{"id":11520,"date":"2007-08-08T19:53:31","date_gmt":"2007-08-09T02:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2007\/08\/08\/the-pastor-takes-a-fall.html"},"modified":"2007-08-08T19:53:31","modified_gmt":"2007-08-09T02:53:31","slug":"the_pastor_takes_a_fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/08\/08\/the_pastor_takes_a_fall.html","title":{"rendered":"The Pastor Takes a Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The Ecclesiastical Court  — independent members elected at the Diocesan Convention by votes including those of Grace & St Stephens — has, after a week of deliberations, found Rev. Don Armstrong guilty<\/a> of the financial improprieties he was accused of.<\/p>\n

An ecclesiastical court of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado unanimously found the Rev. Donald Armstrong guilty today of stealing nearly $400,000 from his Colorado Springs parish and of using discretionary funds improperly.<\/p>\n

The court, made up of both clergy and lay church members, deliberated for eight days before issuing its ruling. Both sides have 30 days to respond before the court issues a sentencing recommendation that could be as severe as defrocking Armstrong.<\/p>\n

During the trial, a forensic auditor hired by the diocese presented evidence that Armstrong diverted church funds to pay for his children\u2019s college education and to cover personal expenses such as cell phone bills and car payments. A board member for a trust fund that Armstrong used for his kids said those funds were forbidden for such purposes.<\/p>\n

The court pronounced Armstrong guilty of six counts that also included failing to report $548,097 in income to the Internal Revenue Service, receiving illegal loans of $122,479 and failing to maintain proper accounting books.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Word has it, the IRS is also investigating.<\/p>\n

Armstrong — who conveniently claimed he and his congregation were jumping ship the day the presentment (indictment) was filed — continues to shrug it off as no matter.<\/p>\n

\n

The decision has no immediate effect on Armstrong, who left the denomination in March and continues to head Grace Church, as it is now associated with the Anglican Convocation of North America. His spokesman said he was not surprised by the results of what he has termed a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d <\/p>\n

Alan Crippen, a spokesman for Armstrong, said that the vestry board of Grace CANA church is conducting its own forensic audit and will have the results by next month. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It’s true there’s not a whole lot the Diocese or Church can actually do to Armstrong — who’s been welcomed with open arms by the Nigerian-led CANA, and who could thus shrug off even an official defrocking for his malfeasance.  Nonetheless, it’s good to see the truth out.<\/p>\n

Fr. Jake<\/a> has links to the background and evidence presented in the case.  The official diocesan news bulletin is here<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

The preliminary judgment made public today by the five members of the Ecclesiastical Court found unanimously that the Rev. Don Armstrong is guilty on all Counts included in the Motion for Summary Judgment in his case. Those counts are: Count 1 \u2013 commission of crimes, including theft of $392,409.93 from Grace Church, and causing Grace Church to issue false W-2s and underreport Armstrong\u2019s income and benefits by $548,097.27; Count 2 \u2013 that Armstrong received illegal loans totaling $122,479.16 in violation of Diocesan Canons; Count 3 \u2013 unauthorized encumbrance and alienation of Grace Church\u2019s real property; Count 4 \u2013 violation of the temporary inhibition placed on Armstrong; Count 5 \u2013 the improper use of clergy discretionary funds; and Count 6 \u2013 failure to maintain proper books of account.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

‘Nuff said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ecclesiastical Court  — independent members elected at the Diocesan Convention by votes including those of Grace & St Stephens — has, after a week of deliberations, found Rev….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12198,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/10\/23\/no_you_dont_say.html","url_meta":{"origin":11520,"position":0},"title":"No! You don’t say!","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 23-Oct-07 9:23pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Rev. Don Armstrong has been exonerated by an audit -- paid for by his congregation. The Rev. Don Armstrong was found innocent today of misusing funds at Grace Church...","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/episcshield_15_188.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10892,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/05\/27\/the_vote.html","url_meta":{"origin":11520,"position":1},"title":"The Vote","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 27-May-07 11:33pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The ballots are in and the brave Anglican\u00a0faithful of Grace & St Stephens in Colorado Springs have voted to sever ties with the nassssty Episcopal \"church\" and follow the...","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/episc-shield.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12207,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/10\/22\/the_amazing_karnak_predic.html","url_meta":{"origin":11520,"position":2},"title":"The Amazing Karnak predicts …!","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 22-Oct-07 1:16pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Rev. Don Armstrong & Co. have finished their audit of the Rev. Don Armstrong -- who was found unanimously guilty in an Episcopal ecclesiastical court of gross misuse of...","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/episcshield_15_188.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13369,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/01\/09\/don_armstrong_plot_thicke.html","url_meta":{"origin":11520,"position":3},"title":"Don Armstrong plot thickens","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 9-Jan-09 5:34pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Don Armstrong, former priest in the Episcopal Church, led his conservative congregation of Grace & St Stephens in Colorado Spring out of the Epicopal fold a jump ahead of...","rel":"","context":"In "Episcopal Church"","block_context":{"text":"Episcopal Church","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/religion\/religion-episcopal-church"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/episcshield.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11080,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/04\/14\/grace_less.html","url_meta":{"origin":11520,"position":4},"title":"Grace-less","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 14-Apr-07 11:50pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I do realize I've been blogging a lot about the whole Rev. Armstrong and the Episcopal parish of Grace and St Stephens of late. \u00a0In part, it's because it's...","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/episc-shield.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14848,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/05\/22\/don-armstrong-arrested.html","url_meta":{"origin":11520,"position":5},"title":"Don Armstrong arrested","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 22-May-09 5:52pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The criminal investigation side of the whole Don Armstrong mess in Colorado Springs has moved to the next stage. 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