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Court of Review finds Diocese of Dallas erred in process of deposing priest, calls for new hearing

April 06, 2026

[Episcopal News Service] The churchwide Court of Review has ruled that the Diocese of Dallas violated Episcopal Church canons in how it conducted a disciplinary hearing against a priest accused of stealing from his congregation, and has sent the case back to the diocese for a new hearing. The diocese is trying to remove the Rev. Edward Monk from the priesthood for allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from St. John’s Episcopal Church in Corsicana, a congregation he had served for two decades. Monk also faces felony charges in a criminal case scheduled for trial in July. A diocesan hearing panel concluded in May 2025 that Monk should be deposed. Most clergy disciplinary cases are settled at the diocesan level, but Monk chose to appeal the diocesan ruling to the church’s Court of Review, which heard arguments in December. The Court of Review was not tasked with determining Monk’s guilt, but rather whether the Diocese of Dallas’ disciplinary hearing panel properly followed church canons. It did not, according to the court’s ruling, contained in a 42-page document dated March 24. The ruling faulted the diocese for “the arbitrary exclusion of the Rev. Monk’s counsel,” who was participating in the hearing virtually but could not hear all of the proceedings, and for introducing evidence from Monk’s criminal proceeding without notifying Monk in advance. The ruling also criticized the diocese for producing “a shambolic and unreliable transcript and record of the hearing” that made it difficult for the Court of Review to review the proceedings on appeal. “Those canonical violations were highly prejudicial and require us to order a new hearing,” the Court of Review said. It provided a list of requirements for the diocese to follow for conducting a new hearing in Monk’s case. The ruling was signed by 13 of the Court of Review’s 18 members, including its president, Laura Russell, a lay leader from the Diocese of Newark. The Rev. Gregory Jacobs, a Newark priest, wrote a separate opinion concurring with the majority decision and also faulting the Diocese of Dallas for failing to properly specify the offenses Monk was alleged to have committed. The four other members of the Court of Review dissented, saying the diocese had not deprived Monk of a fair hearing, because he chose not to fully participate. “Unlike the majority, we believe that the respondent failed to participate in the hearing and is therefore entitled only to a much less exacting level of review,” the dissenters wrote. “Under that more limited standard of review we find that, despite the panel’s many procedural failures, the ultimate result was not ‘clearly wrong’ so as to require reversal.” Monk, 53, is charged in Navarro County Court with three felonies: theft of more than $300,000, use of someone else’s identity to commit fraud, and credit card abuse against an elderly victim. Monk began serving St. John’s in 2003. Police initiated their criminal investigation in July 2024, when St. John’s members reported suspicious financial activity. Separately, the Diocese of Dallas launched an investigation into the matter, and Monk was put on leave after investigators reportedly found he had opened unauthorized bank accounts and routed money to other accounts, obtained a credit card under a church treasurer’s Social Security number and “used this card to conduct a multi-year spending spree that included personal trips.” – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.