Lead On Books?

A vestry member tells me that Owen Williams stopped by the parish late last week to pick up some papers. (The parish offered him a courtesy the squatters never gave Fr Kelley.) When asked about what had happened to the parish library, he said it had been given to Bishop Stephen Scarlett at St Matthews Anglican Newport Beach.

This reminds me of what I often see in the police ride-along shows you can see on cable: the cops will stop a car that's been reported stolen. On asking the driver what's up, he'll say some guy have it to him, but didn't explain why. "Huh?" the cop will say. "Some guy gave you a new BMW, and you didn't ask any questions?" I have the same feeling about Bishop Stephen Scarlett. In fact, a year ago I sent Bp Scarlett an e-mail that said in part,

[T]he St Mary of the Angels legal situation is winding down in favor of the parish’s elected vestry. The ACA has never had canonical authority under its canons to remove or appoint vestry members. It never had authority under California corporation law or the parish bylaws to remove or appoint vestry members. It attempted to do this, as well as to excommunicate many in the parish, in April 2012. Two California courts have already ruled that the elected vestry is the legal corporate board of the parish. The elected vestry never hired Williams. Any money paid to Williams was never authorized. Williams was never hired as parish rector by either the illegal ACA-appointed vestry or the legal elected vestry. At best he is only a curate.

[T]he biographical profiles for you and your assisting priest at the St Matthews web site make it clear that you believe a priest should have a seminary degree. Williams never attended seminary and at best has a Master of Fine Arts degree. My exposure to him suggests that he probably is less well informed about Christian theology than an average candidate for confirmation. It now appears that even the ACA is having its reservations about him.

I’m puzzled, if you’re providing any sort of assistance to this individual, what your reasons might be. It seems to me that this is a very fluid situation, and any involvement on your or St Matthews’ part with either Williams or the ACA could have a potentially very controversial impact. Depending on what sort of assistance you’ve provided to Williams or the ACA, you could also involve yourself, your parish, or individual parishioners in legal trouble, as the elected vestry of St Mary of the Angels observes its fiduciary responsibility to recover damages.

Scarlett never replied to this e-mail.

I suppose a low-key call from Fr Kelley to Scarlett might go some way to determining how willing he might be to return the books and possible other items transferred to St Matthews Anglican. A number of items that were Fr Kelley's personal property, including books, were never released to him by the squatters when they seized the parish, although he identified them clearly and requested their return. It's possible that some, especially the books, might have been included in what went to St Matthews and Bishop Scarlett.

Unfortunately, when someone says "continuing Anglican bishop", I get a certain definite mental picture. We'll have to see if Bp Scarlett confirms the expectations I've built up.