Since Anglican Watch began covering the debacle of Duplicitous Dan McClain as rector of St. Paul’s, Dayton, one of the arguments pushed by his flying monkeys and fellow narcissists is that Dan actually is a great choice as rector, and any issues are the result of acrimony related to his divorce. However, a recent announcement by the parish that it is dissolving its pastoral relationship with McClain underscores the falsity of the claim that problems come from anyone other than Dan.
The announcement comes after the parish followed specific steps mandated by diocesan canons, culminating with the bishop’s approval, and per the parish, is intended to protect the well-being of the parish and allow it to chart a new path forward. The dissolution of the church’s relationship with McClain is distinct from the Title IV misconduct proceedings against Dan.
Needless to say, Anglican Watch endorses this outcome. We only regret that it has taken this long, and so much trauma has arisen, in order for change to occur.
Indeed, while McClain has pretty much ignored all pastoral direction from the Diocese, and has consistently tried to gaslight the parish while pushing out those who would challenge him, he was a facially bad choice as rector from the get-go.
Moreover, his all-too-obvious postcard, sent “anonymously” to members and praising his misogyny and BS claims about “making St. Paul’s great again,” thanks to his patriarchal background, flies in the face of basic Episcopal polity. And don’t even get us started on his “masculine gospel” and “traditional family values” nonsense — real men don’t cheat on their significant others.
We also want to expressly clarify a point raised in his postcard: there are no “opinions” on vaccines. The fact is that vaccines save lives and are safe. If someone wishes to ignore these facts, that is their decision. But the person who wishes to follow the dictates of “meme medicine” does not have the right to potentially expose others to the virus, either at church or anywhere else.
Going forward, we hope the parish will make a conscious effort to become healthy. We have seen a great deal of Dan McClain-inspired nonsense, infighting, gossip, and other childish antics within the church and among Dan’s “broham” over the past several years, and St. Paul’s Dayton will not re-find its footing until it makes becoming healthy a priority.
As part of a move towards health, the parish also owes a number of people apologies. We won’t delve into the specifics, but persons of good faith can readily identify a number of such persons.
As for Dan himself, it’s only a matter of time before folks at the school district where he teaches realize he’s toxic. When that happens, we predict Dan will again transition careers, this time as clergy in the PCA or another denomination that ostensibly has strict guidelines, but in reality welcomes egregious conduct from “patriarchal” male clergy.
Anglican Watch continues to monitor the situation at St. Paul’s and wishes the parish every success this holiday season.
Leave a Reply