
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 17, 1995                   TAG: 9502180044
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

CHURCH DISCOVERS THEFT

The Episcopal Church - already shaken by budget shortfalls, the recent suicide of a philandering bishop and dissension over ordaining homosexuals - says it has discovered evidence that its former treasurer stole tens of thousands of dollars.

The former treasurer, Ellen Cooke, moved to McLean, Va., last month when her husband became rector at the prominent St. John's Episcopal Church, whose 1,400 members include Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., and his wife, Lynda; Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., and former Sen. Malcolm Wallop, R-Wyo.; and former budget director Richard Darman. Cooke previously had handled financial affairs at the National Cathedral School in the District of Columbia and at the Episcopal diocese of Virginia.

Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning informed the church's executive council and staff in a statement Wednesday that staff members in the treasurer's office ``discovered evidence of certain irregularities in the management of the church's financial affairs'' after Cooke left her post Jan. 31. After lawyers hired by the church unearthed further evidence, Browning confronted Cooke and her husband, the Rev. Nicholas Cooke, at a meeting in Virginia Feb. 8.

Browning did not cite details, but several church sources said there was evidence that Ellen Cooke had used church money to pay for furniture, school tuition for her children and a $16,000 necklace from Tiffany's. Cooke and her husband referred all calls Thursday to Ellen Cooke's attorney, William Dolan, who did not return telephone calls.

While accountants from a private firm combed through records at the church's national headquarters in Manhattan Thursday, church leaders at an already-scheduled meeting in Rhode Island met in small groups to discuss the matter, including their fears for the integrity and reputation of the church.

by CNB