By Jonathan Dube

NEW MILFORD -- CITING CONCERN for his parish, the Rev. Bruce Jacques formally resigned Monday night as rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in the face of allegations that he sexually propositioned a 13-year-old boy.

As the state diocese searches for a replacement, it still will investigate the charges. A diocesan official said yesterday the diocese has reported the allegations to the state Department of Children and Families, which state law requires it to do. Department spokesman David Dearborn said law forbids him to discuss the case.

Distraught parishioners, meanwhile, have begun coping with the loss of their leader. Sad, some grieve. Angry, some continue to profess Jacques' innocence. Still others see the resignation as a new beginning for St. John's, an opportunity to erase the deep scars the allegations have left.

"It was something that had to be done," parishioner Eric Sawyer aid. "In the situation, it was the best thing, I feel, for the parish."

"We simply need to accept the fact that he's resigned and move on," Warden Herb Walling said.

The healing process began Sunday, when Bishop Clarence Coleridge, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, met with parishioners to counsel and comfort them.

"You need to know that people throughout this diocese care for you and are praying for you," Coleridge told the 150 parishioners who came to the special meeting. "... What we hope to communicate to you is our concern for all who have been affected, to offer resources for healing and restoration of order. I and the diocese will not leave you comfortless."

The diocese is providing a parish support team to counsel parishioners. The trained counselors, who were introduced to the parish Sunday, include the Rev. David Parachini of the Litchfield Hills Regional Ministry; Barbara Blodgett, a diocesan consultant; and the Rev. Richard Mallory, a Greenwich psychotherapist.

Until an interim rector is named, probably within a month, the Rev. Canon Richard Tombaugh will lead services. Tombaugh, an assistant to Coleridge, said choosing a permanent replacement will take about a year.

Despite protests from some parishioners, Jacques submitted his resignation to the vestry Monday. Two weeks ago, he announced his intention to do so, saying the charges had unsettled the church community and that staying on as rector would be futile. But even though some parishioners started a petition drive to block the resignation, the vestry, the church's governing body, accepted it.

"It's about time," said the father of the boy whom Jacques allegedly propositioned. "This type of situation never should have occurred in the first place and it never should've taken this long to rectify. But I don't feel that justice has been done yet."

He said he still wants the diocese to admit the incident happened, apologize to his family and the church and unfrock Jacques, who is still eligible to work as a priest elsewhere.

Jacques couldn't be reached for comment; a woman answering the door at his house yesterday said he wa,sn't home.

The allegations that led to Jac ques' resignation were first made in June, when the boy's father told Coleridge the 46-year-old Jac,ques had offered his son oral sex as a confirmation gift earlier that month. The News-Times is not nam ing the family because of the nature of the charges.

In September, both Coleridge and Jacques acknowledged the comments made to the boy were "inappropriate," according to a Sept. 13 letter Coleridge signed. But the bishop decided Jacques, who has worked at St. John's for 10 years, could remain as rector of the Main Street church as long as he undergoes "rehabilitation," the letter says.

The diocese announced a formal investigation of the charges last month after the allegations became public. In the following weeks, diocesan offficials spoke with the boy and his father for the first time in nerson and then reported the allegations to the Department of Children and Families.

When Coleridge spoke to parishioners Sunday, it was the first time he'd spoken publicly about the allegations.

"Immediately upon receiving this allegation, I met with Father Jacques to present him with the allegation," Coleridge said. "I then had him undergo an extensive evaluation with a trained therapist. I further informed the wardens that there was an allegation and immediately had them set in place a policy that clergy or adults in the parish would not meet alone with children or teens.... We are in the midst of an investigation. There are other interviews to complete before we come to a conclusion."

At the meeting, Coleridge declined to comment on the investigation. But he answered other questions from parishioners, many of whom expressed sympathy for Jacques.

"We all feel for Bruce," Sawyer said. "But Bruce and his family have been hurt by his own actions. It's really the boy and his family who are the victims."

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