"We ask you, our Executive Council, to make a public report of how much money the Episcopal Church has spent in recent years on court costs and attorney fees in these extensive litigations. In what budget is it accounted for? Has any income from trust funds been used to support these litigations? How much and from which funds?

"How much compensation has the law firm of the Episcopal Church's chancellor, David Beers, received, for servicing this litigation? An open and transparent disclosure is crucially important to avoid speculation, rumors and consequent distrust of the Episcopal Church."

The four bishops went on to protest the recent actions of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. "Leveling charges and threats of litigation at four dioceses of the Episcopal Church constitutes an outrageous example of exacerbating rather than reconciling the divisions in this church." The Episcopal Church is already involved in expensive lawsuits in Los Angeles, Virginia, Florida, San Diego, New York and elsewhere. Now the Executive Council is threatening even more legal action against four dioceses that affirm their membership in the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

"They are trying to keep unity in their dioceses by declaring in their constitutions that they will abide by the doctrine and practice of the Historic Catholic Church and to Holy Scriptures."

The four bishops then ripped church leaders saying that many formerly faithful Episcopalians, congregations and individuals have chosen to depart and affiliate elsewhere, including in other Anglican Provinces. "Some of you might not care about this tragic daily hemorrhaging of the life blood of the Episcopal Church, but we grieve over it. By litigation you may win possession of some buildings and land, but you will never get the people back by the most potent litigation that money can buy.

"The Episcopal Church has the capacity to bankrupt and destroy all of the congregations and dioceses that dare to meet the Episcopal Church in court. But that will not get the people back."

A recent March 2007 revision of the church budget did reveal some outlays by the national church.

The following payments were acknowledged: * Canonical legal costs originally budgeted at $100,000, are now estimated at $800,000.

* Corporate legal costs originally budgeted at $170,452 are now estimated at $362,611, an increase of $192,000.

* In 2006 canonical legal costs were about $874,000 versus the $800,000 budget in 2006. $100,000 was budgeted as of the Jan. 2006 Executive Council meeting. Final costs are yet to be known. Total legal costs increased roughly $900,000 versus the original estimates as a result of "2006 experience". It is not broken out how much was paid to David Booth Beers' law firm. That figure is not known.

A source from the Church Pension Fund told VOL that rumors and talk that the CPF is being raided to pay litigation costs is untrue.

"I don't think there is any chance of a raid on the Pension Funds assets for this purpose - even the liberals on the board would not permit that. The central church has no access to Pension Fund monies whatsoever."

When phoned at his law firm, Goodwin Proctor in Washington DC, and asked how much to date his law firm had been paid by the national church in pursuit of the 11 Anglican churches in Virginia, David Booth Beers told VOL, "I don't talk to the press". He then hung up.

END