On March 26, 2007, the Episcopal congregation that met at 631 N. Tejon St. split when its vestry voted to leave the national body and align with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, or CANA. The CANA parish continued to worship in Grace Church, while the Episcopal group met at First Christian Church downtown.

A lawsuit was filed to decide ownership of the church property, leading to a 4 1/2 week trial, the longest church trial in Colorado history. Last month, a Fourth District Court judge ruled in favor of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado and the Episcopal Church, ordering the CANA parish to vacate the Tejon St. church, which it did by April 3.

Over the next several days, Grace and St. Stephen's Episcopal parish moved back into Grace Church, while St. George's signed a 6-month lease to worship in a nondescript building in the Mountain Shadows area that formerly housed the Renaissance Academy, a private school.

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TIMELINE


December 2006 'Rector of church suspended:' The diocese suspends Armstrong for 90 days for misappropriating funds.


March 26, 2007 'Leaders of Grace vote to leave Episcopals:' The diocese releases detailed financial misconduct allegations against Armstrong. The same day, Grace Church's vestry votes to leave the Episcopal Church to join the conservative Convocation of Anglicans in North America, citing, in part, the church's ordination of gay clergy. The Anglican congregation continues to worship at the Tejon Street building.


April 1, 2007 'The path ahead:' Grace & St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, the congregation still aligned with the Episcopals but exiled from the Tejon Street building, holds its first service at another location.


April 2007 'Diocese wants Grace Church:' The CANA church files a complaint with the court to determine ownership of the North Tejon Street property


May 2007 'Parish OKs change in alignment:' Parishioners of the CANA congregation vote to support their vestry's decision to leave the Episcopal Church. Of the 370 votes cast, 342, or 93 percent, voted to align themselves with CANA. The group also voted 348 to 22 to retain the real and personal property of Grace Church.


August 2007 'Springs police looking into possible embezzlement at Grace Chruch:' The Episcopal Diocese of Colorado files a complaint with Colorado Springs police saying that $400,000 in church funds had been embezzled. An ecclesiastical court representing the diocese convicts Armstrong of stealing the money - a move that has no teeth outside the denomination. The court also concludes that Armstrong committed tax fraud by underreporting his income and causing the church to issue false W-2s.


October 2007 'Audit clears the Rev. Armstrong:' An audit conducted by a Colorado Springs certified public accountant at the request of the local CANA congregation found no financial wrongdoing on Armstrong's part. The diocese stood by its findings.


November 2007 'Episcopal Bishop defrocks Armstrong:' 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.


Nov. 26, 2008 'Police raid Grace Church & St. Stephen's:' Colorado Springs police detectives raid Grace Church & St. Stephen's to seize paper financial records and computers as part of a theft investigation launched more than a year earlier.


Feb. 10 'Independence is the crux of church trial:' The trial to determine who owns the $17 million Grace property starts in Fourth Judicial District Court. It goes on for 4 1/2 weeks.


March 24 'One group leaving Grace church, one moving in - but when?:' Judge Larry Schwartz rules that the property belongs to the Episcopal Church and Colorado Diocese - not to the CANA congregation.


March 25 'Judge orders Anglican parish to vacate Grace church by April 3:' JA judge on Wednesday ordered the Anglican parish that's been meeting at Grace Church, 631 N. Tejon St., to vacate the building by April 3 at 5 p.m., setting the stage for the exiled Grace and St. Stephen's Episcopal parish to hold its first service in the gothic church on Palm Sunday.


March 26 'Grace Church breakaway becomes St. George's:' The vestry chose a new name, St. George's Anglican Church, after a judge ordered that the parish must not only vacate the Gothic church at 631 N. Tejon St. but also no longer call itself Grace Church & St. Stephen's.

• Affording Grace: Upkeep of building a financial tightrope: The return of the Episcopal parish to Grace Church downtown on Palm Sunday is a joyous occasion for its 500 members. But the move doesn't come without baggage - namely, the cost of the church itself. A $2.4 million mortgage remains on the North Tejon Street property. Monthly upkeep is about $25,000.
  
  

March 30 'Anglican group starts to move out of Grace church:' Members of an Anglican parish that recently lost its bid to stay at Grace Church on North Tejon Street started moving out moments after a judge approved the choice of an overseer to supervise the handoff to Grace and St. Stephen's Episcopal parish.

April 5 'For two churches, a new beginning:' St. George's Anglican Church and Grace and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church celebrate Palm Sunday: St. George's at their new location in Mountain Shadows and Grace at the gothic church on North Tejon.The congregations had only a few days to organize Palm Sunday liturgies, and both groups' liturgies encountered technical and organizational hiccups. But none of that mattered. A new day for St. George's and Grace and St. Stephen's had begun.