Trouble in St Mary of the Angels Parish (ACA)
April 11, 2012 26 Comments
According to Virtue Online the IRS has threatened to seize St Mary’s of the Angels Property in Hollywood because financial improprieties:
The priest of St. Mary of the Angels church in Hollywood, Fr. Christopher Kelley has been inhibited by Bishop Stephen D. Strawn of the Anglican Church of America (ACA) Diocese of the West on multiple charges of financial mismanagement and “conduct unbecoming a priest.”
A source has told VOL that Fr. Kelley would not comply with the inhibition “because God told me” and because he does not recognize Bishop Strawn as his bishop.
Kelley told VOL that Bishop Louis Falk is his bishop. Falk is the former Primate of the Anglican Church in America and is Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of the Missouri Valley.
St Mary of the Angels has had no budget for the past 2-3 years and a several church checks have bounced leading to the charges of financial mismanagement. Allegedly, there are also unpaid taxes to the IRS.
The unpaid tax matter is now in the hands of the Civil Courts who will determine in the coming days the final outcome of the parish and Fr. Kelley’s position. (St. Mary of the Angels Los Angeles was one of the first continuing Anglican parishes of the 1970s).
Notice of Inhibition documents were delivered Tuesday to Fr. Kelley by the Canon to the Ordinary and signed by The Rt. Rev. Stephen D. Strawn, Bishop of the Missouri Valley, Episcopal Visitor to the Diocese of the West.
“WE, Stephen Duane Strawn, by Divine Permission Episcopal Visitor of the See of the West within the Anglican Church in American did on the 2nd Day of April, in the Year of Our Lord 2012, with the Counsel and Advice of the Standing Committee did INHIBIT the Rev. Fr. Christopher Kelley …”.
The document says that Fr. Kelley must vacate the premises within 48 hours after receiving the letter and may not contact members of St. Mary’s of the Angels ACA in Hollywood in person, by mail, or by electronic means.
“This order is in violation of California civil codes, as the LAPD officers who responded to my call, explained. It is also a clear violation of my First Amendment Rights,” Kelley told VOL.
The parish has also sought and applied to join the Ordinariate. but all parties say this has nothing to do with the present state of affairs that now exists in the parish with the rector. The Canon to the Ordinary of the Diocese of the West said that the Patrimony of the Primate was dissolved on January 1, 2012 with the establishment of the Ordinariate. Those parishes like St. Mary’s that did not vote to leave the ACA and the Traditional Anglican Communion have gone back under the authority of their geographical dioceses until they are received into the Ordinariate.
(Then Archbishop Louis Falk reported at the meeting of the ACA bishops in Tucson — over which he presided — that the bishops passed a resolution on the Patrimony stating that it would continue to exist until its function had been fulfilled, and all who wished to to make the transition to the Ordinariate had had opportunity to do so.)
Kelley branded as “false and lies” that he refused to allow anybody to see the letters from the IRS or the Treasurer and that he misappropriated funds, and refused to share auditing information. “What grounds do they have for charging me with ‘conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy’?” Kelley added he has been in the parish for five years.
A source said ACA leaders have received complaints from parishioners one of which was that Kelley would go around telling people that there are devils in the eyes of a painting worth $35,000 because the eyes were devils. Kelley described this as “total rubbish.” Fr. Kelley is a staunch Anglo-Catholic…
Rest here, and its messy.
The St Marys of the Angels website is here. It’s a smart site, and they seem like a well organised lot.
On the blog there, the Rector, Fr Christopher Kelley, writes in an Official Statement - which David Virtue doesn’t seem to (but should have) mention(ed):
We are very disappointed that a coup has been attempted by a small handful of dissidents who adamantly oppose St. Mary’s joining the Ordinariate. They apparently decided to try to thwart the will of the vast majority of parishioners, and they tried to physically take over the parish.
St. Mary’s is a free-standing legal corporation under California law. During the entire history of the Anglican Continuum, parishes have been free to come and go as they please, and many have changed jurisdictions, not just St. Mary’s.
Bishop Strawn’s “inhibition” of Fr. Kelley, and Canon Morello’s appointment of any officers is invalid, as they have no legal authority over St. Mary’s. The Patrimony of the Primate continues so long as there exist Anglicans who may formally contemplate transition to the Ordinariate. (It did not expire January 1, 2012.)
Some were used by people who have a larger agenda and are trying to exercise power and authority they do not possess. This whole brouhaha has been a distraction to the majority of parishioners and visitors who just want to attend church and worship the Lord, and not get involved in the power trips and self-serving political ambitions and machinations of a few. All parish funds were and are presently properly handled and accounted for at the parish banks.
