According to Cook's Sentence of Deposition, the former second-ranking official in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland shall be "deprived of the right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority of God's word and sacraments conferred at ordination."

The release concludes by stating that the accord reached between Cook and the Presiding Bishop's office is separate from any resolution of employment matters involving Cook and the Diocese of Maryland as well as from criminal matters pending in the secular courts.

The Diocese of Maryland Standing Committee has sought Cook's resignation since January.

The bishop is charged with driving under the influence resulting in a homicide, vehicular manslaughter, criminal negligent manslaughter, texting while driving and fleeing the scene of an accident. A breathalyzer test showed Cook's blood alcohol level was .22 following the accident. If found guilty, Cook could face a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment for each charge of manslaughter and driving away from the accident.

A trial date has been set for June 4 before the Baltimore City Circuit Court.

In February, the Washington Post reported that diocesan officials suspected Cook was drunk at a dinner the night before her September consecration. The story links to a timeline provided by the Diocese of Maryland stating that Bishop Eugene Sutton informed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of his suspicion, Jefferts Schori "indicates she will discuss with Cook" and the consecration proceeds as planned the following day.

*****

Bishop Cook is bishop no longer -- she is deposed
Maryland's suffragan stripped of all clerical functions as she resigns from diocese

By Mary Ann Mueller
VOL Special Correspondent
www.virtueonline.org
May 2, 2015

It's official. Bishop Heather Cook, the beleaguered Maryland suffragan, has been tossed from the Episcopal House of Bishops as she has been officially deposed and "deprived of the right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority of God's word and sacraments conferred at ordination."

That word came down from the Presiding Bishop's office Friday morning (May 1), one day after Heather Cook's 27th anniversary of her ordination to the Episcopal priesthood. The announcement came in the form of a short media release posted on The Episcopal Church's public affairs webpage.

On the same day The Episcopal Church announced Bishop Cook's defrocking, the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland also announced that the embattled bishop suffragan was no longer employed by the Maryland diocese. She struck a deal, in the form of an Accord through the Title IV disciplinary process, and tendered her letter of resignation earlier in the week, which was formally accepted by Bishop Eugene Sutton (Maryland XIV) and the diocesan standing committee. The Maryland Standing Committee originally asked for Bishop Cook to tender her resignation a month after the December 27, 2014, drunk driving hit and run accident which claimed the life of a Baltimore bicyclist. However, at that time, her resignation could not be tendered, to allow for the Title IV disciplinary process to run its course.

"The office of Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has released information concerning Heather Cook of the Diocese of Maryland," The Episcopal Church's news release began. "Pursuant to Title IV of the Canons of The Episcopal Church, the Presiding Bishop and Bishop Cook have reached an Accord. Under the terms of the Accord, Bishop Cook will receive a Sentence of Deposition, pursuant to which she shall be 'deprived of the right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority of God's word and sacraments conferred at ordination.'"

Now it is cut and dried. "As such, Cook will no longer function as an ordained person in The Episcopal Church," the news release explained.

"The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton and the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland today [May 1] announced the acceptance of the resignation of Heather E. Cook as bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland," the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland stated on its website Friday. "This means that Cook is no longer employed by the diocese. The acceptance of Cook's resignation is independent of any Title IV disciplinary action taken by The Episcopal Church."

Canon Heather Cook, then Canon to the Ordinary for the Episcopal Diocese of Easton, was elected bishop suffragan for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland two years ago -- May 3, 2013. On Aug. 7, 2013, the Presiding Bishop's office notified the Diocese of Maryland that Heather Cook had successfully completed the canonical consent process and was green-lighted to be consecrated Maryland's bishop suffragan on September 6, 2014.

On Dec. 27, 2014, just 16 weeks after she was elevated to the bishopric, Bishop Cook was allegedly involved in a post-Christmas hit and run with a popular Baltimore bicyclist. She was ultimately charged with a variety of criminal and traffic offenses including: drunk driving, leaving the scene of an accident, vehicular manslaughter, and texting while driving. Popular Baltimore biker Thomas Palermo died as a result of allegedly being hit by Bishop Cook's Subaru and bouncing off the passenger side of the windshield. That deadly accident opened Bishop Cook up to close scrutiny by law enforcement, the church, and the press. Following the deadly car-bike accident, a detailed examination was initiated by the media into her life where it was discovered that she had had an earlier brush with the law which also involved drunk driving.

