You are here
ROSEMONT, PA: War of Words Breaks out at Church of the Good Shepherd between Bishop & Senior Warden
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
September 29, 2011
A war of words and actions has broken out in the parish of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, PA, following the removal of its rector, Fr. David L. Moyer.
In a letter to David W. Rawson, the parish's senior warden, Assisting PA Bishop Rodney Michel wrote that parish assets cannot be disposed of, including real estate. Also, no expenditures in excess of $300.00 may be made without written consent. The bishop urged a letter of agreement with interim rector, the Rev. John Keefer. He also asked that the parish's books be open for inspection. "Good Shepherd is ten or more years behind in fulfilling these obligations."
Michel also asked for a copy of the parish register and parish reports for the past five years. In addition, he requested audited financials prepared on behalf of the Parish from the calendar year 2003 forward, as well as statements relating to all fiduciary accounts belonging to the Parish and all notes and mortgages to which the parish is a party. "Setting aside the legal requirements, you should provide me with these reports so that you can put to rest the many questions I hear posed about Good Shepherd's financial stewardship over the past years."
He also ordered Moyer to leave the rectory immediately.
Michel said the content of the parish's web site must immediately remove any links to Moyer's new church as well as information regarding when services are conducted there along with any of his "you tube" sermons, his past sermons, his multiple lawsuits against his attorneys, the Bishop and the Diocese, his discipline during 2001, and his ordination as Bishop in TAC.
FOLLOWING the bishop's letter, senior warden David Rawson said he contacted the bishop telling him that he had been "misinformed by a group of five parish dissidents (some of whom are not even voting members of the Parish) who have transferred their animosity toward Fr. Moyer to the remaining Vestry, and [are] behaving in a very uncivil and conspiratorial manner to defeat the Vestry's attempts at parish reconciliation."
Rawson said it is now up to the Accounting Warden George Anderson to explain to the Bishop how new members would be added to review the parish finances and monitor and authorize all expenditures. It is his call as to whether they will sell or mortgage parish investment property to survive anticipated illiquidity problems projected for December.
Good Shepherd owns the two properties in question. F.A.C.T. only has a mortgage on them for money it lent to the Parish for the Parish to buy them. The properties are valued at close to $600,000. Rawson maintains they are no longer owned by the parish.
Rawson noted that the text of Bp. Michel's letter contains "blatant misinformation dictated by the dissidents themselves." He then stated that Bishop Michel has agreed to suspend the letter until his return next week.
On September 23, Bishop Michel wrote Rawson, "Having given much thought to our telephone conversation of yesterday morning, I reacted somewhat quickly to your emotional reaction to my letter of September 21. I am simply trying to put a stand still in place until we can meet face to face, and ensuring that the vestry move forward on some things that I should not have to tell it to do, like ensuring that Dr. Moyer moves out of the campus immediately, and that the web site contains appropriate material for the health and welfare of the Church of the Good Shepherd.
"Accordingly, please consider the directives in my letter to be effective immediately, and contact me only by email (which currently is not working in the location of Ecuador where I am until I depart for Philadelphia next Tuesday), only if there is any reason why you need to have one of the injunctions lifted before we can meet upon my return from Ecuador.
"You need to begin working on all the directives and if you have canonical queries check them with the Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, Mary Kohart, Esq."
END
