FAIRFAX, Va., Jan. 8 (UPI) -- A breakaway Episcopal church in the Washington area has dismissed a priest for using a church computer to look at pornographic Web sites, an official said.

Truro Church in Fairfax, Va., had one of the largest Episcopal congregations in the country until it joined 13 others in Virginia to form their own group. The parishes objected to the 2003 decision to consecrate an openly gay bishop.


The Rev. Marshall Brown had been an associate priest at Truro for a decade, The Washington Post reported Friday. He was in charge of ministering to members of the congregation dealing with illness and other problems.

Executive Director Warren Thrasher told the Post Brown was fired last month. He said church officials had learned Brown was surfing sites "that would be considered pornography."

Bishop Martyn Minns, head of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, said he has known Brown since seminary. He said Brown was treated in 2005 for Internet addiction and the church was told at the time that he was not doing anything illegal, including looking at child pornography.

Truro and other breakaway churches are currently involved in litigation with the Episcopal Church over their property.