Back in my room, I open again the Doris Lessing novel The Four-Gated City, and have decided to start again from the very beginning. This thirty year old woman from South Africa, Martha, in London around 1949 or so and she is sitting in dingy tearoom in working class London, on a rainy day. How inspiring. I reach for my laptop. Another email from deacon Jenkins.
"Hello again Christopher
You might find rather interesting some of the details behind the decision of Victor, our Ugandan ordinand, to vacate. He apparently had difficulties with the priest of the parish church where he was to start his practicum. As you may know, the Reverend Karen Wilson is our first ever transgender, male to female, cleric, and is a woman of great faith and dedication and pastoral skill and compassion. Victor would not even speak to her. He simply insisted on knowing her previous male name and would only refer to her by the male gender. Of course this was unacceptable and after a great deal of controversy, he took his family, without further notice, with him back to Uganda. Of course you are most welcome to reclaim your family home. But please bear in mine that the Diocese will only subsidize you for the property taxes until December of this year, as stipulated in our contract.
I hope you will be okay with this.
best
Rev. Jenkins.
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