Edward Morrissey

:"For the radio host: Ed Morrissey"

Edward Morrissey is the second ex-husband of Rev. Mary Manin Morrissey who pled guilty to money laundering and using funds from his wife's New Thought church, Living Enrichment Center, for personal expenses. Edward Morrissey was sentenced to federal prison for his crimes. He was released on February 2, 2007. [ [http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=IDSearch&needingMoreList=false&IDType=IRN&IDNumber=68625-065&x=33&y=23 Ed Morrissey inmate listing] ]

In a 2004 e-mail to "Willamette Week", Steve Unger, Mary Manin Morrissey's attorney, wrote that Mary Manin Morrissey and Edward Morrissey had committed commingling, and that "the finances of [the] LEC, New Thought Broadcasting, Mary Morrissey and Ed Morrissey were treated not separately, but as a kind of 'financial family.'" [ [http://wweek.com/story.php?story=5101 Willamette Week's "The Profit Margin" cover story] Retrieved August 30, 2006] In 2005, Edward Morrissey, a CPA and the former CFO of Living Enrichment Center, pled guilty to money laundering and using church funds for the personal expenses of himself and his wife. [ [http://www.religionnewsblog.com/11010 Edward Morrissey pleads guilty to taking millions from church] Retrieved July 30, 2006] After a year in prison at Terminal Island, in August, 2006, Edward Morrissey was transferred to a Portland, Oregon halfway house. Edward Morrissey was released from the Portland halfway house on February 2, 2007. [ [http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=IDSearch&needingMoreList=false&IDType=IRN&IDNumber=68625-065&x=33&y=23 Ed Morrissey inmate listing] ] Both Mary Manin Morrissey and Edward Morrissey have injunctions against them, prohibiting them from heading or being agents in non-profit organizations. Both are also prohibited from selling securities. [ [http://www.cbs.state.or.us/external/dfcs/news_releases/morrissey.pdf Oregon State Corporate Securities Announcement] Retrieved August 29, 2006]

Marriage to Mary Manin

Mary Manin Boggs Morrissey Dickey was the founder (along with her then-husband Haven Boggs) and senior minister of Living Enrichment Center, a New Thought "mega-church" in Wilsonville, Oregon with a congregation estimated at 2,000 to 5,000 members. Edward Morrissey married Mary Manin Boggs (thereafter known as Mary Manin Morrissey) in the mid-1990s, and shortly after the marriage Edward Morrissey became the CFO of the church. In the October 16, 2006, "Oregonian" article "Forgiveness, for minister, starts with self", staff writer S. Renee Mitchell indicated that Mary Morrissey and Ed Morrissey have divorced. Mitchell wrote, "When the smoke cleared, Morrissey — who had once cozied up to the Dalai Lama and other world spiritual leaders — was divorced, houseless and in debt for more than $10 million." [ [http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/11608899046060.xml?oregonian?ylccsrm&coll=7 Forgiveness, for minister, starts with self] Oregonian article, retrieved October 16, 2006]

In the summer of 2004, Living Enrichment Center closed amid a multi-million-dollar financial scandal. Though both Edward Morrissey and Rev. Mary Manin Morrissey were listed as defendants in many lawsuits filed by former members of the congregation, it was Edward Morrissey who eventually pled guilty to money laundering and using church funds for the personal expenses of himself and his wife. Edward Morrissey was sentenced to federal prison. To this day, Rev. Mary Manin Morrissey claims that she had no knowledge of her husband's illegal use of church funds. Edward Morrissey has claimed the same.

:"In fairness to Mary Morrissey, it's not implausible that she was mislead by her husband about the church's finances – and it's worth noting that she maintains some real support among the folks who got burned.... But those details come back to suggest other possibilities: 1) that we're dealing with a true cult, one that was devoted to the enrichment and aggrandizement of Mary Morrissey until it collapsed (sub-clause on #1 includes the possibility that Ed's under her spell); 2) a more practical 'conspiracy' that assumes that Edward Morrissey took the fall because his wife's the one who can go on the speaking tours to pay off creditors." – [http://myverybrain.blogspot.com/2005/04/mbb-intersection-of-spirituality-and.html The Intersection of Spirituality and Fleecing]

Notes

ee also

* List of convicted religious leaders

External links

* [http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=IDSearch&needingMoreList=false&IDType=IRN&IDNumber=68625-065&x=33&y=23 Edward Morrissey's entry at California Bureau of Prisons website]
* [http://www.religionnewsblog.com/category/779 Religion News Blog index of articles regarding Edward Morrissey]
* [http://myverybrain.blogspot.com/2005/04/mbb-intersection-of-spirituality-and.html "Intersection of Spirituality and Fleecing"] blog entry by Jeff Bull regarding the plea bargain struck with Ed and Mary Morrissey wherein Mary Morrissey did not serve time in prison.

Corporate Securities findings regarding Morrissey investigation

* [http://www.dfcs.oregon.gov/enforce/morrissey_complaint.pdf Complaint]
* [http://www.dfcs.oregon.gov/enforce/morrissey_judgement.pdf Consent Judgment]
* [http://www.dfcs.oregon.gov/enforce/morrissey_convenant.pdf Covenant]

Willamette Week articles about Living Enrichment Center

* [http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3021/4930/ Forgive Us Our Debts? A local megachurch finds itself in mega-trouble.]
* [http://wweek.com/story.php?story=5101 "The Prophet Margin" (cover story). Mary Morrissey's megachurch is $20 million in debt. Can she pull off a resurrection?]
* [http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3032/5171/ Praise the Lord and Pass the popcorn]
* [http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3107/5843/ Forgive Us Our Debts ... and lead us into bankruptcy]
* [http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3041/5399/ The Enriching Quiz: Megachurch finances still puzzling.]
* [http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3123/6210/ Nostradamus-Style Reporting]