Conger

Parish defections and litigation are continuing to mount in the United States, with five parishes quitting the Episcopal Church last month for oversight from Nigerian and Ugandan bishops.

Members of the Diocese of Colorado’s largest parish ratified the March decision by their rector the Rev. Donald Armstrong, and the vestry to join CANA.

On May 26 the Grace & St Stephen’s Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado announced that 370 of the parishes 822 members had caste ballots in the secession referendum, with 348 voting to leave and 22 to stay. The Diocese has condemned the vote, saying it was illegal and non-binding, arguing that while individuals may leave the Episcopal Church, congregations may not.

The congregation which claimed over 1500 communicants before the conflict between the parish and diocese reached a head in March, has divided with approximately three quarters of the worshippers loyal to the parish leadership and a quarter loyal to the diocese—meeting in a chapel of nearby Colorado College under the cure of an assistant priest of the parish who did not support the secession.

Litigation over the £9 million property between the parish and diocese is on-going.

CANA announced last week that three other US congregations had quit the Episcopal Church to join the Nigerian missionary district led by Bishop Martyn Minns. One of the Connecticut 6 parishes—a group of traditionalist parishes involved in a long-running dispute with diocesan Bishop Andrew Smith, quit the diocese on May 29.

Founded in 1754, before the creation of the Diocese of Connecticut, Trinity Church in Bristol will seek to retain its property, Bishop Minns said, while moving under Nigerian oversight.

Members of Holy Trinity Church in Garland, Texas, in the Diocese of Dallas, have withdrawn from the Episcopal Church, forming Holy Trinity Anglican Church. In Florida the parishioners and vicar of St. Cyprians Episcopal Church, a predominantly African-American congregation, have quit the diocese to form Christ the King Anglican Church in St. Augustine, led by their former priest in charge, the Rev. David Allert.

The parish at the center of the Panel of Reference’s report on the Diocese of Florida has also been forced out of its church buildings following a court order from a Florida judge.

Last month a court ordered the secessionist clergy and members of the Church of the Redeemer in Jacksonville led by the Rev. Neil Lebhar to vacate their property, turning it over to the control of Florida Bishop John Howard. Approximately 90 percent of the congregation has followed Mr. Lebhar, with only 10 families remaining at Redeemer under the supervision of a vicar appointed by the Diocese.

A prominent Connecticut defense lawyer has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly obstructing a federal investigation of a former Christ Church, Greenwich, employee who recently pled guilty to possessing child pornography.

On Feb. 16, Kevin J. O’Connor, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that a grand jury had returned a two-count indictment against Philip D. Russell for tampering with evidence of potential interest in a federal investigation. Mr. Russell had been retained by Christ Church to advise it on terminating Robert F. Tate, who had served as the director of the church’s music program for the past 34 years.

According to the indictment, Mr. Russell and two unnamed church officials confronted Mr. Tate on Oct. 9 after a church employee found pornographic images of young boys two days earlier on a laptop computer owned by the church. Mr. Tate admitted ownership of the images.

After securing his resignation, the indictment states that Mr. Russell and the other two church officials permitted Mr. Tate to remove his belongings, including additional pornographic images of children, from an apartment he used on the church campus, and then helped him make arrangements to leave the state. Mr. Russell then “destroyed the computer with the intent to impair its integrity and availability for use in an official proceeding,” according to a statement by the U.S. attorney.

Mr. Tate subsequently fled to California and was later arrested in Los Angeles. On Jan. 22, he pled guilty to possessing more than 150 digital images of minors engaging in sexually explicit acts. He faces up to 10 years in prison at his sentencing on April 12.

Mr. Russell appeared before the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport and was released on a $100,000 bond. He does not dispute destroying the computer, but denies he broke the law, said Robert Casale, his lawyer. If convicted, Mr. Russell faces up to 40 years imprisonment.

It is uncertain whether other employees of Christ Church will be indicted. The U.S. Attorney’s Office notes the investigation is “ongoing” and is being conducted by the FBI and the Connecticut Computer Crimes Task Force. Several others at Christ Church have reportedly hired lawyers. The New York Times reported that Christ Church’s rector, the Rev. Jeffrey H. Walker, has been called before the grand jury at least twice.

In light of recent events, the Rt. Rev. Andrew D. Smith, Bishop of Connecticut, and Fr. Walker will lead a parish meeting to “provide information and explore how communities of faith heal from and move forward in mission and ministry when situations like the departure of Mr. Tate occur,” according to a statement on the parish website.

Published in The Living Church.