the Rev. Andrew Barasda, Jr., 1966 graduate of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, resigned from the priesthood in December 2002 after admitting underage sexual assault while serving in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland between 1966 and 1978. He was Episcopal chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania and rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Hamilton Village from 1994 to 1997. Barasda was rector of St. Mary of the Harbor Episcopal Church, Provincetown, Massachusetts from 1998 to 2002. He was a companion of the Oratory of the Good Shepherd, an international association of celibate Anglo-Catholic priests. Barasda also served as a probation officer in Washington, DC from 1971 to 1976; he resigned from his parish position at St. Stephen and the Incarnation in Washington over the ordination of Alison Cheek to the priesthood on account of her gender. He continued to be listed in the online Episcopal Clerical Directory until 2005.
Spotlight on abuse: Episcopal priest Andrew Barasda
Diocesan spokesman in 2002: “There have been just two similar abuse allegations in the past two decades.” How can taht be true? There was the Paul Lacharite case in Boston, the bishop’s suicide in 1995, the stuff with Frank Huntress from the Advent, boarding school staff in Massachusetts being sued up and down for stuff like this, the issues at Groton in the nineties.
https://casetext.com/case/rosseel-v-the-fay-school
https://www.wbur.org/news/2012/09/08/priest-abuse-4
https://livingchurch.org/2016/12/14/private-hell-school-abuse/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groton_School
Ann Fontaine, who was my editor when I wrote for Episcopal Cafe, had been a victim’s advocate early in her career. She told me that the volume was so overwhelming she had to quit to protect herself.
At the time, being very active in the church, I wondered about that statement. But later, with the editor’s approval, a published an article on e-cafe anonymously about non-sexual abuse. The flood of comments left no doubt as to the depth and breadth of the issues.
Oh, and true to form, Ann locked horns at one point with a bishop over these issues. Ann was nothing if not honest, so having a bishop wrangle with her speaks volumes about the church and its response to abuse.
BTW, I pulled all my content from E-cafe following Ann’s death when it became clear that the new editors would tolerate no criticism of TEC, regardless of its veracity.