I do try to be charitable, and not take any joy in the misfortunes of others. Really. But the spirit is often weak, and when the proud and the spiteful get at least a measure of come-uppance, it’s hard not to feel a frisson of satisfaction.
So, then, this image of the Rev. Don Armstrong, evicted (temporarily, at least) from “his” church, the absconded locks-changed Grace & St Stephens in Colorado Springs. Armstrong and a picked majority of his parish voted to leave the Episcopal Church for more friendly — or at least more conservative — Anglican climes. But they decided that, regardless of canon law and whatever the historical expectations of generations of parishioners, they would take the china and silverware with them. Or, more specifically, the property of the Church, i.e., the church itself, banishing a sizeable number of Episcopal loyalists to worship elsewhere.
In the ensuing brouhaha, and investigation into the parish, the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado felt that Armstrong had also been playing fast and loose with parish funds, and turned the info over to the city DA. The mills of the gods grind slowly, but the finally seem to be catching up, as investigators cordoned off the church and went in to search and seize records.
Colorado Springs police detectives raided Grace Church and St. Stephen’s Wednesday morning to seize paper financial records and computers as part of a theft investigation launched more than a year ago.
More than 20 officers cordoned off the block-long church complex at 601 N. Tejon St., evicting its controversial pastor, the Rev. Donald Armstrong, who wandered the sidewalk in clerical garb, a copy of the warrant in his right hand.
The raid focused on records tied to allegations from the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado that Armstrong embezzled $400,000 from Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, the congregation he headed before he and his followers broke away in early 2007 to affiliate with the Convocation of Anglicans in North American.
Colorado Springs Police Lt. David Whitlock said officers were searching for evidence of theft and fraud. Police also searched Armstrong’s Colorado Springs home Wednesday.
As Mark Harris notes, the fraud/tax investigation has nothing directly to do with the civil suit over who actually owns the church property (due to go to court in February) — save that both disputes stem from Rev. Armstrong, former Episcopal priest. Though, if you read the comments of the Gazette story above, the Armstrong loyalists are quite certain that the Colorado Springs DA and police are acting at the the covert behest of the Wicked Episcopal Bishop O’Neill and his Gay-Loving Episcopal Cohorts.
See also:
Police raid embattled Colorado Springs church : Updates : The Rocky Mountain News
KRDO.com Colorado Springs, Pueblo – Police Serve Warrant At Colorado Springs Church
More as I run across it.
(via Ginny)