A longtime priest at one of the country's largest and mostprominent conservative Anglican churches has been fired forrepeatedly using a church computer to surf for pornography, anofficial at the Fairfax City church said.
The Rev. Marshall Brown was associate rector at Truro Church,whose clergy members helped lead 14 Virginia parishes to break awayfrom the Episcopal Church after the 2003 election of thedenomination's first openly gay bishop.
With more than 1,200 members, Truro was one of the biggestparishes in the Episcopal Church, the American province ofAnglicanism.
Truro's rejection of what its congregants saw as a non-biblical,liberal tilt in the denomination made international news. Dozens ofEpiscopal churches have since joined an umbrella group of religiousconservatives who oppose the acceptance of same-sex relationshipsand the idea that non-Christian religions have equal access to God.
In 2005, Truro arranged for Brown, now 57, to receive treatmentfor an Internet addiction after he reported having a problem,according to Bishop Martyn Minns, who was Truro's rector at the timeand is now bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America,the umbrella group of breakaway churches.
Minns, one of the leaders of Anglican conservatism, said in aninterview this week that in 2005, he didn't ask his then-assistantfor details about what kind of sites he was using - sexual orotherwise. The addiction experts who treated Brown told Minns that"there was nothing illegal or involving children," but beyond that,Minns said, "I didn't ask too many questions."
Then, last month, Brown was removed for accessing "Web sites thatwould be considered pornography," Truro Executive Director WarrenThrasher said.
Minns, who has known Brown since the two were in seminarytogether in the 1970s, said he is now launching an investigationinto what happened and whether Brown should be stripped of hispriestly credentials.
"Part of my thing now is to dig deeper," Minns said. "I wasassured [in 2005] that he had a program for whatever he needed notto be addicted, and it was no longer a problem. I don't know now,based on what's happened, how much I can trust those assurances."
On Dec. 19, between two Sunday services, church leaders held ameeting to talk to members about Brown's firing.
Parishioners were told to direct any questions from outsiders tothe church leadership. A few, who did not want their names used forfear of being ostracized, said they were concerned that theaddiction of one of their top clergy members had been kept quiet foryears and that specific details had still not been given. Otherssaid they felt that the matter was dealt with properly.
"That's why you have a vestry. You pick them and invest in themand expect them to do what's right," said Ernie Wakeham, 70, amember from Oakton. "I think it's appropriate to not say details.That's something in my viewpoint that's between him and God."
Minns said Brown "is in shock" and is getting treatment again.
Reached at home this week, Brown said he deeply regrets the wayhis tenure at Truro ended and the way his actions have affected hisfamily and church.
He declined to go into the specifics of what happened, but said,"The church, Bishop Minns, they've treated me fairly. If I were adenominational leader, I would do exactly the same thing."
Brown had been at Truro for about 10 years. As one of threeassociate rectors, his position focused on pastoral care for peopledealing with illnesses or other struggles, Thrasher said. He alsoworked to support Truro's Bible study groups at parishioners' homes."There are some who feel churches are sometimes overly vindictive.Every one of us makes mistakes," Thrasher said. "We're in theprocess of trying to figure out how to make this a restorativeprocess for him."
Thrasher said that the discovery of Brown's use of pornographyprompted the church to look at all its computers and that anotheremployee was found using sites "with suggestive names." Truro calledthe Fairfax City police, who took that computer. Police Sgt. DanGrimm said that there was an ongoing investigation but that itwasn't clear whether any crime had been committed.
Truro is one of nine Virginia congregations enmeshed in a complexand costly legal fight with the Episcopal Church and the EpiscopalDiocese of Virginia over church properties, which are worth tens ofmillions of dollars. The most valuable are Truro and the FallsChurch, both large, historic properties.
The legal conflict has split into two cases and has involvedmultiple appeals over who controls property when a church splits,what role the state should play in determining how churches aregoverned and other questions. The next phase of the legal battle isscheduled for April.
boorsteinm@washpost.com
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