JUNE 11 --- NEWS
FROM THE CHURCH DIOCESE
Today, 11 June, we have two news items from the Episcopal Church diocese, the Episcopal Church in South Carolina.
1) The first item is the official announcement that TECSC is going to a full-time bishop. Find the news release here . On 23 May, the TECSC standing committee voted unanimously to 1-find a new full-time provisional bishop for the near-term, and 2-find a full-time diocesan bishop for the long-term. Bishop Adams has said he wants to leave his post as provisional bishop by the end of 2019. This does not allow enough time to put into place a diocesan bishop. The time required to get a "regular" bishop enthroned is between 18 and 24 months. Therefore, a new provisional bishop will have to be in place to fill the gap between Bishop Adams's term and the start of the diocesan bishop's term.
TECSC has had two provisional bishops, Charles vonRosenberg and Skip Adams. Both were retired diocesan bishops who generously agreed to serve temporarily in the part-time position of provisional bishop. The idea of a provisional bishop is one to serve for a couple of years until the diocese can become strong enough to have a regular diocesan bishop. After six years and two provisional bishops, TECSC has reached that point of strength. With that, the standing committee voted unanimously to go to a full-time bishop, first a provisional one, then a diocesan one. This is great news for the Episcopalians of eastern South Carolina.
2) The second item of news concerns litigation. Today, TECSC lawyers entered a "Complaint" in the United States District Court, Charleston, against the Church Insurance Company of Vermont, the insurance company serving the Episcopal Church in general, and the Episcopal Church in South Carolina in particular. See the TECSC press release about this here . Find the Complaint here .
CIC-VT declares that only churches affiliated with the Episcopal Church are eligible for coverage from CIC-VT. However, a breakaway parish, St. Philip's of Charleston, reported in 2019 that they had billed the CIC-VT for reimbursement of part of its legal expanses. Today's "Complaint" says: "Upon information and belief, CIC-VT made such payments of insurance proceeds to that Lawrence Parish Entity during the year 2018 and/or 2019 and/or other years with knowledge that it has claimed to be disaffiliated from TEC since 2012." In conclusion, TECSC is asking of the court: awards for general, compensatory, and punitive damages, attorneys' fees, and an accounting (of payments made by CIC-VT to Lawrence parishes). For all of this, TECSC is requesting a jury trial.
Apparently, the TECSC lawyers believe the CIC-VT paid claims to at least one Lawrence parish and part of the purpose of the Complaint is to discover how much was paid and to whom it was paid. The lawyers wrote: "...insurance company secretly, knowingly, and wrongfully made payments and misdirected insurance proceeds to the insured's disaffiliated adversaries to fund their litigation efforts against the insured and to aid and abet them in depriving the insured of valuable trust property that the policy was intended to protect and cover for the benefit of the insured."
No doubt, the insurance company will file a response to today's Complaint.
(NOTE. It was this blog that broke the news of St. Philip's action in regards to the CIC-VT. On March 6, 2019, I posted "St. Philip's Church Bills the (Episcopal) Church Insurance Company of Vermont." Find the posting here . However, I cannot take credit for discovering this strange incident. An eagle-eyed reader alerted me to St. P's annual report. So, thank you reader.
Scepiscopalians.com and I try hard to keep people informed of what is happening in the schism. We cannot do it alone. We rely on the help of a lot of people out there and we appreciate greatly the information and leads we receive. So, thank you readers for your support in what is really a community effort.)
Apparently, the TECSC lawyers believe the CIC-VT paid claims to at least one Lawrence parish and part of the purpose of the Complaint is to discover how much was paid and to whom it was paid. The lawyers wrote: "...insurance company secretly, knowingly, and wrongfully made payments and misdirected insurance proceeds to the insured's disaffiliated adversaries to fund their litigation efforts against the insured and to aid and abet them in depriving the insured of valuable trust property that the policy was intended to protect and cover for the benefit of the insured."
No doubt, the insurance company will file a response to today's Complaint.
(NOTE. It was this blog that broke the news of St. Philip's action in regards to the CIC-VT. On March 6, 2019, I posted "St. Philip's Church Bills the (Episcopal) Church Insurance Company of Vermont." Find the posting here . However, I cannot take credit for discovering this strange incident. An eagle-eyed reader alerted me to St. P's annual report. So, thank you reader.
Scepiscopalians.com and I try hard to keep people informed of what is happening in the schism. We cannot do it alone. We rely on the help of a lot of people out there and we appreciate greatly the information and leads we receive. So, thank you readers for your support in what is really a community effort.)
