Agree with all. I grew up in Seattle and attended St. Mark's Episcopal Church when they had a gay minister and there was all that controversy. Loved being part of that. I tried to do a Google search, but couldn't find anything. Don't have time to do a deep dive today. I was in my 30s then, so a long long time ago. I remember half the church left because of him. Wonder where he is now. And yes, sex scandals are rampant within all religious communities. None are immune it seems. No human institution is immune from sex scandals. Not condoning it, just saying it seems to be part of the depravity of humankind. If you've looked at my posts The Fundamentalist Christian Mindfuck, Part I, II, and III, you see all the ways the church has fucked me up as well as millions/billions of others throughout time. I'm working through some serious spiritual abuse, the effects of which are still crippling me in so many ways at the age of 61. It's sickening and so tragic. Why do I stick with God, you might ask. Well, mostly because it's not God that's fucking people over, it's people. And yes, there is the whole question of God as the author of evil. That is the issue that turns people away from God when people turn away. I don't have an answer to that one. Process Theology addresses the question to a degree, but nonetheless, if there is a Divine Creator, they must have known what was to come. I have no answers for that. By the way, I am a Universalist, i believe that we all return to God after death. I have no idea what that looks like. None. I figure that there are two possibilities: We return to God or we cease to exist. I'm cool with either one. There's always "the worm at the core", the fear of death, of non-existence that troubles us all and impacts our decision-making, but my last boyfriend, the atheist said this to me: "Before I was born, I did not exist, and I was cool with it then. I'll be fine with ceasing to exist after death." Very astute! So I figure no matter what I believe, I can't lose. There is no hell. That's a misinterpretation and twisting of scripture by the church to control people. Wow, blah blah blah COCO! I had a bit to say I guess. Now I'm going to nap before my Interpreting the New Testament class. Yes! I'm in seminary for fuck's sake! Working through my spiritual abuse shit! I'm at Brite, about the most progressive seminary in the country. Although that's no excuse for my remaining on The God Squad! Nonetheless, I do remain on The God Squad. Don't ask me why. I haven't a good answer other than it soothes me and it doesn't hurt anyone if I choose to believe in what you feel is a fairy tale. I'm happy with who I am and where I'm at. It's been a long long time coming. And I've much work still to do. Therapy! Therapy!