Property dispute settled;
bitterness, litigation remain
By Edward Terry, The Layman, May 26, 2009
The congregation of Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church recently celebrated the return to its historic building in downtown Colorado Springs, Colo.
It’s been a rough few years for Episcopalians in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Even though the property dispute has been resolved in the courts, a bitterness remains as another round of litigation looms, a well-known evangelical pastor has been arrested and wounds from two years of dissention among a fragmented group of Christians still have not healed.
Mirroring similar property and theological disputes in other Protestant denominations, the case has become one of the most visible and contentious for the Episcopal Church (USA).
Beginning in 2007, under the leadership of the Rev. Dan Armstrong, former rector of Grace and St. Stephens Church, a majority of its members voted to disaffiliate from the ECUSA because of theological issues and sexual ethics. The newly disaffiliated congregation, now a member of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, claimed ownership of its $17 million, 115-year-old Gothic building. Their attorneys argued that Colorado’s neutral principles of law provided those rights. But the diocese also claimed ownership of the property, and a district court judge agreed. The Anglican group, which now worships at the newly formed St. George’s Anglican Church across town, was ordered out of the building.
Also during those years, the ECUSA accused Armstrong of financial improprieties such as causing the church to file false W-2s and using a church trust fund to pay for his children’s college tuition and rent. He faces similar charges in secular court. On May 20, Armstrong was indicted on 20 felony charges of theft totaling nearly $300,000. He was arrested and posted $20,000 bond May 21. If convicted on all 20 counts, the 60-year-old could spend the rest of his life in prison, according to reports in The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. Having publicly denied the accusations, Armstrong was found guilty in ECUSA ecclesiastical court in 2007.
The congregation of St. George’s Anglican Church found a new home in the beautiful scenery surrounding Colorado Springs after a court evicted the congregation from the downtown Grace and St. Stephens Episcopal Church building.
Armstrong has not responded to requests for comment by The Layman, but he did preach a sermon on May 24 at St. George’s. According to the online transcript, he referred to his time behind bars.
“As I sat in a jail cell this week I felt I was disappearing. And as I disappeared … I felt I was being hollowed out. But as I prayed I felt myself being filled back up and being made real. As my ego and temporal pretense was disintegrating, God was replacing that façade with something real and eternal. As I felt weaker and more helpless, I felt God strengthening me and upholding me. As I faded, God became ever clearer,” he said.
According to a statement on St. George’s Web site, the church will continue functioning as normal, despite the rector’s recent arrest.
“We are undaunted by these attempts to silence our parish’s stand for Biblical truth and find ourselves in God’s economy to be thriving under these constant attacks by the Episcopal Church,” the statement says. “We are looking forward to having a judge and jury determine the merits of this allegation and are confident in the ultimate outcome. We know from our own through investigation that Father Armstrong has done nothing wrong and will be found innocent. We are equal to the task of setting the record straight.”
Moving on
Since the two-year court battle ended on March 24, both congregations have “moved on.” Each faction of Grace and St. Stephens Church, formerly a 2,400-member church, returned to a permanent home in time for Palm Sunday services with Holy Week soon to follow.
Though it wasn’t the result they were hoping for, the newly formed St. George’s Anglican Church congregation – which was evicted from the Grace and St. Stephens building in March – has found a calling in its new community. Now in a section of town with only two churches, St. George’s is filling an evangelistic need, according to its leaders.
“There’s a whole lot of excitement in starting a new parish,” said the Rev. Alan R. Crippen, a volunteer priest and spokesman for St. George’s. “(God has) put us right in the middle of a mission field. I think there’s a lot of redirection, recommitment of purpose.”
The previously exiled 500 members of Grace and St. Stephens Episcopal Church – worshiping the last two years at nearby First Christian – are happy to be home.
The congregation has since seen worship attendance jump by about 50 percent as people who drifted away during the controversy have come back, said Martin Pearsall, priest-in-charge of the parish.
“People are loving it,” Pearsall said.
Yet a dark cloud still remains – over both congregations.
“The Episcopal Church and its entities are now pursuing 18 individuals for shylock pound of flesh,” Crippen said of the civil charges still pending. “The Episcopal Church and its minions are not to be taken lightly. It’s a church we are convinced has walked away from any Christian roots.
“We have no reservations for taking a stand for the Gospel and Biblical orthodoxy. We are satisfied that God in His inscrutable providence has moved this on to a new place.”
Also ready to move on, Pearsall has found himself spending too much time with public relations and litigation rather than a pastor, he said. His prayer is to focus instead on preaching the gospel and building up the congregation.
“I’ve got challenges I never imagined in seminary,” he said. “The group that broke off from the Episcopal Church is still standing out there making claims about us that are not flattering. We have to be able to respond realistically, and not get too defensive.”
Stuck in the middle
Aside from millions of dollars spent on litigation, the St. Stephen’s Classical Academy on the Grace and St. Stephen’s campus also was a casualty. The K-5 Christian school closed April 30, three weeks before the end of the academic year for its 60 students. The St. George’s congregation had been supporting the school since its split from the EPUSA, but the court ruling ended that relationship. The Grace and St. Stephens congregation, even though the school was on its property, claimed no financial responsibility.
This angered St. George’s leadership and the parents of St. Stephen’s students, according to a report in The (Colorado Springs) Gazette.
“A fraction of what their attorneys made in this conflict could have been donated to sustain the school for another three weeks,” Crippen said. “I think it needed about $20,000 (to finish the year).”
Even if the Grace and St. Stephen’s congregation had wanted to support the school, it still faced unexpected expenses that may have prevented that support. After two years of worshiping at nearby First Christian Church, the Grace and St. Stephen’s congregation found unpaid bills and facilities issues.
“Maintenance items had been deferred and deliberately not taken care of,” Pearsall said. “Some of that trust fund money (which is still tied up in litigation) would help us with maintenance issues in the building.”
Looking on the bright side of the situation, Crippen said that being out of the historic building h
as greatly diminished St. George’s overhead. After having spent approximately $1 million on legal fees the last two years, the church found a rented space in a former school and much more manageable facilities costs.
“In some ways the congregation feels liberated,” he said.
St. George’s property insurance dropped from $45,000 annually to only $3,000 when it moved to the new building among natural rock formations and beautiful bluffs on the outskirts of town, Crippen said. Rent for the space is a third of the cost of the mortgage the congregation previously paid, Crippen said, adding that the costs of maintaining stained glass windows, the roof and boilers at the former 115-year building are not missed.
“Rev. Armstrong likes to say ‘we are in a transition from being a church of maintenance to a church of mission,’” Crippen said. “Now we’re in a facility that doesn’t require a lot of maintenance. It allows us to focus on mission work, Gospel work.”
It’s not over
Because the judge only decided the property issue, there are still questions about the Grace and St. Stephen’s trust fund, Pearsall said, adding that it will be adjudicated separately. There’s also litigation against St. George’s to reclaim the diocese’s legal costs, deferred building maintenance damages and unpaid bills.
“My thought on this whole thing, I really wish we could act like Christians with one another,” Pearsall said. “We can have theological disagreements and still be in love and charity with one another.
“That certainly has not happened in this instance.”
No regrets
Even with the loss of its court case, St. George’s has no regrets moving forward, Crippen said. When the vestry voted to fight the diocese, it did so out of obligation to the congregation and others around the country wrestling with similar issues.
“Given the same kind of information and circumstances, I don’t think anybody would have hesitated to do it all over again,” Crippen said. “We made a principled stand for what we believe to be right. We followed the dictates of our conscience.”