THE "ANGLICAN" CHURCHES 

OF BIRMINGHAM AL

After Andrew Pearson, the former dean, left the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham, Alabama, this week, invited his "friends" of the Advent to follow him out, and joined the Anglican Church in North America, I became curious about the non-Episcopal Church so-called "Anglican" churches in Birmingham. Just how strong is the ACNA in the area?

The first problem is in definition. "Birmingham" can refer to two things, the City of Birmingham and the metro area. The City is the core of a large, 50-mile wide urban region in central Alabama. The city limits hold about 200,000 people but the metro area contains well over a million people. 

The core city is surrounded by inner suburbs and outer suburbs, and nowadays exurbs linked by numerous interstate highways. For this matter, I will consider the city and the inner and outer suburbs.

The other problem is in defining "Anglican." For simplicity sake, we will consider the churches that call themselves "Anglican" whatever one wants to thinks about their right to the title (we will return to this).

Searching on Google, I found eight "Anglican" churches in the metro area. None of them was in the City of Birmingham. Five of the eight appear to be functioning congregations, the other three appear dubious. The Five:

1-St. Peter's Anglican Church. See their website . 3207 Montevallo Road, Mountain Brook, AL (an inner suburb).

Diocese of the South, Anglican Church in North America, Bishop Foley Beach. 

From website, appears to be highly evangelical, claiming "Biblical Teaching and Preaching" and defining "Outreach" as witnessing. 

The clergy are called "pastors": Bryan White, "Senior Pastor." CJ Ausmus, "Assistant Pastor for Families and Youth." 

The property was assessed in 2019 at $3.5m. It is a prominent spot on Montevallo Rd. a main artery of upscale Mt. Brook. Former home of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have passed by this place countless times going to and from the Zoo and the Botanical Gardens. As I recall, the "Anglicans" moved in here after the Bishop Gene Robinson incident of 2003 (Episcopal Church affirmed a non-celibate gay man as a bishop).

Apparently, St. Peter's is the largest and most important of the "Anglican" congregations of the area. Their last Sunday service (23 May) is on YouTube. There appeared to be around 50 people in the congregation.

Perhaps readers who know more about this church could fill us in on its origins and membership. 

2-Christ the King Anglican Church. See their website .

2250 Blue Ridge Boulevard, Hoover, AL.

As St. Peter's, in the Diocese of the South, Anglican Church in North America, Bishop Foley Beach.

Appears to be a bit more "liturgical" than St. Peter's. Calls clergy "Father." Rector: Fr. Michael Novotny; Curate, Fr. Daniel Logan; Fr. Ben Williams, Minister of Parish Life and Youth. 

Glaring error on website: "Christ the King Anglican Church is part of the global Anglican Communion." (will return to this)

3-Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd See their website .

101 Tony Holmes Drive, Pelham AL.

Pelham is an outer suburb south of the city.

This church is sort of in ACNA. It lists itself as part of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy, in ACNA, but under Bishop Derek LS Jones (who is also a bishop in the Anglican Church of Nigeria).

The Rector is the Rev. Andrew Brasher.

Appears to be quite evangelical, proclaiming "Biblical Faith" and "Evangelical Preaching." 

4-St. Bede's Anglican Church. See their website .

2350 Grants Mill Road, Irondale AL.

Founded in 1977 as a "1928 Prayer Book" church, in the reaction against the "new liturgy" of the late 60's-early 70's (now the TEC Book of Common Prayer). Uses only the 1928 BCP and the 1940 Hymnal. 

Claims to be the oldest "Anglican" church in Alabama.

Part of the Diocese of the Holy Cross, an independent entity, not part of the ACNA.

Vicar: Kyle Clark. Bishop: Paul Hewett, at cathedral of the Epiphany, in Columbia SC.

5-St. John's Anglican Church. See their website .

221 Kings Home Drive, Chelsea AL.

Chelsea is an outer suburb.

