MEETING:

NEXT CPE MEETING:

Tuesday, July 15, 2008
7:00pm

St. Peter's Church
313 Pine St.
Philadelphia

Free parking is available in the St. Peter’s parking lot located at the intersection of 3rd and Lombard Sts. Lombard St. is one block south of Pine.

» Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania

» The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania

» The Matthews Report

THE CRISIS OF LEADERSHIP IN THE
EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA

• The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania’s Standing Committee asked the current Bishop, Charles Bennison, for his resignation in January 2006 due to concerns about financial mismanagement as well as the spiritual health of the diocese. To date, Charles Bennison has ignored repeated calls for his resignation from the members of his diocese.

• Presentment charges against Charles Bennison were filed unanimously by the Standing Committee with the Presiding Bishop on Monday, November 6, as reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday, November 8th.  Those charges include:
• “…in excess of $10 million of unrestricted net assets were expended without canonical authority and without the consent of the Standing Committee.”
• “A special audit of a sample of ‘unrestricted’ endowment funds was conducted by an independent auditor which concluded that substantial funds had been improperly withdrawn and used, and recommended that they be repaid.”
•  “The improper actions of Bishop Bennison…have created a total breakdown of trust within the Diocese.  The consequences of these improper actions threaten the present and future financial stability of all of the ministries of the Diocese of Pennsylvania and the people that they serve.”

• His administration has been responsible for the closing of nine churches in the diocese over the past four years, all of them “mission” churches in some of the most “in need” neighborhoods in the diocese.  A recent internal report noted that “59 congregations, or approximately 38 percent of our congregations, are at serious risk of closing in the next five years.”

• The general lack of trust in the current administration has included alleged cases of abuse towards members of the clergy as well as members of the church in the Pennsylvania diocese. 

• Charles Bennison is alleged to be an active participant in the cover-up of his brother’s sexual abuse of members of the Episcopal Diocese of California dating back to at least 1993. 

• These allegations were recently reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer in front-page stories on Sunday, October 29th, Wednesday, November 1st, and Sunday, November 5th. 

• Survivors and witnesses of John Bennison’s sexual abuse and Charles Bennison’s alleged cover-up conducted forums in the Pennsylvania Diocese last weekend, as reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday, November 5th, with members of the Standing Committee and others again calling for Charles Bennison’s resignation.

 

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