From Tampa Bay-The rector of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church recently removed one of the congregation's most prominent members from her volunteer position, creating a painful division for church members.
The Rev. Chris Schuller dismissed Marion Fleming, a retired circuit judge and wife of a former rector, Peter Fleming, from a position known as "warden of the acolytes."
Now the Flemings have decided to move from the Snell Isle church, which she has attended for more than 30 years, and which he pastored for 19. Last Sunday, Peter Fleming's name was removed from church bulletins, which named him as "rector emeritus."
Peter Fleming said he was "shocked" by what happened. "I think his behavior was inappropriate. I think he was unpriestly. He was not pastoral. And I believe he was, in the best sense of the word, unprofessional."
But Schuller said he removed Fleming after "she took black drapings off of what are called processional crosses and hid the draping … I saw her actually hide them." He said that happened on a Sunday morning in March, and he asked her to put the drapings back on the crosses before the 10 a.m. service, but she didn't.
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http://www.tampabay.com/news/religion/article993094.ece
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