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	Once Charles Bennison Jr Got Going As Bishop In the Shadow of Mt. Hollywood January 19, 2011 http://mthollywood.blogspot.com/2011/01/once-charles-bennison-jr-got-going-as.html Gay ordinations were just one on a long list of issues between him and the diocese. By June 2006, the diocese was in a financial shambles, with the Camp Wapiti debacle only the most visible. The Bishop of Pennsylvania, Charles E. Bennison spent more than $8 million for Camp Wapiti, with clergy and lay leadership learning that the diocese does not actually own the land, having paid $3 million in order to secure a $4 million option to buy the land. The diocese has already spent $5 million on site improvements on property they do not even own. More than 200 stunned lay and clergy were also told at an open forum, following a special audit of the diocesan books, that millions of dollars had been raided from endowment funds to pay for the operating expenses of the diocese. There was nothing done illegally by Bennison, but canons were clearly violated in the way money was taken from different trust funds to pay for the general operating budget, said Bill Wood, President of the Standing Committee. "Procedures were not followed; there was clearly a violation of Canon Law." "There is no cause for action in civil law, but there are signs that canon law was violated," said Wood. Canon law is traditional church law which, in good pre-Reformation manner, is handled by church courts. Canon law is "full of loopholes", Wood comments farther down in the link. The Camp Wapiti situation, one of Bennison's pet projects, was summarized as Questioned about Wapiti and the possibility of an exit strategy, Bill Powell said it was difficult to sell the land we don't own. "We spent $3 million to buy an option and $4 million to improve the land, but we don't own it. We have an option. If the diocese doesn't write a check for $4 million it can write a lesser check. We have spent over $7 million and we own nothing," a shocked clergy were told. In 2005, as the financial problems grew, Bennison opened the diocesan annual convention with a call to affirm his leadership. “If you feel I’m not leading you effectively, tell me, and if I feel it is God’s will, I’ll resign,” he said as reported in the diocesan newspaper, The Pennsylvania Episcopalian. In January 2006, the diocesan standing committee took him up on the offer and requested his resignation. Nope. In April 2006, in response to further financial irregularities, they asked for his resignation again. In an open letter to Bishop Bennison on April 21, the Standing Committee wrote saying that the draw down showed a lack of a commitment to "transparency", and "in the absence of your proper designation of these funds and the approval of Standing Committee in accordance with our Canons, we question why this action was not reported to the Special Convention. . . . As a result of our continuing concern about the finances of the Diocese and your lack of leadership, the Standing Committee strongly reaffirms our call for you to retire or resign." Again he refused. Somehow, though, the scandal over Charles Bennison's brother John resurfaced. Exactly who talked to whom isn't clear, but on May 10, 2006 -- just a couple of weeks after the standing committee's second call for Charles's resignation -- the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) had begun to publicize the 30-year-old abuse case in the San Francisco Bay area.
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