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	Audit Clears Breakaway Pastor in Springs By Electa Draper Denver Post October 24, 2007 http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_7262161 OLORADO SPRINGS — An auditor hired by lay leaders at Grace Church and St. Stephen's Parish found no fraud or theft by the Rev. Don Armstrong, parish officials announced Tuesday. In October, a church court found Armstrong guilty of taking or mishandling about $550,000. "We looked forward to focusing on truly spiritual matters and getting this nasty business behind us," said parish senior warden Jon Wroblewski. In a statement, the Diocese of Colorado said that Bishop Robert O'Neill will still formally pronounce sentence on Armstrong next week. "The Ecclesiastical Court recommended the most severe sentence available to them - deposition from the priesthood in the Episcopal Church," the statement said. The diocese said it has turned over documents to civil authorities. The Colorado Springs Police Department has been investigating. Armstrong led his congregation to break away from the Episcopal Church in March and to become part of the Nigerian-sponsored Convocation of Anglicans in North America. Armstrong, now an Anglican priest, cited doctrinal differences with the Episcopal Church for the schism. Months before the split, the Colorado diocese accused Armstrong of financial theft and mismanagement. The diocese's Ecclesiastical Court had issued a unanimous guilty verdict against Armstrong. It ruled he stole more than $392,000 in church funds; falsified taxes by underreporting income; received illegal loans; misused other church funds; and failed to keep proper records. Armstrong said he was grateful the audit has proved that the diocese's accusations against him were false. "I am sorry that this theological conflict in the larger Episcopal Church has reached its hand down into our own parish and played itself out to such a destructive and divisive end," Armstrong said in a written statement. The church's lay leadership worked with its new authority, the Rev. Martyn Minns, an Anglican bishop under Nigerian oversight. Forensic auditor Robert Johnson cleared Armstrong and the vestry of intentional wrongdoing. Johnson found that educational scholarships to Armstrong family members and loans had been approved by church wardens. The loans have been repaid. Some record-keeping failures were bookkeeper errors, the audit showed. The deficiencies have been corrected, Wroblewski said. Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
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