Long Island Episcopal Bishop Faced Presentment Charges If He Did Not Step Down

Special Report

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
Sept. 22, 2009


Sometime in May, Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, made a phone call to Orris G. Walker, the Bishop of Long Island. In a no holds barred conversation she told the bishop, a man who has been in and out of rehab for years with serious drinking problems, that he was out, finished as bishop, and that any attempt by him to hold on for three more years following the election of a new bishop would invite canonical charges.

Specifically she informed Walker that he had better bow out gracefully and fade away, or the House of Bishops would formally look into the voluminous charges against him, not the least of which were his numerous cases of failure to comply with the canonical visitation to parishes.

Walker took the conversation to heart and reluctantly agreed.

For years, Walker and his diocese have been plagued with sexual scandals chronicled in Penthouse magazine, Standing-Committee mandated forensic audits for misuse of his diocesan credit card, constant financial failures, and numerous closed parishes. The list is endless. Any and all critiques of his ministry were struck down with the bloody shirt of racist allegations.

At the end of May, the clergy received an e-mail, announcing that Bishop Walker was on an extended leave of absence, and that the Rt. Rev. David Joslin, retired Bishop of Central New York, would serve as interim, until the consecration of the Rev. Lawrence C. Provenzano. "It was obvious to most of us that Walker had yet again fallen off the wagon," a source in the diocese told VOL.

Two subsequent official e-mails and letters confirmed this, going so far as to state that the Ordinary would not be at the consecration of Provenzano, because his treatment could not be paused. Several clergy had known, through personal interviews, that the Standing Committee had retained a priest/attorney to compile a file on Walker as a wedge against his taking advantage of the canon, which would allow him to remain in charge for three full years after a coadjutor election. The department of budget also voted in a stealth vote of no confidence. They informed Walker that they would only be planning on six-month salary for him, after his successor's consecration.

Walker was angry, but he had no option but to comply.

Enter Jefferts Schori. Her message was simple. Bow out gracefully (a message incidentally Bishop Charles E. Bennison is not heeding), we'll throw a banquet in your honor and you can retire in peace.

The source in Long Island told VOL that cure after cure noted that they would receive an official episcopal visitation for perhaps every four, six, or even eight or more years. He never showed. "The latter situation is somewhat like the old vaudeville quip about the sleazy restaurant, where the food was rotten and the portions were too small. The real issue is who wanted him to show up anyway"?

A final insult to Walker came when he was informed by Jefferts Schori that Bishop Joslin would indeed be "the Bishop" until Provenzano's consecration. Walker would not even be permitted to write checks - he was out, plain and simple.

When approached by "Newsday", Joslin put the best spin on the situation saying, "There has been some conflict. Most dioceses have that." He added that Walker is "exhausted. He's tired and he wants to take some time off . . . This job is exhausting."

In January of this year, VOL broke the story that Walker could face Presentment if he stayed beyond the election of a New Bishop. http://tinyurl.com/9deqkm

The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Long Island hired an attorney to investigate Walker on the grounds that his continued stay beyond the March election of a new bishop will hamper the new bishop's ability to function.

VOL was told that the bishop was on medical leave and will not return to his post till February. The Rev. Richard Brewer, president of the Standing Committee, told VOL. "He did not turn over ecclesiastical authority to the Standing Committee. He will be back in six weeks."

Rumors have abounded that Walker has AIDS. In 2007, a "New York Times" writer asked the bishop if he had AIDS. The bishop would neither confirm nor deny it. Walker is an alcoholic. He has, in the past, improperly used funds from his diocesan accounts, tried to broker back into the church a sodomite priest who appeared in Penthouse magazine under an article titled, "The Boys from Brazil", and sold off properties, accumulating millions of dollars as a war chest for the diocese.

VOL learned that a number of persons have stepped forward to say they are unhappy with any extension of Walker's time in the diocese after the election of a new bishop coadjutor.

Under Canon law, Walker is entitled to stay for three more years. This clearly angered many in the diocese who have viewed his tenure as a disaster.

At the time, Brewer told VOL there was nothing in the Standing Committee's discussion to indicate a possible presentment, but he didn't rule it out either.

Walker's attorney would not speak to VOL due to client privilege relationship concerns.

It has been an interesting ride for Long Island Episcopalians, especially for the orthodox (mostly Anglo-Catholic with some evangelical) parishes and their priests, said the priest. It has been a living hell for most of them.

One priest who asked to remain anonymous wrote saying, "I am originally from the Diocese of Long Island, and the son of a retired priest there and I am just happy that this person is about to get kicked out. He has pulled some real stunts during his tenure that sickened many, and caused some to change denominations. My cousin sat on the search committee of St Johns, Ft. Hamilton, Brooklyn, NY. This is an historic Church that was very conservative. When they called a new priest Walker denied them and installed his buddy from Detroit - who was later arrested for selling drugs out of the Rectory. He systematically got rid of almost every conservative priest in the Diocese, or threatened them in one way or another. There were many that really regretted choosing him within a year of his becoming the Diocesan."

Walker is history. A banquet "celebrating the life and ministry of The Rt. Rev. and Mrs. Orris G. Walker, Jr." is being thrown to usher in the 143rd Annual Diocesan Convention of the Diocese of Long Island, and also to hand over the reins to the newly consecrated Bishop Coadjutor Lawrence Provenzano.

Said a priest to VOL, "What a strange sort of event it will be, the main honoree is perhaps the most disgraced bishop to serve the American Church in memory."

VOL note: For fear of retribution all sources for this story must remain anonymous, VOL believes the sources here to be credible.