JULY 23 - NOTES

It is Monday, 23 July. It is time to pause and take stock of the schism, particularly of the legal actions ongoing.

This Thursday, the 26th, Judge Edgard Dickson, of the circuit court, will hold a "status conference" with the lawyers on both sides at the courthouse in Orangeburg. Find a legal definition of status conference here . I do not know exactly what will be discussed but I assume it will be to plan out some sort of timetable about how to proceed with the various petitions before him.

According to my count, there are five outstanding petitions before Dickson, two from the Diocese of South Carolina, and three from the Episcopal Church in South Carolina. 

The two from DSC are:

1-November 19, 2017. "Summons" and "Complaint" claiming payments under the "Betterments Statute." This came two days after the state supreme court denied DSC's petition for rehearing. In this, DSC is demanding money payments from TEC.

2-December 27, 2017. "Motion to Establish Complex Case Designation." DSC is asking for a jury trial. Sorry readers, but I do not know the legal definition of "complex case designation." Find an explanation here .

The three from TECSC are:

1-December 15, 2017. Motion to dismiss DSC's complaint, under the Betterments Statute, of Nov. 19.

2-May 8 and May 16, 2018. "Defendants' Petition for Execution and Further Relief on Declaratory Judgments of the South Carolina Supreme Court and for the Appointment of a Special Master." TECSC is asking for enforcement of the SCSC decision of Aug. 2, 2017, including the appointment of a Special Master who would function as a manager of the transfer of the properties in question from DSC to TECSC control.

3-July 10, 2018. "Petition for an Accounting." TECSC is asking the court to appoint an accounting firm to survey and list the assets of the DSC since January 1, 2008 [Lawrence became bishop on Jan. 26, 2008]. 

Thus, Dickson has a full plate of pending legal actions before him. I suppose he could deal with these individually or combine them somehow since they all relate to one large issue, the disposition of the 29 parishes. I will relay news from the status conference as I receive it. I do not expect to attend the meeting but do expect to get an official report soon afterwards.

The matters in the circuit court, complicated as they are, are far from being the only legal issues pending. There is the federal court case active before Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court in Charleston. This is the case of vonRosenberg v. Lawrence in which the Episcopal Church bishop (now Skip Adams) is suing Mark Lawrence for violation of the Lanham Act which protects federally registered trademarks. Federal marks get precedence over state ones. In essence, TECSC is suing DSC for ownership of the pre-schism diocese which would be the legal rights, titles, marks, and all assets controlled by the Board of Trustees of the diocese. This would include the bishop's residence on Smith Street and the diocesan headquarters on Coming St. It would also include funds and endowments. I expect TEC will prevail in the federal court as it has in the state court. 

I imagine Judge Gergel will call a hearing soon to plan a schedule for proceeding with this matter. One can expect a "discovery period" before the trial. This allows the lawyers time to do their homework and take depositions. Usually discovery goes on for several months, perhaps six months. After that, there will be a formal court trial.

One should also recall that the Mediation process is still technically alive although probably practically dead. It is still open on the books. From last October to January, the two sides held three meetings that accomplished nothing. TECSC asked for a protocol for the Church bishop to meet with the 29 parishes. DSC flatly refused this. The talks ended. It is possible they could be revived although I see no sign of such.

What I do see is DSC putting out two glaringly contradictory messages to the 13,000 faithful in the 29 parishes that have been legally returned to the trust control of the Episcopal Church but are still being occupied by DSC clergy. On one hand, DSC is spreading the story that the Episcopal Church will not be getting the parishes back in the foreseeable future because the state supreme court ruling is unenforceable. They claim the decision is fatally unclear and inconclusive. Besides, they are saying they can erect road blocks in court indefinitely to forestall any possible transfer. This is all a lot of wishful thinking that flies in the very clear face of reality. Nevertheless, it is there.

On the other hand, DSC is preparing the people in the 29 parishes to move out of their church homes into alternate meeting places. This has been going on since last December when diocesan leaders issued a secret memo to the parishes outlining how to prepare for the evacuation of the buildings. Since then, DSC leaders have stepped up this initiative by demonizing the Episcopal Church. They conducted two "teaching" programs to differentiate DSC from TEC, that is, to identify TEC as apostate and heretical (mainly because of its support for same-sex marriage). They videotaped one series and distributed it to all the parishes. They have also accelerated a personal attack on Bishop Skip Adams implying that he would sell off the church buildings to Muslims. The obvious objective of the DSC anti-TEC campaign is to win over the hearts and minds of the 13,000 communicants of the 29 parishes. At the moment, DSC legally holds six parishes. In order for the diocese to remain viable in its mission to establish fundamentalist Anglicanism in the Lowcountry, it has to have a larger membership. Following the model of Bakersfield, DSC is apparently planning to move the anti-TEC faithful out of the church buildings into new quarters and continue functioning as a diocese. This is the only way DSC can survive in any significant way.

[UPDATE. July 23, 3:30 p.m. DSC just released an announcement of Bishop Lawrence's whirlwind tour of the diocese, five stops between July 31 and Aug. 9. Find it here . He will speak in Sumter, Walterboro, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, and James Island on "Mission." The blurb says "he will speak to some of the current events that sap our strength..." I think we all know what that means. Interesting that Lawrence had said nothing about "mission" until after the state supreme court and the U.S. supreme court ruled against him. As an extra jab at Adams, DSC is linking to the smear video and offering a handy transcript of it. What today's announcement really tells us is that DSC is desperate to keep people from returning to TEC.]

Now, I would like to offer a comment to my readers in both camps. For those of you in the 13,000, I understand your dilemma and my heart goes out to you. I think there are three groups in the 29 parishes, one steadfastly pro-Lawrence. Nothing can separate you from the DSC. A second group wants to return, however grudgingly, to the Episcopal Church. Then there is a third group in the middle who really are not committed to either side. I expect a lot of you are confused, bewildered, disappointed, and sad. This has been a wild roller coaster ride. You put your faith in your leadership. It has not gone well. You may be wondering where God is. He was supposed to be on your side. You will soon face the choice of staying with the buildings and returning to the Episcopal Church or leaving the buildings and staying with Bishop Lawrence. Only you can decide that. No one has the right to tell you what to do. No one should demonize the other side. There is only one God; there is only one Gospel. What you do ultimately is between you and God. 

So many of my readers in TEC are also feeling badly. The question I hear all the time is, when is this going to be over? I wish I knew. TEC has won back the 29 parishes but DSC will drag out the implementation of the SCSC decision just as long as possible and make it as hard as possible for TEC to get the buildings back. This is clear. The reconciliation "conversations" of last week were a small step forward but actually only a small fraction of the 13,000 turned out. Reconciliation still seems so remote. I think it is helpful to put this in perspective. The move in DSC to separate from TEC started 35 years ago. Mark Lawrence was consecrated bishop 10 years ago. The schism happened 5 years ago. This unpleasantness has been going on a long time. I am afraid it still has quite a way to go. The end is in sight even if it is sadly far off on the horizon. It is there. Do not lose heart.

It is time to remind ourselves of the biggest picture of all, as in the words of one of my favorite hymns:

This is my Father's world,

And to my listening ears

All nature sings, and round me rings

The music of the spheres.

This is my Father's world:

I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas-

His hand the wonders wrought.

....

This is my Father's world:

O let me ne'er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the ruler yet.

This is my Father's world:

Why should my heart be sad?

The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!

God reigns; let earth be glad!