The Rev. Don Armstrong, the former Episcopal pastor of Grace Church and St. Stephen’s Parish in Colorado Springs who was indicted in May on felony theft charges, was in court this morning as a judge began an independent review of probable cause in the case.
The judge did not reach a decision, but set the next hearing for July 22.
Armstrong is now pastor of a congregation that left the Episcopal Church with him in May 2007 to form St. George’s Anglican Church, under the theologically conservative Convocation of Anglicans in North America.
“I am confident of my innocence and look forward to proving it,” Armstrong said in a statement issued today. “Although this is a painful time for me, my family and all of us at St. George’s, I feel sure that as the facts come up, everyone will agree that there was no wrongdoing.”
Armstrong is accused of taking $291,000 from a church trust fund to pay for the college education of his son and daughter.