Part of the Reformed Episcopal Church, Diocese of the Central States. The REC is part of the Anglican Church in North America. This is the only REC church in Alabama.

Rector: Fr. Jon S. Houser. Bishop: Peter Manto.

Uses only the 1928 BCP.

I found three more "Anglican" churches listed but could find no details about them leaving their existence questionable.

6-St. Joseph's Anglican Church

7310 Cavern Road, Trussville AL (a northern suburb)

Rector: Rev. Edward Robinson

The ACNA website lists this as a church of the Diocese of the Living Word, under Bishop Julian Dobbs. However, the diocesan website does not list this church.

7-St. Matthew's Anglican Church. See website .

2565 Rocky Ridge Road, Vestavia AL.

The website gives no information about this church except to list a clergyman, Roger Salter. Apparently shares space in Grace Covenant Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist Convention church.

8-Christ Anglican Church

1953 Old Montgomery Highway, Hoover AL

Meets in Riverchase United Methodist Church. Service, Sunday at 4 p.m. No other info available.

Lists its membership in the Anglican Church in America. According to the Wikipedia article, the ACA is an "anglo-catholic" group of 65 congregations, 5,200 members, founded in 1991. Not part of the ACNA.

In sum, there are perhaps eight "Anglican" churches in the Birmingham area with numerous identities. Of the eight, five are affiliated with the Anglican Church in North America which is actually a widely varying (quarrelsome) union of churches bonded by social conservatism. White patriarchy excludes non-celibate gays from equality and inclusion in the church and keeps women in places of inferiority. As far as one can tell, all eight congregations are solid patriarchies. I could fine no instance of a woman in leadership.

The five ACNA churches are actually four different parts of ACNA. The ACNA "Diocese of the South" lists St. Peter's and Christ the King. The diocese of the Armed Forces has Good Shepherd. The Diocese of the Living Word has St. Jospeh's. St. John's is in the Reformed Episcopal Church. This means there are four bishops with jurisdiction in the ACNA churches of the Birmingham area.

There are two, possibly three, "Anglican" churches that are not part of the ACNA. St. Bede's, the oldest, is in the Diocese of the Holy Cross. DHC is an independent entity, not in ACNA. Christ Anglican Church is in the Anglican Church in America, likewise not in ACNA. St. Matthew's affiliation is unknown. This means there is a possible total of seven "Anglican" bishops with jurisdiction in the Birmingham metro area. 

Now, back to the term "Anglican." This is a word that these churches have incorporated in their titles by self-designation. The dictionary definition of "Anglican" is one who is in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury. In fact, the only Anglican denomination in the United States is the Episcopal Church. It alone is in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop has said repeatedly he is not in communion with the so-called Anglican Church in North America. He is certainly not in communion with the other splinter groups under various "Anglican" titles.

So, when Christ the King Anglican Church puts on its website it is part of the Anglican Communion they are wrong and they know it. This kind of dishonesty is unworthy of a Christian church. They could say something like "part of the worldwide family of churches in the Anglican tradition." This is closer to the truth. So, for instance, when Andrew Pearson left the Episcopal Church, he also left the Anglican Communion.

In his letter of last Monday, Andrew Pearson made it clear he intends to set up a new "Anglican" church in the Birmingham area. He invited some communicants of the Advent to join him. Since he joined the ACNA, we know it will be another ACNA congregation, presumably the third in the Diocese of the South. If so, this would make the ninth "Anglican" church in the metro area. Starting from scratch will be difficult. A new church would mean either land and new construction or moving into a vacated structure (as St. Peter's did). Either way, it will be expensive and challenging. 

One may disagree with Andrew Pearson and his views of religion, but I think we must wish him and his followers well on their journey of faith. We may choose different paths, but are not we all heading for the same destination? 

 

THE REV. CALEB LEE MOVING

TO WILMINGTON

News broke today that the Rev. Caleb Lee will become the rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, in Wilmington, North Carolina, as of August 1, 2021. Announcement was made on Facebook. Find it at Lee's Facebook page . See also the church's website .

