COLORADO: Diocese moves to protect remaining Episcopalians, parish property
Episcopal News Service. March 27, 2007 [032707-02]
Mary Frances Schjonberg
Bishop Robert O'Neill of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado, March 26 removed the vestry and all other officers from Grace and St. Stephen's Church in Colorado Springs.
The vestry of Grace Church and St. Stephen's, the largest Episcopal parish in the state, voted the morning of March 26 to leave the Episcopal Church and affiliate with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), which claims to be "a missionary effort" of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, according to its website.
A news release from the vestry linked its decision to the recent actions of the House of Bishops, and said that a 40-day process of discernment is planned "for the congregation to fully understand the ramifications of this decision."
"At the end of this period parish members will be given the opportunity to affirm the new ecclesial relationship with the Church of Nigeria," the statement said.
O'Neill said, that he received the news of the vestry's decision "with great sadness."
"The fact is that people may leave the Episcopal Church but parishes cannot," O'Neill stated. "Grace and Saint Stephen's Church remains a parish of The Episcopal Diocese of Colorado and will continue to be so for any and all who desire to be members of The Episcopal Church."
The vestry apparently consulted its rector, the Rev. Donald Armstrong, whom O'Neill inhibited, in January as part of an investigation into allegations of misappropriated church money. The vestry's news release called the investigation of Armstrong "intolerable."
Armstrong has been with Grace and St. Stephen's for 19 years. The parish has about 2,500 members who pledged approximately $1.4 million in 2005.
O'Neill's statement said removing the vestry members and officers gives him the ability to pastorally care for those parish members who remain within the Episcopal Church, and to protect the parish's assets "in light of the serious allegations pending against Father Armstrong concerning potential long-term and significant financial defalcations."
Armstrong has been an outspoken opponent of some of the actions taken -- or not taken -- by the Episcopal Church. He is listed on the website of the Anglican Communion Institute as its executive director and one of its "collegial theologians." The organization has been critical of the Episcopal Church and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, and her predecessor Frank Griswold.
A March 26 letter to the parish from the vestry said that the lay leaders had reinstated Armstrong as the parish's rector as of that day and, "so as not to disrupt the Easter season," scheduled a meeting for April 14 to discuss its decision.
O'Neill also wrote to parishioners on March 26 telling them that they will hear from him soon regarding provisions for Palm Sunday worship and "new pastoral leadership for the parish until such time as the parish is restored to its property."
The vestry's announcement said that "the parish's lay leadership has lost hope in future reform of The Episcopal Church."
Also on March 26, the lay leadership posted on its website a "declaration of Anglican fidelity" and news articles from local media about the decision.