The situation at St.Thomas, Fifth Avenue, the storied church home of the Astors and other Gilded Age pillars of society, is going from bad to worse. Specifically, Anglican Watch has heard from several individuals who report sexual abuse and harassment, as well as spiritual abuse. We believe at least two will forward their complaints to law enforcement.
Meanwhile, Anglican Watch sent Bishop Heyd a series of questions about the recent arrests at the church. Predictably enough, Heyd ignored our inquiries, as did his Canon to the Ordinary. We include a copy of the questions at the bottom of this post.
To be clear, silence is never golden in these situations. Those whose actions are above board should have no issue discussing their conduct.
Moreover, Heyd apparently has barred the victim from all churches in the Diocese, which he legally lacks the authority to do. And he has allegedly initiated a smear campaign against the victim, sending a potentially defamatory letter about the victim to all clergy in the Diocese. Defamation per se, anyone?
Heyd’s actions are almost certainly a violation of the Title IV clergy disciplinary canons, which under Canon IV.3.1(e) forbids:
discharging, demoting, or otherwise retaliating against any person because the person has opposed any practices forbidden under this Title or because the person has reported information concerning an Offense, testified, or assisted in any proceeding under this Title.
Meanwhile, we reassert our previous position: Any adult allegedly arrested for sexual misconduct, as purportedly happened in the case of Fr. Mark Schultz, a St. Thomas employee, has no business around children associated with the choir school. Or anyone else in church, for that matter.
Compounding things is that Heyd is refusing to follow the provisions of Title IV, and apparently actually endorsed in writin the alleged sexual misconduct.
The Diocese has purportedly hired an investigator and reopened the Title IV case in this matter, but at this point, the damage has been done.
Specifically, the Diocese has caused additional trauma to the alleged victim and demonstrated to all involved that it has learned nothing from the #churchtoo movement. Additionally, it is painfully obvious that Bishop Heyd and the St. Thomas vestry/wardens are incompetent and unethical. The place is nothing more than a badly run museum with a (faltering) music program, versus a spiritual home.
Indeed, this is one of the most appallingly badly handled sexual misconduct/Title IV cases we have ever seen, and we won’t be brushed off with the typical Episcopal excuses of “mistakes were made” or “I don’t really have the authority to do anything.”
If neither the St. Thomas vestry nor Bishop Heyd can address alleged sexual abuse, but instead resort to blaming the purported victim and engaging in retaliation, they are both useless and irrelevant. Thus, it’s time to sell off the real estate and call it quits.
Meanwhile, we’d be very reluctant to allow children, the elderly, or other vulnerable persons to participate in any St. Thomas activities, including the choir school. And if the police investigation turns out as we believe it will, all involved must be fired from church employment and, in the case of clergy, defrocked. That includes Bishop Heyd.
We’d also point out that pornography, including drawings, has no business on church property. Thus, we are deeply concerned about the allegations about Fr. Mark Schultz’s husband’s alleged artistic endeavours, and the bishop needs to bar him from all church properties.
After all, the Bishop seems to like barring people, so this is his chance.
Finally, if this matter reaches the intake officer for bishops, Barb Kempf, let’s hope she takes the matter seriously and doesn’t sandbag the case.
As a reminder, neither the intake officer nor the reference panel have any fact-finding authority under the canons. The ONLY role of the intake officer is to interview the complainant, identify potential pastoral responses needed, identify possible witnesses, and then ask the question, “Assuming the matters complained of to be true, would they constitute material violations of church canons?”
From there, the intake officer prepares a written report, which goes to the Reference Panel. The ONLY role of the reference panel is to decide how to refer the matter for possible resolution; the panel also has no fact-finding authority.
Thus, if the matter reaches Kempf, we expect her to follow the canons to the letter. If she cannot or will not, she must resign.
Simple as that.
Reminder: Victims are encouraged to contact NYPD police detective Caraballo at (212)694-3000 or via email at An*************@**pd.org with any information that may be helpful.
Here are our questions to Bishop Heyd and Canon Alissa Newton:
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