Lee is presently a canon of the Grace Church Cathedral, in Charleston. He is also chair of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina and was prominent in the recent election convention of the diocese, on 1 May.

According to St. Paul's senior warden, their search committee recommended Lee on May 13 and he accepted then. 

Certainly, everyone at Grace, and in the diocese, will wish Lee well and offer their gratitude for service well done.

NOTES,  21 MAY 2021

Greetings, blog reader, on Friday, May 21, 2021. This is an opportune moment to make our periodic check on the crises and issues we have been following for a long time now.

PANDEMIC. According to our usual source, Worldometers, rates of COVID-19 are dropping in the world as a whole and in the United States although there are still countries where it is spreading as wildfire, as India and Brazil. The number of new cases in the world fell from 5,464,400 in the week of May3-10 to 4,754,120 in the week of May 10-17. The number of weekly deaths is falling as well, from 90,271 (May 3-10) to 86,540 (May 10-17). As of last Monday, 3,394,817 people in the world have died in the pandemic, all in the last year and a half. Pause and let that sink in.

Numbers are also improving in America. Figures for new cases are falling steadily. There were 296,340 in the week of May 3-10, then 240,170 May 10-17. The death rate is falling too, from 4,750 (May 3-10) to 4,335 (May 10-17). As of the 17th, 600,147 Americans have died of COVID-19. This puts the present pandemic on par with the great flu pandemic of 1918-19 although percentage wise it is still far less. 

South Carolina is also reporting steadily declining rates. New cases there dropped from 4,244 (May 3-10) to 4,076 (May 10-17). Still, more than 10% of the population of the Palmetto State has been infected by the coronavirus. Deaths fell from 72 (May 3-10) to 61 (May 10-17). As of last Monday, 9,653 South Carolinians have died of the virus. Charleston County, however, had an unsettling jump in new cases, 396 (May 10-17), up from the 270 of the previous week. Deaths remained at 3, the same as the earlier week.

Alabama also had an unnerving surge in new cases last week when it reported 9,095 (May 10-17), up from the 2,421 of May 3-10. The cause of this jump remains a mystery although it is known that AL is one of the most vaccine-hesitant states in the country with inoculation rates far below the national average. The state death rate remains nearly the same, 65 (May 3-10) and 60 (May 10-17). 

In the country as a whole, vaccination rates are soaring. As of 17 May, 37% of Americans were fully vaccinated. Signs indicate that the herd immunity rate of 70% is in sight. About 60% of the people have had at least one shot.

On the whole, there is every reason to believe the pandemic is on the down slope and life should be getting back to "normal" in most respects in the next few months.

LITIGATION. Still no word from the SC Supreme Court about the church case on the justices' desks. The last briefs were submitted two and a half months ago. Crickets. The longer this silence goes on, the more I think the justices will not hold a hearing and will render a written decision. If so, God only knows when that would be. We have learned not to hold our breaths with this court as they are not known for expediency. But, in this case we do not want speed over accuracy.

THE ADVENT. There has been a lot of news of late from the Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham, and I have been trying to keep up with it as I can. The former dean has left and has joined the ACNA promising to start a new congregation of people in Bham ("friends") pulled from the Advent.

A word to the people of the Advent: we are with you. You are indeed in our thoughts and prayers. This is a hard time. There is a great deal of understandable anxiety among the clergy, staff, and laity of this great parish. This is a time of flux. Uncertainty is always unsettling. My advice to you is to take a deep breath and be patient. Things are looking up. They will improve in God's own time. Your have outstanding leadership in the interim dean, Craig Smalley, and in the bishop, Glenda Curry. Trust them. They will lead you home.

