefer not to name them.  They had discovered St. James and in my usual evangelizing style, I invited them to join me at coffee hour and answered her questions and concerns about the safety of gender variant people at St. James.  I then told her that I am an out and proud gay man (for 48 years).  I pointed out that Jon is gay.  Rev. Susan was there and I introduced her to this young woman as well.   She expressed her gratitude for my taking the lead and clearing her fears of rejection at the parish.  

She became immediately friendly, even affectionate, freely hugging me, calling me “Papa” sending me two coffee mugs and a card, as well as flowers for my birthday, and daily prayers and memes via text messages.  She had come out of an evangelical tradition, so her understanding of Christianity was from that perspective.  We also went to the LA Car Show together.

Our friendship developed, she and one of her friends offered to come to my home to do a clean up of my back yard which had been very neglected since my emergence from six + months of inpatient treatment from Guillian Barre’ syndrome in 2020-2021.  After a productive workday, she refused financial compensation, so later I invited her to go to Costco with me.  We had an enjoyable time, she climbed into the shopping cart and made a video of me pushing her around Costco, and later I recorded her doing cartwheels in one of the aisles.  I purchased several bulk packs of food items, like Ramen, meat, and other nutritional items to share with her friends.

She and her two companions returned the following Saturday to assist me in cleaning out my storage shed, also mired from years of neglect.  Near the end of that work day, we had a disagreement over a song she was playing “Beware of Evil Doers” which I asked her to change to another song.  When she pressed me as to why, I explained that I had been called an “evil doer” too many times in my life, and it was painful for me to hear.  That was not satisfactory for her, I tried to use an example from my high school days when I (and my father’s business) had been targeted as “N” lovers.  I sometimes quote the actual word, because people who are not from the South don’t understand the context or severity of the term.  Being branded as a “N” lover” is a declaration that a white person is a traitor to their own race, even lower than an “N” and it is a slur that not only ostracizes a person, but could escalate to having their home torched or being beaten or murdered.  

The late Rev. Carroll Barbour once preached a sermon about how he had integrated a church in his early days as a priest.  The Africans had warned him, “Their could be trouble.”  He ignored them and a couple of weeks later, one evening two white men approached him in the parking lot of the church, asking him if he was the “Candy assed “N” loving priest?" at the church?”  When he replied “Yes” the next thing he remembered was waking up in a hospital days later from being beaten severely and found the next day under a parked car in the parking lot.

She immediately latched onto the word, and declared me to be a racist, etc. and continues in that perspective.  I ignored this because we are all damaged in some way, she is young, and hoped she would forgive me.  I had a new in the box microwave oven that I had not used, so I gave it to her as a peace offering, and took the three of them back to her apartment, driving through Jack in the Box and paid for their meals.  I hoped and prayed that she would move on.  The daily prayers via text stopped and she has blocked my mobile phone number.  The “evil doer” song conjure up those memories, hence my polite request and explanation that was misunderstood.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SLANDER 

I have had numerous God children in my life.  There are two who are part of my daily life.  The first is the son of my college roommate.  He was conceived in the upper bunk of our dorm room, his father and I are both Episcopalians, also both Gay, as is my God son.  He has never returned to church, too many memories of hypocrisy and “fronting” from his paternal grandparents who were Christmas/Easter Episcopalians.  But he has found God in 12 Step recovery programs, and is a joy to all who know him.  It brings me some satisfaction that I introduce him to 12 step years ago.  

Many many young Gay men are lost, particularly spiritually.  We all grow up in a war zone, reared by institutions and families that are usually not equipped to understand us (at best) and openly hate filled (at worst).  We are the only “minority”  that is not “reared” by our own, so there is no one to help us understand our place in the world.  Churches tell us we are evil and are destined to eternal damnation unless we can change our “lifestyle” etc.  This is why the song about “Evil Doers” was particularly difficult for me to hear.

About two years ago, I met a young man on a social media site.  He had arrived in Los Angeles from the mid west where his adoptive parents had died in his youth, and his maternal grandparents, who had never been enthusiastic about their son in law, or their daughter’s decision to adopt him. His paternal grandparents took him in after his mother died.  When he turned 18, they tossed the sissy orphan out.  He was reared Roman Catholic, so he spent a short time in a seminary trying to “Pray the Gay Away” which never works.  

