Lawsuits appear imminent in St. Thomas Fifth Avenue meltdown

Sources inside the Diocese of New York (DioNY) tell Anglican Watch that multiple lawsuits appear imminent in the meltdown involving sexual assault, shunning, defamation, retaliation, and more at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue. The lawsuits will be filed against both the parish and the Diocese.

Once the church of the Vanderbilts and other pillars of the Gilded Age, the church has consistently drawn on investments to cover massive deficits over the past 40 years. Meanwhile, the Saint Thomas Choir School appears to be on the brink of closure, even as it tries to outsource its academics. And even now, the church spends lavishly on paid vacations for clergy, choir travel, and more.

The problems at the church aren’t limited to money. In recent years, we’ve seen a meltdown in accountability, integrity, and Christian compassion towards others at St. Thomas, including:

• Parishioners routinely getting barred from the campus because they filed complaints of sexual harassment or assault. In other words, retaliation.
• Clergy engaging in egregious boundary violations with parishioners, including sexual misconduct via unwanted touching.
• An unwillingness by the parish to establish normative behaviors of respect, kindness, compassion, and concern for other.
• The presence of a resident pornographer, Erich Erving, who lives in a church-provided apartment in the Choir School building.
• Defamatory smear campaigns, typical of persons with narcissistic personality disorder, against anyone who questions whether St. Thomas’ really is a little slice of stained glass paradise.
• Issues with confidentiality, with Canon Carl Turner recently breaching violating express requirements to maintain confidentiality.
• An abject lack of common sense and basic human decency on the part of St. Thomas Chief Operating Officer, Vicar Matthew Moretz.

In other words, St. Thomas’ is a hot mess.

Things are every bit as bad at the diocesan level, where judicatories are reactive, versus proactive, on safe church issues. Additionally, the Diocese’s implementation of the Title IV clergy disciplinary canons can best be described as “seat of the pants,” and lacking in urgency or accountability.

Anglican Watch is monitoring the relevant local clerks of court and will post the lawsuits as soon as they are filed. We remain available to plaintiffs’ counsel to answer questions or provide assistance on Episcopal polity and the requirements of Title IV.

As to parishioners, our advice is simple: Cut your losses. If you think that you’ve been there long enough that these issues won’t affect you, or you give enough money to insulate yourself, you’re wrong. Spiritual growth is highly unlikely when you are swimming in a cesspool of ethical filth and corruption.

Meanwhile, the next few months should be a wild ride. And yes, Anglican Watch will share the details, every inch of the way—including information on the positive role of Opus Dei in all of this!

Stay tuned.