Meanwhile, my sense is that people are anxious about life getting back to "normal." The last year was hard, in so many ways. Yet, we are here. We survived. Now, as summer arrives, I suggest we all take breaks and reconnect with the wonders of the life all around us. Just recently, I treated myself to two things I love the most, a trip on the train, and a visit to a new garden. Afterwards, I felt greatly refreshed and rejuvenated. On the train, I took a day-long ride, to and from, to visit my family in Bay St. Louis MS (Anniston Al-Slidell LA on "the Crescent"). 

I left all my cares on the platform, got a private room, put up my feet, put pillows behind my head and watched God's verdant creation glide past my window. Along the way, I closed my eyes and relived all those wonderful trips on the train I made as a child to visit my revered grandmother in Molino FL. The fantastic steam engines I knew then are now gone from the rails, but not from my mind.

Then, last Saturday, I spent the afternoon visiting a garden new to me, the Huntsville Botanical Garden, in Huntsville AL.

This is a serenely beautiful place which I enjoyed exploring for several hours on a perfect spring day.

I think we all need a break to reconnect with what is really important to us in life. The past year has been hard. No sense in pretending otherwise. We are still plagued with one crisis after another. We are not out of the tunnel even though the light at the end is getting brighter. So, I say, as always, we are here for the living of this hour. It was given to us even though we did not ask for it. We must make the best of it. Peace.

 

ANDREW PEARSON JOINS

ANGLICAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA

Andrew Pearson has been accepted as a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. This is according to Lauren Saddler Pearson, his wife. She posted this notice on her Facebook page this morning, 20 May:

"This week, Archbishop and Primate Foley Beach welcomed my husband into the priesthood of the Anglican Church in North America.

I love their core values: serving the marginalized, fostering diversity, partnering globally, planting churches, cultivating generosity and developing leaders.

Aslan is on the move! Luke 14:23"

OK, a couple points here. Is she talking about the Anglican Church in North America that we all know? "Serving the marginalized, fostering diversity"? 

Memo to Mrs. Pearson: The ACNA was set up in 2010 by homophobic bishops of equatorial Africa and fellow travelers in America in order to keep non-celibate homosexuals out of the church and to keep women in submission to men. This is the opposite of serving the marginalized and fostering diversity. So, perhaps she is talking about another group under the same name and led by the same "archbishop". 

Aslan, in the C.S. Lewis books, is a stand in for Jesus Christ. What does she mean by "Aslan is on the move"? Surely she is not referring to her husband as being Aslan.

So, on Monday, Pearson left as dean of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham. Same day he applied for a Release and Removal from Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. On Wednesday, Bishop Glenda Curry officially granted the Release and Removal. Somewhere in these three days, Foley Beach, archbishop of the ACNA, granted Holy Orders to Andrew Pearson. So now Pearson is officially a priest in the ACNA. That was fast.

Interesting that Lauren, rather than Andrew, Pearson would announce this to the world. If one noticed, in Andrew Pearson's letter of 17 May to his "Friends" inviting them to follow him into a new church, the pronoun was almost always "We." Although Pearson himself signed the letter alone, the text was all about "we" and "us" and "our." Lauren was mentioned by name three times. When Pearson invited friends to meet weekly and one-on-one, it was with Andrew and Lauren together, as if this will be a mom-and-pop church. Lauren featured as prominently in the letter as Andrew. 

Not knowing the Pearsons, I did a little Googling and found that she is quite a successful businesswoman in Birmingham. She is a Certified Financial Planner and "Managing Director, Partner" of Somerset Advisory, a financial advisory service that apparently caters to moneyed clients. Find their website here . The Pearsons have a million dollar house in Mountain Brook, per capita the wealthiest municipality in Alabama.

Lauren Pearson. Photo from the Somerset Advisory website.

So, Andrew Pearson is now in the Anglican Church in North America, the reactionary faction set against rights for and inclusion of gays and women in the church. According to his letter of the 17th, he will set up a new church (presumably an ACNA one) in the Birmingham metro area (1.5m pop.). He and Lauren have appealed for their "friends" at the Advent to follow them. I suppose only time will tell us how many of them will.