They formed a front in matters not clearly understood by them, and without benefit of involvement in the long history of St. Mary’s finding the most appropriate larger ecclesiastical home in which to practice the Catholic faith.
We continue as before in the Lord’s service.
Prayerfully in Christ,
Chairman of the Board, President, & Rector
Fr. Christopher P. Kelley +
St. Mary of the Angels
So, it’s all about them wanting to join the Ordinariate then? Could it be? We’ll have to see.
One thing is for sure, they’ll be doing their own thing, regardless of what the ACA Bishops think, say, or do…
About Fr Stephen Smuts
If any of this is true then Fr. Kelley probably finds himself in the same position as Fr, Moyer. Poor Saint Mary’s, after all the years and drama I thought it was Romeward bound at last. Must be the Hollywood curse.
It is really the Bishop Pike curse, I fear (he was received into the Episcopal Church there, and made one of his attempted marriages).
We are all sinners…Some are worse than others. Jesus wants us as Christians, not to judge, but to do what is right+++
As a parishioner of St Mary’s for 2.5yrs I have this comment about the Ordinariate vote:
Last year’s May 2011 initial vote was 81% approval of joining the Ordinariate. The secret ballot vote was digitally recorded. (I was asked to be one of the vote counters of the mailed in absentee ballots and the in-person secret ballots)
We were encouraged/persuaded/advised to take a 2nd followup vote to get an updated parish vote in Jan 2012. The the vote was 83%, even higher proportion approved joining the Ordinariate. (Again, I was asked to be one of the vote counters of the mailed in absentee and in-person secret ballots. Again, it was digitally recorded. The 2nd vote in Jan 2012 also included 3 election observers (I believe 1 priest, 1 pastor and 1 lay-Catholic) as outside-of-St Mary’s parish, watching the process to ascertain all was done legally and without suspicion of tampering of the vote to be brought against the voting results.)
Vote, Re-Vote, SMA is Ordinariate bound!
I have some pertinent and sensitive information that I feel must be shared in light of the accusations and claims made here. First let me say that I am no fan of Fr. Kelley or how he’s handled the current situation at St. Mary of the Angels. I was pro-ordinariate but have become disgusted with the process. I no longer attend St. Marys – what I once considered my spiritual home – but I am well aware of the issues at play.
Firstly don’t be fooled when they say it’s not about the building. St. Mary’s (through its real-estate holding) is a golden hen. It can run in the black weather it has 1 parishioner or 1,000 through it’s real-estate income.
You also might be interested to know that St. Mary’s has been the victim of incompetent and inept book-keeping for years. It is true that there were several concerning issues being brought up about our finances and several of the vestry (who were seen as allies of Fr. Kelley) dug in their heels about getting an independent audit which made the suspicions grow.
But finally after much pulling and gnashing of teeth an independent audit (outside of the Church) was started (at the end of last year) and all the claims made about grand larceny, pension fraud, etc. were shown to be the foolish mistakes of our treasurers. Of which the last two official treasurers and their assistants had have not hidden the fact that they want to see Fr. Kelley kicked out of St. Marys.
In fact the very treasurer who made the initial allegations of financial misconduct was the very same one who failed to pay the taxes to the IRS which initiated the certified letter spoken of above!
Once Fr. Kelley received the letter as the Rector, he could see what was going on. Don’t pay the bills because you don’t like the Rector then accuse the Rector of mismanagement and not paying the bills. Very Convenient!
I am sorry if this scandalizes anyone and if I’ve done wrong then God will judge me. I have borne no false witness here. But I feel this all needs to come out – a confession of the soul – no more lies, stories, rumors, let it all die and let God’s will be done.
But now it seems as if the courts must decide – and the Angels weep for this parish.
- A Disappointed Anglican
Hello, I am wondering if I may speak with you. I am doing a story about what happened. Please let me know if we can email. I am with the Los Feliz Ledger and my name is Norma. Thank you.
Norma, you should know that on May 25 a temporary restraining order was issued against Fr. Kelley and at the request of members of the parish. Fr. Kelley was ordered to remain off church property and to surrender control over church assets at that time. At that time, all locks securing the property were changed. Parties returned to court on June 13 at which time the same judge determined that the court had no jurisdiction over an internal religious dispute and that parties had to resolve the dispute on their own. The restraining order was dissolved, though no determination as to Fr. Kelley’s wish to return to St. Mary’s as rector was made.