We met, I realized he was essentially homeless, and after praying on it I decided that God had sent him to me and I invited him to live in my house, in my living room, sleeping on my convertible sofa.  If you’ve ever raised an adolescent, you have some idea of the journey that emerged.  And he sorted out his life enough to get sober in a 12 Step program, start a career in politics (which is his passion) and return to school (Santa Monica College).  He is now living in a house in Westwood with other students, dating a middle aged man, and finding both God, his vocation and his happiness.  

He also decided take Inquirers Class and become confirmed in the Episcopal church at St. James.  He was confirmed earlier this year by Bishop Schori, in the same class as the young woman and her two friends above.  

They had met around the time of the yard/shed clean up events, and it had not gone well.  He started telling me that she was saying slanderous things about me, and I chose to let it go at the time and encouraged him to contact Kate and Jon about it if he felt it was appropriate.  

In mid March, he sent this to Kate and Jon:

“Mother Kate
Fr Jon I hope this message finds you well
But one of the confirmation candidates (name) has been spreading rumors that my sponsor Ed Garren is a racist and is a preadator who preys on younger gay man. She said in her own words that he is a classless racist who gives off predator vibes

I lived with Ed for almost 2 years and never had any inappropriate acts happen to me ever and as both of you are well acquainted with Ed I DO NOT appreciate this in the slightest. I texted (name) about this last night But she is extremely unhinged and needs mental help. Spiritual health is important but one needs to manage there mental and physical health as well. Jesus says let he who is without sin cast the first stone. I don’t appreciate one of my fellow Christian’s who are spreading extremely dangerous lies especially at a time when lgbt people are particularly vulnerable.

I’m not asking you to speak to her on this issue that’s between her and god. mother Kate is aware of (name)’s unhinged nature as she had sent her a email claiming I was practicing witchcraft. I emailed mother Kate about this a while ago when I was still healing from my religious trauma from the Catholic Church.

Just wanted both of you to be aware of this because I consider it a very grave insult to someone who’s helped me spiritually and in my journey to sobriety”

Kate was on sabbatical, Jon’s reply was:

On Wednesday, March 13, 2024, 3:43 PM, Jon Feuss <jfeuss@stjla.org> wrote:

Hi Robert,

Thank you so much for letting us know about this. It sounds like communication between you and (name) may not be leading to healthy dialog - perhaps, for now, the best thing may be to allow for some space between you and her. I will be praying for healing and if you ever need to talk, please just reach out.

Jon Feuss
Associate Rector, St. James' Episcopal Church 3903 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010 +1 (516) 202-7112
www.stjla.org

It was around this time that I sent Kate and Jon either eMail or text expressing my own concerns that (name)’s action were a potential threat to my livelihood and I would appreciate some intervention by them with her.  I received no reply.

After the meeting of July 16th, I shared what had happened with my God son.  He was and remains appalled.  He wrote this eMail:

From: Robert Boerner boernerrobert20@gmail.com Subject: The current situation

Date: July 16, 2024 at 4:37 PM
To: kcress@stjla.org, jfeuss@stjla.org

Cc: edgarren@earthlink.net

I'm emailing you both again regarding (name) and her accusations so it's here on the record along with the other emails and voicemails I've left you both over the last few months since (name) first began her rumours.

I've spoken to her via text after we first met and she was bombarding me with texts when I was still going through the healing process for the trauma id received in the Catholic church.

I stayed away from her afterwards and went out of my way to avoid her and had emailed you both when she was spreading rumors about Ed based on zero evidence and went out of my way to avoid her assuming she had stopped spreading lies about Ed. So this narrative she's spreading that I've been going out of my way to confront her is utter lies.

I saw her at the LA pride parade which I wasn't aware she would be attending at pride she proceeded to tell me more about her experience as a trans woman and how she was run out of Colorado by bigots and that she wants to become a priest in the episcopal church and then proceeded tell me that Ed was "taking advantage of young Latino boys who didn't speak English" to which I took offense and refused to speak to her or acknowledge her for the rest of the event.

I did bring up the same issues I have told you both to the bishop who was at the parade and told him how she is spreading rumors about Ed based on NOTHING and would hope that he address this because it seemed that you hadn't.I haven't been attending church the last few weeks since pride because I don't want to be anywhere near (name) and was hoping this was being handled professionally by the church so this narrative that I've gone out of my way to harass (name) is utter nonsense I blocked her number and her Instagram after she was bombarding me with messages shortly after we first met I had emailed mother Kate about this as well when it happened.

