MY LETTER TO
THE POST AND COURIER
The Charleston Post and Courier is biased in favor of the disassociated diocese, at least among the editors. They are quick to publish letters critical of the Episcopal Church and slow to publish those favorable. Thankfully, the paper's reporters are not biased. Adam Parker and Jennifer Hawes have done a stellar job of keeping us abreast of developments in an even-handed manner.
Putting my energies into my blog, I had not intended to write a letter to the editor of the P & C. Then, on November 5, 2017, the editors published an editorial on the front page of the Sunday editorial section entitled " End Church Dispute with Mediation." They said the breakaway diocese should be left with what it had taken from the Episcopal Church in spite of what the state supreme court had ruled. That was the last straw for me. That day, I put up a short blog piece, "Post and Courier Confused." It went viral on Facebook. Numerous people then asked me to write a response to be sent to the P & C. I did. I wrote the following and sent it to the editors. To my knowledge, they have not published any version of it. I am guessing they have no intention of publishing it. So, I will share it with you.
November 8, 2017
Letter to the Editor, or Op-Ed
THE POST AND COURIER
There is a great deal of misinformation and misunderstanding floating around about the Episcopal Church schism in South Carolina, and unfortunately, The Post and Courier has played a role in the misconceptions. As the author of the long and detailed A History of the Episcopal Church Schism in South Carolina, I wish to set the record straight.
On October 15, 2012, the leaders of the Diocese of South Carolina declared the diocese independent of the Episcopal Church. Fifty of the 71 local churches went along and claimed they alone owned the local properties. A minority of the old diocese remained in TEC. DSC sued TEC in state court for: 1-the ownership of the old diocese, and 2-local ownership of the parish properties.
The basic issues at stake are: 1-Does a diocese have the right to withdraw on its own from TEC, and 2-Do the local parishes own their own properties outright? TEC says no to both, DSC says yes.
On August 2, the state supreme court basically sided with TEC. It said TEC is an hierarchical institution and 29 of the 36 parishes in question remain under trust control of TEC and its local diocese. Local property is subject to TEC's Dennis Canon which holds that all parish property is held in trust for the Episcopal Church and its local diocese. DSC officially adhered to this Canon from 1987 to 2010. The majority of the justices ruled that once a parish acceded to the Canon, as the 29 did, it was bound by it, as akin to a contract. It could not abrogate the deal unilaterally. In fact, courts all over America have overwhelmingly recognized the right of the church and the diocese over local property.
Freedom of religion is not really the issue here. Anyone is free to practice whatever faith he or she chooses. Anyone can leave any church at will. He is not free, however, to violate the institutional laws he had promised to obey. This is what DSC and the 50 local churches tried to do in 2012. They violated the laws of the Episcopal Church. They had no right to do that.
TEC is not now and has never been a congregational church. A parish exists only in context of the diocese. A diocese exists only in context of the Episcopal Church. Sovereignty rests in the church as a whole, not separately in the local parts, although parishes and dioceses have a good deal of control over local matters.
TEC is a unitary body of 109 dioceses governed by a bicameral legislature called the General Convention. Resolutions and canons of the GC apply to all dioceses equally. A diocese is not free to nullify church laws. A diocese is not free to leave TEC except by action of the GC. A local church is not free to own its own property outright, even if it has a deed. DSC was well aware of this all the while before 2012. In 2012, it tried to change the rules on its own. Now, the court has overruled this. Whether the mediation will reach a mutually agreeable settlement remains to be seen.
The fact is, as the court has shown, St. Philip's and 28 other churches remain under control of the Episcopal Church and its local diocese. There are 13,000 communicants in these 29 churches who, almost certainly, will soon have to choose whether to stay with the buildings and return to TEC, or leave the buildings and form communities outside. It is a hard choice, but a predictable one.
Ronald James Caldwell, Ph.D.
(Author, A History of the Episcopal Church Schism in South Carolina. Eugene OR: Wipf and Stock, 2017. 546 p.)
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November 8, 2017
Letter to the Editor, or Op-Ed
THE POST AND COURIER
There is a great deal of misinformation and misunderstanding floating around about the Episcopal Church schism in South Carolina, and unfortunately, The Post and Courier has played a role in the misconceptions. As the author of the long and detailed A History of the Episcopal Church Schism in South Carolina, I wish to set the record straight.
On October 15, 2012, the leaders of the Diocese of South Carolina declared the diocese independent of the Episcopal Church. Fifty of the 71 local churches went along and claimed they alone owned the local properties. A minority of the old diocese remained in TEC. DSC sued TEC in state court for: 1-the ownership of the old diocese, and 2-local ownership of the parish properties.
The basic issues at stake are: 1-Does a diocese have the right to withdraw on its own from TEC, and 2-Do the local parishes own their own properties outright? TEC says no to both, DSC says yes.
On August 2, the state supreme court basically sided with TEC. It said TEC is an hierarchical institution and 29 of the 36 parishes in question remain under trust control of TEC and its local diocese. Local property is subject to TEC's Dennis Canon which holds that all parish property is held in trust for the Episcopal Church and its local diocese. DSC officially adhered to this Canon from 1987 to 2010. The majority of the justices ruled that once a parish acceded to the Canon, as the 29 did, it was bound by it, as akin to a contract. It could not abrogate the deal unilaterally. In fact, courts all over America have overwhelmingly recognized the right of the church and the diocese over local property.
Freedom of religion is not really the issue here. Anyone is free to practice whatever faith he or she chooses. Anyone can leave any church at will. He is not free, however, to violate the institutional laws he had promised to obey. This is what DSC and the 50 local churches tried to do in 2012. They violated the laws of the Episcopal Church. They had no right to do that.
TEC is not now and has never been a congregational church. A parish exists only in context of the diocese. A diocese exists only in context of the Episcopal Church. Sovereignty rests in the church as a whole, not separately in the local parts, although parishes and dioceses have a good deal of control over local matters.
TEC is a unitary body of 109 dioceses governed by a bicameral legislature called the General Convention. Resolutions and canons of the GC apply to all dioceses equally. A diocese is not free to nullify church laws. A diocese is not free to leave TEC except by action of the GC. A local church is not free to own its own property outright, even if it has a deed. DSC was well aware of this all the while before 2012. In 2012, it tried to change the rules on its own. Now, the court has overruled this. Whether the mediation will reach a mutually agreeable settlement remains to be seen.
The fact is, as the court has shown, St. Philip's and 28 other churches remain under control of the Episcopal Church and its local diocese. There are 13,000 communicants in these 29 churches who, almost certainly, will soon have to choose whether to stay with the buildings and return to TEC, or leave the buildings and form communities outside. It is a hard choice, but a predictable one.
Ronald James Caldwell, Ph.D.
(Author, A History of the Episcopal Church Schism in South Carolina. Eugene OR: Wipf and Stock, 2017. 546 p.)
