FIVE BISHOPS WRITE SECOND OPEN LETTER TO THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

August 27, 2007

Last month, four of us wrote you to express our concern with your threats of litigation against four dioceses that affirmed their membership in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and to ask you to make a public report of the following:

1 ) How much money has the Episcopal Church spent on litigation against congregations and individuals who have chosen to depart TEC since 2003? What are the sources of those fun ds?

2) In what budget(s) are those expenditures accounted for?

3) Has any income from trust funds been used to support these litigations? If so, how much and from which funds?

4) How much compensation has the law firm of the Episcopal Church's chancellor, David Beers, received for servicing this litigation?

To date we have received no reply from you in any form to address our call for financial transparency. And we are now joined by another bishop who is asking the same questions.

This contentious issue is not something to be ignored in hopes that it will dissipate or be forgotten. Because you have not pulled the veil from this issue, conjecture as to where the money is coming from is almost limitless.

We ask you to answer these questions to demonstrate your compliance with Christ's call for us to be good stewards of the funds He has provided. You have a responsibility to the individuals who gave those funds in good faith to confirm that you are using them for their intended purposes to do Christ's work and spread His Gospel.

We raise these concerns because of past incidents of questionable financial decisions and financial mismanagement at the top echelons of TEC.

Last November, Bishop Stacy Sauls reported to the Executive Council that $25,000 had been made available to his committee on property disputes from the Church Pension Fund.

It was reported at that time that the money had not been spent, but it was made available. We have not yet been able to determine whether the money has been spent since then.

However, one must raise the question whether this might not violate either New York or Federal laws in regard to pension funds. It becomes critical that we (and the whole Church) know the conditions under which such an offer was made, and whether all or any part of the funds were spent for their intended purpose.

Our concerns about financial transparency are also founded in TEC's history of mismanaged funds. The lack of checks and balances that failed to prevent the embezzlement of $2 million from church accounts in the late 90's, the subsequent investigation by the State of New York, and the costs of the related legal fees are reasons for the church to avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing. Given the church's history, our concerns are not only relevant but require immediate attention. We await your response.

+ C. F. Allison, Bishop of South Carolina, Retired
+ Maurice M. Benitez, Bishop of Texas, Retired
+ Alex D. Dickson, Bishop of West Tennessee, Retired
+ William C. Wantland, Bishop of Eau Claire, Retired
+ Milton L. Wood, Bishop Suffragan of Atlanta, Retired