DENVER-
The fight over the future of a breakaway Episcopal parish landed in court Friday, with parish leaders asking a judge to declare that Colorado’s Episcopal diocese doesn’t own the historic church and its property.
Alan Crippen, a spokesman for Grace Church and St. Stephen’s in Colorado Springs, said the parish filed a complaint in El Paso County because the diocese tried to freeze some of its bank accounts.
Diocese spokeswoman Beckett Stokes confirmed that the diocese has begun the process of telling financial institutions that the leaders who voted to leave the denomination aren’t the rightful owners of the church property. She said the assets belong to parishioners who remain loyal to the Episcopal Church and the diocese.
The court filing came on Good Friday, when Christians recall Jesus’ crucifixion.
“It saddens us this has to happen during this sacred time,” Stokes said.
In a statement, senior parish warden Jon Wroblewski, who aligned with the breakaway parish, said he regretted the timing and said the diocese moved to suspend the parish’s rector, the Rev. Donald Armstrong, during Christmas week last year.
“We’ve become battle-hardened and are resolved to defend the continuing presence of Anglican worship in Colorado Springs,” Wroblewski said.
Last month, the leaders of Grace and St. Stephen’s, the state’s largest Episcopal parish, voted to join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a missionary diocese of the Church of Nigeria. They were upset over the liberal theological direction of the national church, including questions about whether gay sexual relationships should be accepted.
They also criticized the diocese’s investigation of Armstrong as a “kangaroo court” and asked him to return to his position. The diocese is still pursuing charges against him in a church court.
Both sides have retained high profile lawyers to represent them.
The diocese has hired the same law firm that represented Kobe Bryant when he was accused of rape in Colorado. Armstrong is represented by Dennis Hartley, the lawyer for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
In the court filing, the parish said the diocese was in “financial and demographic decline,” having closed two parishes in Colorado Springs, and wasn’t in a good position to take over management of the Grace property. The parish said it has spent $6 million on work at the property since 1987 without any help from the diocese.
Stokes said the diocese is running a $73,000 budget deficit this year but said that isn’t affecting the operations of any parish.
On Easter, there will again be two services for members of the parish. In addition to services at the parish, Bishop Robert O’Neill, the head of the Colorado Diocese, will lead a service at a chapel at Colorado College for members of the parish who want to remain in the Episcopal Church, Stokes said.
