An already strained pastoral relationship between the Bishop of Lexington and the lay leadership at one of the diocese’s oldest parishes worsened in January to the point where the Rt. Rev. Stacy Sauls downgraded the parish to mission status and removed the lay leadership.

Bishop Sauls said he obtained permission from the executive council for what is considered one of the most severe canonical sanctions at his disposal because he feared the nine-member vestry was within days of a decision to withdraw from the Episcopal Church, taking along the property and cash investments worth $1.8 million.

Former St. John’s senior warden Tom Thornbury conceded that, after an earlier rector search process that followed diocesan policy failed to produce an acceptable candidate, the most recent rector call did not adhere to diocesan policy. But Mr. Thornbury denied that the lay leadership was plotting to remove property and other assets.