My profile of the Rev. Donald Armstrong is scheduled to run Sunday,  April 26, in the Gazette.  Please read it at gazette.com. 

Below are more of my interviews with Donald and Jessie Armstrong.  The highlight of the interviews is Don Armstrong’s response to my asking if his parish is a cult of personality.

But first,  here is a quick run down for those unfamiliar with the facts surrounding Armstrong. For everyone else, please feel free to skip down to the interviews.

Armstrong became rector of Grace Church, 631 N. Tejon Street, in 1987. By most accounts, he was a great leader at the church. In December 2006, however, he was placed on leave by the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado  for alleged financial misconduct. On March 26, 2007, his vestry voted to leave the church and join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, which is part of the Anglican Communion.

The CANA parish continued to worship at Grace Church, bringing about a law suit between the CANA parish and the diocese regarding ownership of the property . The diocese won the lawsuit on March 24, and the CANA parish, newly named St. George’s Anglican Church, moved out to worship  in a building in the Mountain Shadows area.

Since May 2007, the Colorado Springs Police Department has been investigating the diocese’s allegations that Armstrong engaged in financial misconduct of church funds. Detectives are expected to present evidence to the D.A.’s office before the end of June.

Below are edited excerpts of my in-person interview with Armstrong.

MARK BARNA: What’s your view of the financial misconduct allegations   against you.

DON ARMSTRONG: At the church we have consensus decision making. We talk things over, and when everyone thinks it’s a good idea, we go with it. Grace Church has always operated that way.

But then, at another point, people say, “Well, we don’t agree with that.”

BARNA: Some have said Grace Church became too centered around you. It became a cult of personality.

ARMSTRONG: They are here in spite of me. I am a Type A male, and that gets things done. But at the same time those kind of men aren’t warm and cuddly.

One of the things I do is split the preaching. One week Eric Zolner will preach, then Alan Crippen and me. I’ve tried to give space to others and limit my exposure so that people who didn’t like me or didn’t agree with me… . I wanted to limit my exposure so other clergy could come forth and shine.

My deal is not that my personality has held this place together. My deal is to keep my personality far enough in the back so that it doesn’t hurt anyone. It is the exact opposite.”

BARNA: Are you misunderstood?

ARMSTRONG: My job is not to be understood. My job is to understand. I don’t like to be perceived as a victim. I like to take responsibility for things. I take responsibility for the things I’ve said and done that has alienated people. And I would like to make amends with people on an individual basis of those I have offended.

BARNA: Some people are very angry with you.

ARMSTRONG: I get a lot of displaced anger, which clergy generally do get a lot of that. But on the other hand, what triggered that? Me. So I take responsibility.

There is this disparity between the priest’s own self-image and other people’s image of them. So you can offend sometimes and not even know it.

 Below are excerpts from my interview by email with Jessie Armstrong.

 BARNA: Don says he is a Type A personality, he gets things done. But he can also rub people the wrong way on occasion.

JESSIE ARMSTRONG: He is a loving and compassionate person who is willing to stand up for those unable to protect themselves from powerful and sometimes abusive people.

BARNA: What did you think when you first heard that the diocese was making accusations against Don of financial misconduct?

JESSIE: It was simply incredible and we knew where this came from and the motivation of those involved in this dishonest behavior. Mostly, we were surprised that people who proclaimed to be Christians would treat us this way. We were amazed that Rob O’Neill (bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado) seemed to be able to spread this of us around to those we thought were friends.

BARNA: What are Don’s greatest strengths?

JESSIE: He has many strengths, but one of the most amazing is his ability to forgive. He does not hold grudges and is always the first one to show how our Lord expects us to respond to mistreatment. We also admire his strength in the face of the three-year-long assault on our family.

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