It was a strange way to announce one’s resignation, I must admit.

On Jan. 5, the rector of the richest Episcopal church in the country was standing before his congregation in downtown Manhattan giving some rather banal parish announcements. Then, he added, he knew that some folks had heard that he was leaving and yes, this would be his last Sunday there. Comparing himself and his wife to the Mary, Joseph and Jesus trio in terms of being on the move toward Egypt (and away from Herod, one supposes), he said they were going to take a sabbatical and that he wished the church well.

It was clear that many in the church had no idea what was going on, including the choir that was awkwardly standing by, waiting to sing an anthem during the offering. (You can see all this go down in this video. Start at the 50-minute mark).

Episcopal News Service ran a brief announcement the next day:

The Rev. William Lupfer resigned as rector of New York’s Trinity Church Wall Street on Jan. 3 after five years leading one of the most influential parishes in The Episcopal Church.

In a brief letter to Trinity’s staff, Lupfer, 59, did not offer a specific reason for leaving, but Trinity spokesperson Patti Walsh said in an email that Lupfer is “discerning a new call outside of Trinity.”

Founded in 1697, Trinity was Manhattan’s first Anglican church. As a result of a land grant from Queen Anne, it owns 14 acres in lower Manhattan and has become a major real estate developer. It had a $6 billion portfolio as of February 2019 and acquired Church Divinity School of the Pacific, an Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, California, in March 2019.

About that $6 billion portfolio, here’s a very informative New York Times piece that ran about a year ago. While it’s not quite as much as the $100 billion Mormon slush fund I wrote about last month, it’s a lot of cash.