Just before 2am on Saturday, June 16 Fr. Kelley (the fired, former rector of St. Mary of the Angels) and former senior warden Alan Trimpi engineered a break in of St. Mary of the Angels and attempted to take control of the entire building. They were prevented from doing so by security. Locksmiths were called to install additional locks to secure most of the parish. Fr. Kelley and his supporters have been occupying the parish hall and the rest of the downstairs area since then while vestry members and other parishioners have secured the upstairs areas of the church. Stalemate.
And to be clear, the legal action against Fr. Kelley has nothing to do with the parish possibly entering the Ordinariate established by the Catholic Church; it has everything to with Fr. Kelley’s duplicity, intransigence, and refusal to obey legitimate church authorities who have fired him!
No one doubts the validity of SMA’s Ordinariate vote. Not the ACA, not the Kelley family’s supporters, and not the actual leadership of the Ordinariate. That excuse is simply a distraction from the actual content of the disagreement, which is the following: Fr Kelley’s guilt or innocence in the charges leveled against him. From Fr Kelley’s own words to David Virtue, he looks, at best, to be a very, very confused person, and at best, someone with something to hide, blaming every charge that was leveled against him on another person. Since it has been found out that Fr Kelley will not be ordained in the Ordinariate, I wonder what his next excuse will be? Watch the St Mary’s website for further spin…
In the above comment, I meant “at worst, someone with something to hide.”. Can’t stand auto-correct!
I believe David Virtue does have the “statement” from the rector. It was there when the report first came out. and there is a direct link to the sight.
Correction: The original article doesn’t mention the official statement, but I think that was because it was not sent until after the article posted. there is a link in the comments.
This is all so very said.
” Since it has been found out that Fr Kelley will not be ordained in the Ordinariate”…what is the reason for this? Is he joining the Ordinariate as a lay person, and if not what happens if he stays at SMA?
-Parishioner during previous crisis in the late 70′s.
Don’t believe everything that is said by anybody on the internet.
Be a snake, be a dove there.
+ PAX et BONUM
@ Don Henri – I would just like to know the facts, not a quote thank you!
Reece, Linda and I will be at St Thomas on Sunday, and if you get together with us at coffee hour, we’ll be happy to fill you (and anyone else there who’s interested) in.
Thanks John, I would enjoy talking to you very much. I am Sub Deacon this Sunday so will attempt to invest ASAP, so I can talk to you both at the coffee hour.
Thanks John, I would enjoy talking to you very much. I am Sub Deacon this Sunday so will attempt to unvest ASAP, so I can talk to you both at the coffee hour.
There is no standard reason why Fr. Kelley might be barred from the Ordinariate. He is not a former Catholic, nor is he divorced. He left ECUSA in a huff, but if that disqualified him from the Ordinariate, the RCC would have no Continuing Anglicans to receive.
I have met both Fr Kelley and Fr. Moyer, and there’s a key difference. Fr. Moyer wanted to be (and I understand it, was for a time) a bishop. Fr. Kelley wants to finish out his career as a parish priest serving Anglo-Catholics in his native California.
Fr Kelley is showing that his financial position and the honor of being rector of St Mary’s trumps all. What in the world are Falk and Moyer doing by getting mixed up in this ongoing drama?
Can we do nothing but observe and pray that this issue may be resolved? I sense that this sort of problem hurts Jesus Christ… Another offense against him… We cannot truly see into the heart of other people, only God can, so if it is true that Fr. Kelley is at fault, (a sinner like all of us) then maybe we must pray that his heart may be guided to the right course of action.
Where is there honour in being Rector of a parish that you have practically destroyed; and have also hurt a number of people spiritually who wanted very strongly to join the Ordinariate?
Precisely.
I think our Blessed Mother, for whom that church was named, will help us and give us hope, that she may intercede for us to God for the resolution of this issue…
The situation is very complex, and all involved REALLY need our prayers for charity and discernment.
Amen! I personally want St. Mary of the Angels to be admitted into the Ordinariate; I have observed a service, and it was so beautiful, so beautiful that I have resolved to look closely and follow news regarding the Ordinariate at large; if the Ordinariate means more people will celebrate the sacred Liturgy in such a solemn and holy manner, I cannot see any reason why I should not support the Ordinariate. It is unfortunate, however, that in the middle of liberalized Los Angeles, I can only see St. Mary of the Angels as a possible oasis… It is really sad, however, that the status of this particular church is in a limbo of sorts.