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	St. Thomas Rector Is Cleared of Allegations of Impropriety By Joseph Goldstein New York Sun May 21, 2007 http://www.nysun.com/article/54846 The Episcopal Diocese of New York has dismissed a complaint against the rector of St. Thomas Church, the senior warden at the Fifth Avenue church has announced. The news, delivered during a break in the organ music at yesterday's service, prompted sustained applause from a body that is not known as being a put-your-hands-together type of congregation. In December, 11 current and former parishioners, as well as a former priest there, accused the rector, the Reverend Andrew Mead, of using church funds to purchase his household supply of cat litter and alcohol. Among several other allegations, the rector was also accused of using church funds to fly first-class to Paris to fire the headmaster of the church's choir school, who was vacationing there. "The matter is now formally closed," the church's senior warden, William Wright II, said yesterday. According to a recording of his remarks, Mr. Wright said the diocese's Standing Committee, which hears allegations of clerical misconduct, had informed the church last week that it has dismissed the complaint. A forensic accounting of church funds had rebutted the allegations of financial impropriety, an attorney for Rev. Mead and the parish, Thomas Engel, told The New York Sun yesterday. The purchases of alcohol were for "the countless parties and receptions and the like" given by the Meads as part of an effort "to open up the rectory to the parish," Mr. Engel, a managing partner of Howrey LLP, said in an interview. Mr. Engel confirmed that Rev. Mead and his wife had flown to Paris for the purpose of firing the choir school director, although Mr. Engel said the seats were in business class and that the tickets had been purchased with "the prior approval of the vestry." Rev. Mead subsequently invited the fired choir school director, Gordon Roland-Adams, to move into his apartment; the firing meant that Mr. Roland-Adams would lose his own church housing, Mr. Engel said. Mr. Roland-Adams accepted the offer, Mr. Engel said, and subsequently lived there with his cat for nine months. "The cat litter was purchased in part to take care of the head of choir school's cat," Mr. Engel said. " Father Mead also had a cat, although it died somewhere in the middle of this." The church, a Gothic-style cathedral on Fifth Avenue, is one of the city's older religious congregations; its founding dates back to the 1820s. Rev. Mead, who has led the church for a decade, held a service for the British victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks that was attended by Prime Minister Blair, according to the church's Web site. Elizabeth II made Rev. Mead an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2002. According to an account provided yesterday by Mr. Engel, Rev. Mead has, in recent years, been the target of an impersonator. The impersonator, Mr. Engel said, had made phone calls and written letters in Rev. Mead's name. It was the modus operandi of the impersonator, Mr. Engel said, to "assume a persona which admitted to alcoholism and drinking." These impersonations were defamatory and illegal, Mr. Engel said, adding that he had investigated the matter, although he would not comment on the outcome. Mr. Engel's claim that there was an impersonator may shed light on one of the allegations in the complaint against Mr. Mead: that members of the church had received telephone calls "from Father Mead saying that he had had too much to drink," according to the complaint. The lawyer who filed the complaint, Michael Rehill, did not return a phone call or e-mail message yesterday. At yesterday's service, the warden, Mr. Wright, asked the congregation to "pray for those that filed the complaint and for the continuing vitality of our beloved parish."
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