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Trust Fund Coalition Urges Episcopal Presiding Bishop to Come Clean on Litigation Costs
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
April 12, 2011
A coalition of conservative Episcopalians calling themselves The Trust Fund Coalition, alarmed by reports that TEC is using trust funds for litigation against dioceses, parishes, and clergy that have transferred to other Anglican jurisdictions, have written an Open Letter to the Presiding Bishop and Executive Council of The Episcopal Church asking for a public accounting of the names of the trust funds used and the amounts taken from each one.
Prior written requests for an explanation of the amounts spent for litigation and sources for the funds were made by five retired bishops, a petition of 5,000 people, and the Anglican Laity Fellowship have all received no response.
Reported analyses of TEC's financial statements and Executive Committee minutes indicate TEC has spent over $6 million on litigation and this amount includes money from trust funds, many of which were originally gifted to the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (part of TEC) for mission purposes. As litigation is ongoing, expenses will continue to be incurred.
TEC has initiated over fifty lawsuits in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. The lawsuits seek to acquire property owned by dioceses and parishes. They sometimes include actions against vestry members. Over four hundred removal actions against clergy have been filed in ecclesiastical courts, which also can be a litigation expense.
The open letter states, specifically, that TEC's membership is entitled to an accounting of the following:
* How much has been spent on litigation;
* The identity of trust funds used for litigation and the amounts taken from each one;
* How the funds' donors specified TEC was to use the trust funds;
* How litigation furthers the purposes of those trust funds;
"TEC's process for making litigation decisions, keeping costs to a minimum, preventing conflicts of interest, and ensuring compliance with its Constitution and Canons; and How seizure of empty churches (and in some cases, burial facilities) justifies trust fund use for legal expenses if TEC intends to sell the properties on the open market afterwards.
"We trust you will promptly and fully respond to this inquiry as all Episcopalians are surely entitled to know how funds which they have contributed to TEC are being spent. Your failure to do so will leave us with no alternative but to explore all appropriate means of administrative and/or legal redress. We urge all Episcopalians in good standing to join us in this request for a complete accounting of TEC's financial disbursements for litigation."
Faithfully,
The Trust Fund Coalition
c/o American Anglican Council of Washington, Inc.
and the Anglican Laity Fellowship, Inc.
email: info@aac-washington.net
301-542-343
