Episcopal Bishop defrocks Armstrong

The Rev. Donald Armstrong, accused of stealing nearly $400,000 from Grace Episcopal Church and St. Stephen’s Parish, has been defrocked.

Bishop Robert O’Neill of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado said Thursday that Armstrong is deposed as a priest in accordance with the sentence issued by the diocese’s ecclesiastical court. It means Armstrong can no longer officiate in the Episcopal Church in the United States.

The bishop had 30 days to reduce or concur with the court’s decision, which was meted out in October.

“We will not have any further statement or additional comment at this time,” said Beckett Stokes, diocesan spokeswoman.

Armstrong said Thursday that the Episcopal Church has no authority over him since he is now affiliated with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America.

Armstrong has denied the allegations, and an independent audit requested by his attorney found no wrongdoing by Armstrong or other Grace officials, according to Grace CANA officials.

“Father Armstrong plans to frame the instrument of defrocking and hang it in his office as a badge of honor,” said Alan Crippen, a Grace CANA deacon and spokesman. “We don’t take it seriously.”

O’Neill suspended Armstrong as minister of the Grace Episcopal parish during the Christmas season last year while the investigation of financial mismanagement was pending.

The priest left the diocese with a majority of Grace vestry, its directory, and many of the church’s members in March and formed the congregation of Grace Church that is affiliated with CANA.

The rest of the congregation stayed within the Episcopal diocese.

“We are satisfied with the bishop’s verdict based on the evidence and the Diocese’s adherence to the procedures established in the Church Canon Law to protect the rights of the accused and to insure a fair and proper trial,” stated Clelia deMoraes, senior warden of Grace Episcopal Church.

She added, “We have taken much needed measures to ensure that this kind of fraud never occurs again and that parish monies are used for the purposes for which they are intended.”

A diocesan ecclesiastical court — made up of clergy and lay church members — in October convicted Armstrong of theft. As part of the disciplinary process of the Episcopal Church, the bishop had 30 days to pronounce a final sentence. Under the canons of the Episcopal Church, he could have reduced the court’s sentence.

The court said Armstrong stole $392,410 from the church, underreported his income to the Internal Revenue Service, received illegal church loans totaling $122,479, and encumbered the church with deeds of trust totaling $2.5 million without approval from the bishop of the standing committee of the Colorado diocese.

However, an independent forensic audit conducted by a local certified public accountant for Grace CANA and Armstrong’s attorney, found no wrongdoing by Armstrong. That audit, released last week, said the six counts presented by the diocese against the priest had reasonable explanations and that financial transactions had been approved by parish officials.

The diocese filed a complaint in July with Colorado Springs police. Police said the investigation is ongoing.

Bishop Martyn Minns, a CANA official who now oversees Armstrong, stated last week he was reassured by the audit and said that “while mistakes were made, there was no support for the accusations of fraud and theft.”

Grace CANA officials and Armstrong maintain he was defrocked because of his conservative views. In recent years, the ordination of gay clergy and other theological issues have prompted scores of congregations to break away from the Episcopal Church, including several in the Diocese of Colorado.

The diocese has said theology had nothing to do with its audit and financial allegations against Armstrong.

The two split congregations are now in court fighting about who owns the $17 million Grace Church. Grace CANA still meets there, and the congregation that stayed with the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado meets elsewhere.