The Sept. 10, 2012, event was apparently not discovered during the election process; it did not really come to light until after Bishop Cook was involved in post-Christmas drunken hit and run accident. It was the press digging into her background that initially uncovered Canon Cook's earlier brush with the law in Caroline County, Maryland (located within the Episcopal Diocese of Easton) where she was arrested for intoxication over the legal limit while driving impaired. She also was cited for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.

All she received from that traffic skirmish was a slap on the wrist. She received probation before judgment, ordered to pay a light fine, as well as court costs, and undergo alcohol and drug evaluation and treatment. The marijuana possession and paraphernalia charges were dropped.

Within a very short time after the Dec. 27 fatal accident, a Title IV investigation was unleashed by the Presiding Bishop's office using Canon IV.10 "Conduct Unbecoming a Member of the Clergy" which is designed to weed out TEC clerics who shall bring any "disorder or neglect that prejudices the reputation, good order and discipline of the Church, or any conduct of a nature to bring material discredit upon the Church or the Holy Orders conferred by the Church."

The Episcopal Church's Title IV investigation was launched on Jan. 6, three days before Bishop Cook was criminally charged by Baltimore's new State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby on Jan. 9, at which time Heather Cook surrendered herself and was jailed in lieu of a $2.5 million bond.

Within five days, on Jan. 16, her "steady companion" former Episcopal priest Mark H. Hansen signed a promissory note for $215,000 payable at $1,000 a month for 18 years to secure her release.

On Feb. 4, the embattled bishop was formally indicted by the Baltimore City Grand Jury on a total of 13 charges as the criminal traffic case churned towards an early trial. Less than a week later, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori restricted Bishop Cooks' ministry.

"You shall not exercise or engage in the ordained ministry of this Church in any respect, shall not participate in any functions of the House of Bishops, and shall not hold yourself out as an ordained person of this Church in good standing, until such time as all matters relating to you that are pending before a panel of the Disciplinary Board of Bishops shall have been finally resolved," the Presiding Bishop ordered on Feb. 10.

A month ago (April 2) Bishop Cook accepted a June 4 trial date. By doing so, she inferentially pleaded not guilty to all charges against her. Should she be found guilty, she could possibly face a long stretch in prison.

However, as of May 1, all of Heather Cook's Title IV problems with The Episcopal Church were finally resolved through the Accord. Full details of the action are cloaked in secrecy and confidentiality.

"The Accord resolves all ecclesiastical disciplinary matters involving Cook," the Episcopal Church explained in its Friday release. "This Accord is separate from any resolution of employment matters involving Cook and the Diocese of Maryland as well as from criminal matters pending in the secular courts."

The Episcopal News Service reported that "Cook faces a combined maximum penalty of at least 39 years in prison and a $39,000 fine, depending on whether her 2010 arrest and subsequent 'probation before judgment' sentence is considered a first offense for any sentence she might receive if she were convicted of the charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or driving while under the influence of alcohol per se."

Former Bishop Heather Cook is not the first Episcopal bishop to be deposed under the bite of Title IV canons. Other recent TEC bishops who have been removed from the Episcopal House of Bishops have included: William Wantland (VI Eau Claire); the late John-David Schofield (IV San Joaquin); Edward MacBurney (VII Quincy); Andrew Fairfield (X North Dakota); Terence Kelshaw (VII Rio Grande); Peter Beckwith (X Springfield); Jack Iker (III Fort Worth); Keith Ackerman (VIII Quincy); Alden Hathaway (VI Pittsburgh); Robert Duncan (VII Pittsburgh); David Bane (Southern Virginia); Mark Lawrence (XIV South Carolina) and David Bena (Albany-Suffragan). Bishop Bane has returned to The Episcopal Church; it was announced last week that all is forgiven and his orders have been restored and that he is again a member of the Episcopal House of Bishops.

"We are going to pursue justice and we will treat Miss Heather Cook the same way we would anyone else ... no one is above the law," Mosby said in January.

Now that former Bishop Cook has completed the Title VI disciplinary process her date with the law in the pursuit of justice in the death of Thomas Palermo comes on June 4 in a Baltimore District Court room.

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline