DENVER—An Episcopal church court deliberated Tuesday in the case of a breakaway church leader who has been accused of financial misconduct as both the priest and his lawyer boycotted the proceedings, dismissing them as a “witch hunt”.
The Rev. Donald Armstrong, the rector of Grace Church and St. Stephen’s parish in Colorado Springs and now a member of a conservative Anglican diocese, is accused of having the church pay him $392,409 between 1999 and 2006 without authorization of the church’s vestry.
Church lawyers allege the money was used for personal expenses for his wife and family and were covered up by “false and misleading” entries that Armstrong told the church’s bookkeeper to use. The diocese also alleges that Grace Church failed to report $548,097 in non-salary income to the IRS, including the $392,409 in personal expenses.
The church panel, which includes three clergy and two lay people, heard the evidence against Armstrong for about three hours before deliberating behind closed doors, Beckett Stokes, a spokeswoman for the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado said. Stokes said they were finished by the end of the day and planned to take the next several days to write their preliminary order on whether they think Armstrong is guilty or not. It could be available by next week, she said.
The order, which could be available by next week, will be sent to both Armstrong and the diocese. They will have 30 days to comment before the panel would make a recommendation on any sentencing.
Armstrong’s lawyer Dennis Hartley said neither he nor Armstrong participated because he said the whole process is a “witch hunt” and Armstrong is no longer under the jurisdiction of Colorado Bishop Robert O’Neill.
In March, leaders of Grace and St. Stephen’s, the state’s largest Episcopal church, voted to leave the Colorado diocese of the Episcopal Church and join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, an American missionary diocese of the Church of Nigeria. They were upset over the liberal theological direction of the American church, including questions about whether gay sexual relationships should be accepted.
Hartley said the church’s investigation, headed by a forensic accountant and former IRS agent, was “confrontational” and not designed to get to the truth. Hartley, reached by phone while traveling, said he wasn’t in a position to discuss all the details of the allegations but said that church officials had to approve any extra expenses for Armstrong.
“Anything that was paid to him had to be approved by the vestry,” said Hartley, who represented Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh after his conviction.
A message left for Armstrong was not returned. Hartley said he believed he had gone mountain biking for the day. His supporters have said he was targeted by the diocese because of his conservative views opposing gay ordination.
The diocese is being represented by Hal Haddon, who helped represent Kobe Bryant on a rape charge that was later dropped, and another attorney from his firm, Ty Gee.
In a motion discussed in court, Haddon and Gee alleged that Armstrong micromanaged the church’s finances, telling bookkeepers to enter different numbers into the church’s listing of accounts.
Hartley denied that but said that if there was a mistake in the books, Armstrong would have an obligation to point it out.
