Pastor must answer important questions
Question: What is thy duty toward thy neighbor? Answer: My duty toward my Neighbor is . . . to do to all men as I would they should do unto me: . . . To be true and just in all my dealings: . . . To keep my hands from picking and stealing, and my tongue from evil speaking, lying, and slandering: . . . Not to desire other men’s goods; But to learn and labor truly to get my own living. — The Book of Common Prayer 1928.
We are 19 former vestry members from Grace and St. Stephens Episcopal Church. Between us, we served almost every year when Father Don Armstrong was rector. Though we represent a variety of views on the moral issues facing our church, those issues are not in question here.
At issue is the commandment: Thou shalt not steal. Armstrong is exploiting theological divisions within the Episcopal Church to avoid a canonical investigation about his alleged financial wrongdoing.
He has defied church and civil law by occupying and taking property from the church he and his allies left.
We cannot keep silent. Armstrong dismisses inquiries into his financial activities. He cries “religious persecution.”
Consider the facts and ask: Is Armstrong trustworthy? Is he guilty of financial wrongdoing? Do he and his followers have a lawful basis for taking church property?
The link is to an "advance" copy of an article in today's Colorado Springs Gazette by Paul Asay. I couldn't find it by searching the online edition, but this link was posted in an anonymous link to Asay's blog Faith at Altitude.
It's interesting reading, and also reveals that at least one other member of the vestry would have voted against leaving the Episcopal Church, had he not resigned a couple of days before the vote. Which would have ruined the "unanimous" label that Fr. Armstrong and his supporters have been touting, though we already know that another vestry member who would have voted "no" was conveniently out of own.
[tags]Episcopalian, schism[/tags]