I understand the need to take these accusations seriously especially in this day and age but I lived with Ed for over a year and can assure you I have never seen him do anything of the sort he is being accused of.

The reason I value Ed's friendship is he tells it like it is and that's what I needed to help myself get sober and to heal the pain inflicted on me from my time in the catholic church.

After Ed invited me to attend services and bring confirmed I have always said great things about St James and how it is a safe place for me as a former Catholic recovering from the homophobia and spiritual wounds it's inflicted upon me and I feel hurt and betrayed by both of you.

People like (name) who take their pain out on others is the reason nobody from my generation wants to participate in organized religion and it's the inaction of church members like yourselves that is to blame I've brought this to your attention multiple times and had spoken to the bishop at the pride parade about this but your choice of action is to push the one being slandered out rather than address the behavior of the one spreading libel.

If this goes any further I'd be more than happy to assist you both in anyway I can when it comes to disproving the slander and lies being spread at St James but believe me I have no desire to keep attending services here so any accusations of me going out of my way to harass (name) is utter lies.

May
God bless you both.

Robert Boerner

On July 18th, I wrote an email to Sr. Warden Ken Robbins and Kate and Jon.  I expressed my desire to try to reconcile this situation and clear up the misunderstandings so that we could try to deal with it in a more appropriate manner.  The usual protocols for this kind of situation is to consult a licensed psychologist, who can interview the parties making the accusations, interview the accused, and make a determination.  

There is no law enforcement involvement because no laws were violated, the accusers are not minors, but adults. In addition to my own nightmare, the handling of this situation was beyond the scope of practice for the clergy, which has left the church vulnerable to legal action. 

My eMail was returned, my email address  has been blocked to all St. James eMail accounts, I received notifications like this for Kate, Jon and Ken Robbins.

From: Mail Delivery Subsystem mailer-daemon@googlemail.com Subject: Delivery Status Notification (Failure)

Date: July 18, 2024 at 8:38 AM
To: EdwardGarrenMFT@gmail.com

The response was:

Message blocked
Your message to kcress@stjla.org has been blocked. See

technical details below for more information.

LEARN MORE

550 5.7.1 The user or domain that you are sending to (or from) has a

policy that prohibited the mail that you sent. Please contact your domain

administrator for further details. For more information, go to

https://support.google.com/a/answer/172179 41be03b00d2f7-

78e33cb62a6sor5365306a12.2 - gsmtp

Reporting-MTA: dns; googlemail.com
Received-From-MTA: dns; edwardgarrenmft@gmail.com
Arrival-Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2024 08:38:10 -0700 (PDT)
X-Original-Message-ID: <E82F133B-3018-4BCC-8EA7-AB1C68A45D93@gmail.com>

Final-Recipient: rfc822; kcress@stjla.org
Action: failed
Status: 5.7.1
Diagnostic-Code: smtp; 550-5.7.1 The user or domain that you are sending to (or from) has a policy that

550-5.7.1 prohibited the mail that you sent. Please contact your domain 550-5.7.1 administrator for further details. For more information, go to 550 5.7.1 https://support.google.com/a/answer/172179 41be03b00d2f7- 78e33cb62a6sor5365306a12.2 - gsmtp

Last-Attempt-Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2024 08:38:12 -0700 (PDT)

From: Edward Garren <edwardgarrenmft@gmail.com>
Subject: Tuesdays meeting follow up thoughts
Date: July 18, 2024 at 8:37:58 AM PDT
To: Kate Cress <kcress@stjla.org>, Jon Feuss <jfeuss@stjla.org>
Cc: John Harvey Taylor <revjht@msn.com>, John Harvey Taylor <jtaylor@ladiocese.org>,

Cc: John Harvey Taylor <revjht@msn.com>, John Harvey Taylor <jtaylor@ladiocese.org>, Ken Robbins <krobbins@stjla.org>, Chris Woodyard <chriswoodyard@hotmail.com>, Femi Gonzalvez- <jazdtildawn@gmail.com>

 Transparency between leadership and the parish has always been an issue within the congregation.  The only access between parishioners and vestry (board of directors) are email accounts that are connected to the church domain, I.E.  (person)@stjla.org.  It is the only way that I, or any member has of contacting any vestry member, unless I see them after a church service.  So this action has blocked my access to contacting any vestry members about what happened. 