ANDREW PEARSON LEAVES

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

As of today, 19 May 2021, Andrew Pearson is no longer an ordained clergyman of the Episcopal Church. 

The Diocese of Alabama announced this today. Find it here .

On Monday, 17 May, Pearson officially petitioned the bishop of Alabama, the Rt. Rev. Glenda Curry, for a certificate of Release and Removal from the ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church. That evening, the bishop agreed to grant it.

The Rt. Rev. Glenda S. Curry, Bishop of Alabama

 

The official document of the Release and Removal is available in the announcement. It is dated today, May 19, 2021. This revokes Andrew Pearson's ordination in the Episcopal Church. He will no longer be able to function as an ordained clergyman in the Episcopal Church.

Pearson had been employed as a priest at the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham, AL, for the past nine and a half years, the last seven as Dean of the Cathedral and Rector of the parish. 

In his letter to his "Friends" dated May 17, 2021, Pearson had hinted at such. He said he would temporarily be a part of St. Peter's Anglican Church, in Mountain Brook, a congregation of the Anglican Church in North America. After that, he said he would be forming a new church of his followers and encouraged his "Friends" to join him.

Andrew Pearson has now officially left the Episcopal Church. It is hard to imagine this would be a surprise to anyone.

PEARSON TO START A NEW CHURCH,

Appeals to people of the Advent to follow him

Today (18 May), parishioners (unknown if some or all) of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Advent began receiving a letter sent yesterday from the former dean, Andrew Pearson. He appealed to the people of the Advent to follow him into a new church. We wondered what Pearson would do after he left the Advent. Now we know. Here is the letter (click on for enlargement):

Here are the salient points that I see:

---The letter is from Pearson and dated May 17, 2021, the day after his last day as dean at the Advent. He preached his last sermon there on May 16, 2021 (see on YouTube).

---It is addressed to "Friends." I am trying to find out if this letter went to all parishioners of the Advent or just certain ones.

---He is staying in the Birmingham area.

---He is leaving the Episcopal Church. Destination not identified but temporary residence in St Peter's, the ACNA church in Mountain Brook, an upscale suburb of Bham. St. Peter's occupies a prominent property on Montevallo Road vacated by the Mormons. A few blocks away in Mountain Brook stands St. Luke's Episcopal Church, one of the largest, wealthiest, and most important parishes of the diocese. 

---"our calling is to plant a church."

---This "church" is unidentified as is its affiliation.

---In the summer, Pearson and wife will gather weekly with followers. To his "friends" at the Advent: "consider joining us."

---Pearson and wife appeal to parishioners of the Advent for one-to-one meetings.

Thus, it is clear that Pearson's plan is to start a new church in Birmingham led by himself and peopled by "friends" from the Advent. He is reaching out to the parishioners of the Advent to follow him out. Yet, he gave no specifics of where he would lead them. The Advent has more than three thousand members.

I will provide more information on this as I receive it.

(Rev. Andrew Pearson)

It remains to be seen how this quasi-schism will play out. One interesting point is that Pearson cannot say he was driven out of the Advent by the Episcopal Church authorities. In fact, the past few Episcopal bishops of Alabama went out of their way to be lenient with him and the other clergy of the Advent. Some might say they went too far. Substituting one's own liturgy for the authorized services of the Book of Common Prayer is pretty serious. Bringing in clergy who did not have Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church is pushing the envelope a long way too. Nevertheless, the bishops next door in Carpenter House looked the other way on these and other eye-rollers in the Advent. 

What this means is that Pearson cannot now play the victim card the way Mark Lawrence and others who bolted the Episcopal Church did. In SC, Lawrence and his followers claimed he was mistreated by the national church, something that was untrue but still widely believed. The victimization theme in SC caused many parishioners of the diocese to rally around their supposedly beleaguered bishop. This was key in getting the majority of the people to go along with this illegal and illegitimate schism. Their testimonies in the 2014 trial spoke loudly to this. In the present case, Pearson does not claim, cannot claim, to be a victim of the Church. What effect the absence of victimization will have on the group dynamics around Pearson remains to be seen. It does seem that he is starting out with a rather weak claim for independence.  

