Citing dissent from the resolutions adopted by the House of Bishops and frustration with the pace of a diocesan financial audit of its rector, the vestry of Grace and St. Stephen’s, Colorado Springs, announced March 26 its intention for the parish to leave the Diocese of Colorado and affiliate with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). The parish's rector, the Rev. Don Armstrong, has also transferred to CANA.

According to the Rt. Rev. Robert O’Neill, Bishop of Colorado, the parish's announcement will have no effect on the continuing inhibition of Fr. Armstrong while the diocese investigates his finances and those of Grace and St. Stephen’s, the largest parish in the diocese. Bishop O’Neill also has relieved the vestry as officers of the parish and said the diocese will seek to recover possession of the church property and other assets.

“The reality of my innocence is a possibility Bishop O’Neill is unwilling to let disrupt his fantasy that I have done something wrong, and this has made it impossible to receive a fair hearing in the ecclesial system of The Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Colorado,” Fr. Armstrong said.

Numerous attempts to have reasonable discussions with the bishop and the Diocese of Colorado have been rebuffed, the vestry stated. “The bishop has manipulated the diocese’s judicial system to resemble a kangaroo court, so that no fair hearing is possible at any level in the diocese.”

During the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, Fr. Armstrong was served with a 90-day notice of inhibition by Bishop O’Neill while the diocese conducted a financial investigation. A diocesan press release in January stated that the investigation had begun with a complaint from a parishioner and had been underway for some time before the inhibition was issued.

Recently Fr. Armstrong learned that the inhibition had been extended for an additional 90 days. Terms of the inhibition prevent Fr. Armstrong from having any contact with the parish, performing priestly functions, or wearing clerical clothing in public, among other stipulations. There is nothing in the canons to prevent inhibitions from being extended indefinitely. Since 2005, bishops in at least two other dioceses have extended inhibitions for more than a year.

Fr. Armstrong, a prominent conservative critic of The Episcopal Church’s perceived failings to respond adequately to the Windsor Report, said the diocese recently demanded that he turn over his tax returns. Fr. Armstrong has refused, but has asked for a voluntary review from the Internal Revenue Service. Other diocesan concerns, according to Fr. Armstrong, include questions about college scholarships given by the parish to his children.

“The oppression of the bishop’s obsession with me has led investigators to ignore clear evidence refuting his assumptions, and to create over their year-long investigation a report in which every accusation contains a footnote that admits a lack of crucial and decisive information,” said Fr. Armstrong, who added that he will be returning to his role as rector of the CANA parish. A spokesperson for the CANA parish said the members have no plans at this time to relocate from where they have always worshiped.

Bishop O’Neill said he was saddened by the decision by some to leave, but that his primary pastoral concern was for those who wished to remain with The Episcopal Church.

“This action, taken by the vestry in consultation with Father Armstrong (still a priest of The Episcopal Church under inhibition by the bishop), has been taken unilaterally and has no canonical or constitutional grounding or effect. The fact is that people may leave The Episcopal Church but parishes cannot,” he said. “Grace and St. Stephen’s Church remains a parish of The Episcopal Diocese of Colorado and will continue to be so for any and all who desire to be members of The Episcopal Church.”

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