[The Rev. Clancy] Nixon of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Ashburn echoed Oakes. “It’s a little bit like saying, ‘You can’t quit; I’m firing you.’ I quit a year and a half ago,” Nixon said. “The only thing this does is that it says I can’t have the same benefits that other priests do or other health care and pension benefits.<\/p>\n
“He has the power to do that and that bothers me, yeah. I wish he hadn’t felt it necessary to do that. We were partners in ministry for many, many years, and I don’t see the need for him to deprive me of assets. What’s up with that?”<\/p>\n
Nixon said Ashey of South Riding was not on the list because he was the first priest to leave.<\/p>\n
“Lee dealt with him under a different canon. That one deprived him of his orders in one step. Lee received such poor press for that, he decided to go another route with the rest of us,” Nixon said.<\/p>\n
“I wish they would stop suing my friends,” he added. “It’s ridiculous. We had a long process worked out over years and at the last minute the bishop pulled the plug.”<\/p>\n