The disclosure by the Presiding Bishop that former treasurer Ellen F. Cooke embezzled at least $2.2 million in church funds (p. 6) should come as a shock to anyone who cares about this church. While we have known for three months that Mrs. Cooke was being investigated for misappropriation of funds, the revelation of the amount is staggering.

Reactions to the news of the auditor's report have ranged from anger to compassion and have included nearly every emotion in between. Two matters which come to mind immediately are betrayal of trust and accountability. The Presiding Bishop and Executive Council placed immense trust in Mrs. Cooke to manage the national church's accounts. More indirectly, deputies of General Convention trusted Mrs. Cooke as well, for she also held the position of treasurer of General Convention in addition to her duties at the Episcopal Church Center.

Apparently, the Presiding Bishop placed such trust in Mrs. Cooke that she was accountable to no one. As Christians, if we are going to live our lives together in responsible community, we seek accountability from other members of the community. It would appear that was not the case at the Episcopal Church Center, at least not in the treasurer's office. Much of our society has adopted a lackadaisical attitude toward accountability. The line of thinking often is, "Whatever goes wrong, it is society's fault, not mine. I am not accountable. I am victimized." Some of this attitude appears in Mrs. Cooke's open letter to the Executive Council (p. 8). She cites pressure and stress, actions blocked from her memory, and a situation she called "intolerable," and she mentions pain, abuse and powerlessness as a lay woman working for the church. In reality, Mrs. Cooke exercised as much power as anyone on the church center staff.

The role of the Presiding Bishop in this case ought to be examined. Bishop Browning should be commended for his full disclosure of the facts. On the other hand, some questions should be asked of Bishop Browning. Was Ellen Cooke accountable to him? If not, why not? And why did it take more than eight years for the Presiding Bishop to discover "that her working style did not well serve our common mission"?

What now of Ellen Cooke? Should she be prosecuted? Would a Christian response be not to bring charges? According to the auditors' report, Mrs. Cooke committed a felony. So far she has not been charged with a crime, and the Presiding Bishop has said he is undecided whether to recommend prosecution. Given the amount involved, and the fact that the misappropriation occurrred over an extended period of time, it would seem prosecution would be in order.

Time will tell whether Mrs. Cooke's personal use of church funds has caused irreparable damage to the church. One cannot help but think about the cutbacks in staff at the church center, and the reduction in funding from various ministries which were part of the national church's budget. The already shaky diocesan apportionment system could be weakened even further if parishes and dioceses lose trust in the national church.

Finally, how should we, the "people in the pews," respond to this debacle? Recognizing that we all are sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God, we can pray for Mrs. Cooke and her family, for the Presiding Bishop, and for the Episcopal Church, "where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it" (BCP, 816).