Subject:  RE: doctorate
Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 15:11:45 -0600
From:  "Webmaster" <webmaster@cacina.org>
To:  "purnhrt" <purnhrt@flash.net>
 
 
 

Ms. Olenick:

I have referred this matter to our Presiding Bishop, whose tenure as a
member of our Synod of Bishops predates my own by many years.

Mr. Trimm has contacted me and stated that he received the degree he cites
from a seminary run by someone who is no longer a bishop of our Church.  It
is completely proper for a bishop to conduct a seminary to prepare
candidates for ministry within CACINA for his own diocese.  It is also legal
in a civil sense to do so.  However, there was no national seminary for
CACINA in the period in question, and any action taken by the bishop was
done on his own recognizance.

The claims made regarding that seminary, that it was authorized under
CACINA's Canons are, to a degree, correct, in that the bishop was authorized
to conduct training for his clergy candidates.  He was not authorized to
offer academic degrees in the absence of appropriate licensing by the
secular government.

Only the secular government can authorize an educational institution to
grant academic degrees, such as a doctorate in an academic discipline.
Seminaries must be licensed by the state to offer a degree, but do not need
licensing to merely train clergy candidates.

If the former bishop claimed that CACINA authorized, by its canons, that he
grant academic degrees, he was wrong.  None of our Canons authorize that
act.  Neither do they forbid it.  Rather, the local bishop conducting
training for his clergy, if he wants to offer academic standing for that
training, must seek licensing from the secular government.Any degree awarded
would be, of its very nature, honorary since it lacked license to be issued.

I have no knowledge whether the seminary cited by Mr. Trimm had the
necessary credentials to offer academic degrees.  I was unaware of its
former existence until now.  I suggest that you contact the Department of
Education for the state in which the degree was offered to determine whether
the necessary licensing was accomplished.

I also point out that there is a difference between being licensed of offer
academic degrees by a state, and an institution of education being
accredited by the agencies recognized for that purpose by the US Department
of Education.

The bishop in question left CACINA due to a dispute in December, 1995.  We
have no knowledge of his current whereabouts or his actions since leaving.
Indeed, he did not keep the rest of the Church informed of his activities
while he was a memnber.

I suggest that, in all probability, Mr. Trimm has the documents that he
claims to have.  The degree of their meaning and usefulness I leave to your
decision.  I cannot comment on it.

Bishop Kelly

-----Original Message-----
From: purnhrt [mailto:purnhrt@flash.net]
Sent: Sunday, August 06, 2000 1:01 PM
To: Webmaster
Subject: Re: doctorate
 

Bishop Raymond Kelly,  James Trimm, for years, has been ambiguous
about the source of his doctorate. No organization or individual that he has
ever sited, knows of where this so called seminary is from.

An incident occurred about a month ago, in which I did some investigating
into
the statements that James Trimm posted at several forums and even started a
website, under the name of Rabbi Yosef, advocating the Book of Mormon. The
woman who knew this to be true, through a phone call, was called a liar and
a
slanderer by James Trimm and the vice-president of his organization, SANJ-
Society for the Advancement of Nazarene Judaism. This all occured earlier
this
year.

About a month ago, I received forwards from a forum, where people were being
rude to this woman and demanding that she put up the proof or shut her
mouth.
Out of curiosity, I decided to see if there was any proof linking the two. I
found it right away, by using DNS numbers from the posts of Rabbi Yosef and
James Trimm. They were the same. Not only did he post as Rabbi Yosef, but
also
as Yosef Liahona and Steve Cohen. All the posts under these names outright
advocate the BoM.

So I wrote the evidence up and posted it to the forum involved. My post was
not
allowed by James Trimm, who owns the forum. So I sent all the information to
the Beit Din that he created, who he said he was accountable to. The next
morning I received an e-mail from James Trimm admitting that he had posted
as
Rabbi Yosef and other names, but said that it was for academic reasons, and
that he was a member of the Religious Crisis Task Force, and he would
"infiltrate" various forums, seeking to prevent other Waco's from happening.
He
sited his doctorate and that he had special hours for this type of research.

I contacted Dr. Phillip Arnold in Houston. He said that the Religious Crisis
Task Force was basically dormant, but could be resurrected if an agency
called
on them for help. He also stated that James Trimm was not doing that work
for
them, but it had to be for his own studies.

So I have been seeking the source of his doctorate. I received an e-mail
from
Professor John Tvedtnes at BYU, stating that he checked this out over a
ayear
ago and found that it came from a diploma mill. I got an e-mail from Dr.
James
Tabor, from University of North Carolina, at Charlotte, who said that James
did
not have a doctorate and he had warned him to stop saying that he did. That
if
he had a certificate, it was probably from a diploma mill.

I have written to James Trimm, asking him the address of this seminary and
he
refuses to answer. Other people, including Mikha'el Calpino, who wrote to
you,
have also asked him. He refuses to answer. Then when I posted this
information
to my site, calling him to accountability for his numberous lies and
slander,
he sends out an e-mail to his lists, stating that it is from y'all. But
again,
does not list any addresses to verify this information. So I am writing to
see
what can be found.

If you would like to see what he wrote about his connection with y'all, you
may
see it at this location.
http://home.flash.net/~purnhrt/truth/settingstdoc.html
If you have any other questions, I would be more than happy to answer them.
Kathryn Olenick

Webmaster wrote:

> Ms. Olenick:
>
> I have replied to a similar inquiry from Mr. Trimm and to a Rav Mikha'el.
> None, including yours, has included the courtesy of an explanation of why
> you are seeking this information.
>
> Before I comment further, I believe it appropriate that I be informed as
to
> what is prompting this inquiry.
>
> In general, we could not comment further on this under the present
> circumstances.
>
> Bishop Raymond Kelly
> Chancellor of CACINA.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: purnhrt [mailto:purnhrt@flash.net]
> Sent: Sunday, August 06, 2000 10:12 AM
> To: webmaster@cacina.org
> Subject: doctorate
>
> I am writing to confirm some information that I received. I was told, by
> a James Trimm, that he received his doctorate from, "An Ecumenical
> Seminary of the Catholic Apostolic Church in North America. Which is the
> authentic representative of The "Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira"
> (the Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil)" He states that the name of
> the Seminary is the St. John Chrysostom Theological Seminary, and lists
> a Bishop Don De Cordova as the executive for that seminary. Can you tell
> me if you have this seminary as part of your organization, and how can I
> reach it (such as an address and phone number) and if a doctorate was
> earned by a James Scott Trimm, in Semitic Studies. I'd also like to know
> how to reach the Bishop Don De Cordova. Thank you so much for your time,
> and any information you might be able to provide. Kathryn Olenick