The leader of a
breakaway Episcopal parish will face financial misconduct
allegations in the diocese's judicial system, officials said
Wednesday. The action came two days after leaders of
Grace Church and St. Stephen's Parish in Colorado
Springs, Colo., voted to leave the denomination
and join a Nigerian-linked missionary diocese. They left
because they were upset about the liberal theological
direction of the national church, particularly when it
comes to gay relationships.
Hours after the
vote, diocese officials handed down the church equivalent
of an indictment against the Reverend Donald Armstrong but
did not release specifics. Parish leaders criticized
the action against him as the product of a ''kangaroo
court.''
A letter to
parishioners from Colorado bishop Robert O'Neill, obtained
by The Gazette of Colorado Springs, accuses
Armstrong of theft and mishandling of hundreds of thousands
of dollars over about 10 years. It also says Armstrong
failed to report about $548,000 in income and benefits
on state and federal tax forms.
Diocese
spokeswoman Beckett Stokes confirmed the letter but would
not provide a copy to the Associated Press. The
diocese suspended Armstrong January 3 and barred him
from the parish property because of the investigation.
Armstrong didn't
return a telephone message but released a written
statement denying the allegations.
''I fear that
Bishop O'Neill's monomaniacal pursuit of the politics of
personal destruction may ultimately result in the financial
demise of the Diocese of Colorado and the loss of his
episcopacy,'' he said.
Also Wednesday,
the diocese said it may take action in state court to
reclaim the parish property if leaders don't relinquish
their claims to it. An Episcopal Church law passed in
1979 states that parish property is held in trust for
dioceses, but a state court still may have to analyze
the relationship between the parish and the diocese,
according to legal experts.
Grace and St.
Stephen's leaders said they had hoped to remain in the
denomination but were upset with last week's decision by the
Episcopal Church not to allow leaders outside the
United States to oversee dissenting conservative
dioceses.
The Episcopal
Church says only about 45 of its 7,600 congregations
nationwide have left the denomination since 2003, but they
include some of the largest and most active. (Colleen
Slevin, AP)