I will simply attempt to send this to them via another eMail address, but the mean spirited act is certainly not in keeping with the life and teachings of Our Lord Jesus.  It is however expected protocol for the religious leaders of his time, the Pharisees. 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

LIBEL

The real tragedy of all this is that because of the botched handling of all this, I am left with the difficult situation of being caught between protecting myself (because this situation can directly affect my professional reputation and therefore my livelihood) or protecting the parish.  If the parish was operating according to reasonable legal and ethical standards of transparency, actual access to the vestry and wardens, and appropriate procedures for dealing with mental health situations, none of this would have happened.  

Also, instead of following decades long Episcopal parish procedures which separate the roles of clergy and laity, the clergy have minimized the traditional role of the vestry, which traditionally handles the “temporal” affairs such as the current renovation of the church building, and that task was taken by an already overworked associate rector.  Clergy are supposed to be free of the burden of building and finance issues so they can focus on the spiritual health of the congregation.  Obviously there is overlap because it is supposed to be a team effort.  

Regarding the HVAC issues, the associate rector has apparently decided he is the only trustworthy manager of this process, which is absurd unless he has a contractor's license we don't know about.  The whole matter should have been handled by a committee of lay members who actually have actual knowledge of the issues involved. 

  The same should have happened with this current insanity.  An actually qualified professional (licensed psychologist) should have handled it.  That is why the whole thing felt like a Human Resources employment termination, and a school dean putting a student on suspension.

At this point, I hope this epistle can stimulate some healing conversations that will lead to some sort of outcome that is reasonable for all parties, and also makes specific interventions regarding vestry roles, and transparency.   At that point, I may feel safe returning to St. James so that I can participate in the healing from this big mess.  And also have my training and experience, both as a tradesman and a mental health professional treated with full respect.

But until this is resolved, I don’t feel safe ever setting foot on the property again.  And since I know that clergy have conversations about individuals in the diocese, I don’t feel safe in any other church in the deanery, possibly the diocese.

If this issue can’t be resolved because of the actions forced on me by two frightened and uninformed people, I will consider whatever actions I need to take to clear my personal and professional reputation.

Yours in Christ,  Ed Garren

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Jon Feuss jfeuss@stjla.org Subject: AReconcilingPathForward

Date: July 26, 2024 at 10:27 AM
To: Edward Ed Garren, MFT edwardgarrenmft@gmail.com

Cc: Kate Cress kcress@stjla.org, Bishop John Taylor jtaylor@ladiocese.org Dear Ed,

We write to you in response to your email on Thursday, July 18, 2024. In that email, you requested that we think about a path towards reconciliation. Please know this is a call that we, as leaders of Saint James, take seriously. Our hearts as leaders and pastors always desire reconciliation.

And, as pastors and leaders, we are also charged with ensuring that our community is a place where everyone feels welcome and safe. Ultimately, we felt that there were some consistent behaviors that you exhibited which persistently and negatively impacted the community. These behaviors included, but were not limited to, insulting others, yelling at others, using intimidating body language, lacking an ability to discern the difference between being heard and people agreeing with you, and a failure to adhere to safe-church policies and protocols, namely making sure another adult is present in the presence of vulnerable persons and refraining from bullying.

We too pondered what a reconciled path forward might look like. After a time of reflection, we feel that a healing path forward includes you seeking behavioral therapy to learn healthy forms of communication. We also feel it includes taking or retaking all safe church training modules and signing a covenant to adhere to all behaviors and protocols outlined in that training.

And because of the hurt that has been inflicted on the community because of your actions, we also believe that the balm of time is needed to heal these wounds. We therefore will require that you refrain from any participation in Saint James, including any communication with clergy, staff, parishioners, and volunteers of Saint James for at least a period of one year. At that time, we will be open to prayerfully reevaluating the situation and determining if reentry into the community would be healthy and reconciling. If you are still interested in being a part of the community a year from now, we request that you mail a letter to our office stating a desire to continue this process of reconciliation, and we will reach back out with next steps.

Above all Ed, please know that you are in our prayers, know that you are loved, and know that we pray that the Holy Spirit is present during this time of reconciliation and healing.

In Christ, Kate+ & Jon+