Letter to Owen Williams

A copy of a letter from Fr Kelley to Owen Williams, formerly pastor and bishop-in-residence at St Mary of the Angels during some of the time the ACA-Bush group held the premises, has been made available to me. This was mailed on March 17, 2016, and according to the Postal Service, delivered on March 18, although the return receipt has not come back. To date, there has been no reply.

Dear Owen,

As you were never named in any litigation here, I address you directly in matters of concern. This is “pastor to pastor.”

As you know, the California Court of Appeal ruled that our duly-elected Vestry is the lawful body. The Superior Court also found in our favor, as you know; and the Court ordered the Sheriff to restore us to the property. Much mischief has been done by your partisans, by misrepresentations of me according to their fantasies, by slander and worse. 'Bearing false witness' is a crime before God. The fact is, this Parish left the DoW in November, 2010, and entered the Patrimony of the Primate, which continues to this day, uninterrupted. On Saturday, February 5, 2011, we were “disowned” by the ACA, when its Chancellors unanimously ruled that the PoP (being a foreign entity) was “outside the ACA Constitution.” That ruling is legally correct. The Court of Appeal made a similar ruling. This means that all efforts of Strawn and Marsh to contradict their own Chancellors are null and void. The fact is, the method they used to re-insert themselves, by means of a long-contrived fraud using the IRS, was an interstate criminal conspiracy. You deserve to be told the Truth, as I do now to you. You are warned.

The upshot of this is that the missing Parish Register is not yours. It must be returned at once.

Likewise, the Relic of the True Cross, observed & accounted in the Sacristy as recently as the Summer of 2013, is also to be returned forthwith. [If this was gone before your arrival, do so inform me.]

I am not accusing you personally of these acts in violation of God's Commandments, but in case you know of the Perpetrators, you may need to remind them, sternly, that 'Stealing' is forbidden by God.

Among my treasured volumes is Sir Henry Spelman's 1637 text, The History & Fate of Sacrilege. It was 'too hot' to publish in his lifetime. It first saw print in 1691 – yet the Printer kept his anonymity even then! It detailed the horrendous curses visited upon leading English families that had received monastic lands. It was republished by “two priests of the Church of England” in 1841, to mark the return to the Church of the grounds of St Austin's Abbey in Canterbury. {One of them is now known to be John Mason Neale, of blessed memory.} It first saw print with the name of the publisher & final editor in the 1890s! It catalogues the historic consequences of stealing from the Church. Sacrilege is not an offense unpunished by Almighty God. Even the pagans knew this, as Sir Henry demonstrated. How much the more should Christians be attentive & scrupulous in such a grave & sacred matter.

I would remind you, again, of the stolen copy of my 17th C. printing of the complete Ecclesiastical Polity of Richard Hooker – which might be among the books taken from the rear Library. Stolen goods. And, in case you had not otherwise been informed, the yellow wagon that was atop the kitchen stairs is the personal property of John & Jackie Yeager. One of your charges apparently made off with it, & should return it to them.

With good wishes & prayers for your Gospel ministry among a notoriously hard-hearted & errant flock,

/s/[+ Christopher P Kelley]

My own view is that poor Williams is now 60 years old, apparently unwanted at his last parish back in Rochester, NH, and ejected by the sheriff from St Mary of the Angels. A typical "continuing" bishop, he is without formal ecclesiastical education, and his prior work experience ranges from creative writing teacher to lumberyard manager to ski instructor. It would appear that the "continuing Anglican" racket has run its course for him as well, but he has no choice but to avoid giving offense to Mrs Bush or Presiding Bishop Marsh. As a result, he will do nothing, as any move to restore stolen property, or urge anyone else to do so, would provoke them unnecessarily.

I'm wondering if the Armchair Detective over at the Freedom for St Mary of the Angels site might get in touch with his law enforcement contacts once again. The ACA, as I've said before, redefines passive-aggressive. On the other hand, while the powers that be at the ACA All Saints Fountain Valley parish ignored my warnings that their interim, Robert W Bowman, had a child pornography arrest, Bowman miraculously moved on soon after I brought the arrest to the attention of the Fountain Valley police.

Law enforcement may have some good advice to offer in this situation.