In an interview with The Living Church on July 14, the Rev. Mark H. Hansen, rector of St. John’s, Bristol, Conn., said he had arranged coverage for the worship and pastoral needs of the parish by clergy licensed to serve in the Diocese of Connecticut during his sabbatical and discussed the arrangements two weeks before his inhibition during a meeting at Diocesan House in Hartford with the Rt. Rev. James E. Curry, suffragan Bishop of Connecticut.
In his July 13 statement announcing the inhibition of Fr. Hansen, the Bishop of Connecticut, the Rt. Rev. Andrew D. Smith said Fr. Hansen “neglected to notify Bishop Smith of his departure as rector of the parish,” made decisions “that left the parish without sustained clergy leadership,” and could not be located because “the bishop has not been notified of an alternative address.” Fr. Hansen is one of six rectors in Connecticut engaged in a public dispute with Bishop Smith over alternative episcopal oversight provisions for their parishes since shortly after the 2003 General Convention.
In March, Bishop Smith received a copy of a letter written by Fr. Hansen to his parish saying “that April 10 must be my last Sunday as your priest, at least in terms of directly providing for your pastoral care, leadership and worship, after that I will officially be on sabbatical.”
Fr. Hansen said one of his sons “has special needs that require support services that cost money.” His original intention at the time the sabbatical was announced was that “there would be suitable arrangements made so that I could move on to another career, not in the full-time, paid ministry,” but the vestry did not want to define it as a terminal sabbatical because “it was their desire that I maintain that authority as rector for a longer period so that the parish would not be declared vacant and there would be no ambiguity.”
Stating he was unaware of these plans, Bishop Smith wrote to the vestry asking for clarification. Karin Hamilton, a diocesan spokesperson, said the vestry sent “a paragraph back” in April stating “Mark Hansen was on a nine-month sabbatical.”
Upon return from his own sabbatical, Bishop Smith told the 2002 diocesan convention “every parish should encourage their clergy to take sabbatical leave.” While not governed by canon, Connecticut’s “Healthy Church Practices” handbook sets out guidelines for sabbaticals and asks clergy to inform the diocese a year in advance of any planned leave.
Ms. Hamilton told TLC, “We don’t have a formal request for his sabbatical.” The diocese inhibited Fr. Hansen for failure to comply with these guidelines and for the “cumulative” challenges to Bishop Smith’s authority.
Fr. Hansen told TLC the claim that the diocese was unaware of his whereabouts was “specious” noting that he lived in the parish rectory and that no one attempted to contact him either at the rectory or via his mobile telephone numbers, both of which remain unchanged. He also discounted the claim that the diocese had been kept in the dark over the sabbatical noting that on July 1 he met with Bishop Curry about the issue.
“I left the door open for conversation” after the meeting, Fr. Hansen said. The diocese’s response to this invitation was to send lawyers and locksmiths to St. John’s 12 days later, he added.
Fr. Hansen also disputed the charge that he had pastorally neglected his congregation, saying, “the line of defense of pastoral care during the week runs four deep.”
In addition to the Sunday supply priest, the Rev. Clayton Knapp, who was licensed by Bishop Smith to serve at St. John’s, the Rev. Thomas Beck, a retired priest of the diocese, was on pastoral call during the weekdays of the sabbatical. The parish deacon was also available for pastoral calls, as was the Rev. Donald Helmandollar, rector of Trinity Church in Bristol, a fellow member of the “Connecticut Six,” who had agreed to provide pastoral care as needed. Fr. Hansen told TLC Bishop Curry had been informed of these arrangements.
Fr. Hansen said he also continued to make himself available as needed during his sabbatical, having conducted a wedding, a funeral and counseling following a suicide. As to the accusation that the parish was only open a few hours a week, Fr. Hansen said those hours had been in effect “these past 15 years.”
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