PEARSON'S PARTING PUNCH

Yesterday, May 16, 2021, was Andrew Pearson's last day as the dean of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham, Alabama. He had been dean for the past seven years, following the terms of others from South Carolina, namely Paul Zahl and Frank Limehouse. 

The whole course at the Advent for the past quarter century has been to differentiate the parish from the Episcopal Church and define it as a semi-independent and highly evangelical church. So, as one will notice in yesterday's service, that is available on YouTube, the service was about as "low church" as one can get. Before the service, the congregation laughed and talked as if at a camp meeting. There was no solemn decorum. Neither was there a processional. The choir and clergy sat in the front. The altar was irrelevant as no one even recognized it let alone reverencing it. The ever-burning light, hanging near the organ, signaling the presence of the sacrament in the Ambry was extinguished, something that was strikingly ironic. I saw the sign of the cross one time, and that was from the lector layperson. The Confession of Sin was the very first item of the liturgy, but even then the clergyman offered a generic and passive absolution. The Gospel was read from the lectern. The congregational singing was a mixture of church hymns and apparent camp songs. The main feature of the service was the twenty-minute sermon. I do not know how much of this was covid related and how much long-term.

Pearson's sermon was based on the text of I John, supposedly in a series of sermons on this book. He spent most of his time railing about the difference between the divine Jesus ("God in the flesh") and the "false understandings" and "heresies" about Jesus. At one point he said that some people (unidentified) said the Advent was overemphasizing the importance of the Cross, something that he clearly believed would be impossible. Then came the highest eyebrow raise when he went on to talk about Satan tempting Jesus. He inserted this (at minute 48):

a recent conversation I had with a bishop, they asked me: Andrew isn't it better to believe a part of the Bible than none at all?

Then Pearson said he recalled James Chapter 2 as the demons shuttered when they denied Jesus.

Pearson did not name the "bishop" but I doubt it takes much imagination to figure it out. What I see in this is that Pearson implied that he himself believed all of the Bible while some church (Episcopal?) authorities did not. One can make whatever one wishes of this remark coming as it did couched in the context of his remarks about Satan's and the demons' knowledge of but ultimate denial of the true nature of Jesus. Perhaps we should give the benefit of the doubt that this was an unfortunate and inadvertent simile. 

It seems to me the take-away Pearson would have one make is that the Advent, and Pearson himself, follows the whole and true faith of the Bible while some other church people do not. At least, this is what I understood. 

What one sees at the Advent is vertical religion about as far as possible in the context of the Episcopal Church. Vertical is individualistic, one person and one God. God is an entity beyond in space, like us, only greater. He is all perfect and all powerful. The human being is by nature the opposite. He cannot save himself. He must be "saved" by this all powerful God. If one surrenders self to this far-off being, one gains the external positive to overcome the internal negative. Taken to extreme this becomes idolatry, one implores this all powerful force to save oneself from the doom that follows from human nature.

The opposite interpretation is horizontal religion. Horizontal is communal rather than individualistic. It sees God not as a remote anthropomorfic idol, but as the transcendent force of life in the universe. People were made in the image of God to be God's representatives in the world. Moreover, God gave humans Free Will and the knowledge of good and evil. It is the mission of human beings to enact good in the world. It was ironic that Pearson quoted James Chapter 2, of all Bible texts the strongest in favor of horizontal religion (faith without works is dead). 

A more familiar term for horizontal religion is the Social Gospel. The Episcopal Church has been thoroughly committed to the Social Gospel since the 1950's. This is what has caused the proponents of vertical religion in the Episcopal Church to have so much discomfort with the Church. They tend to believe the Church has gone too far away from what they see as the true nature and purpose of religion, the saving of lost souls. Whether the Episcopal Church became too extreme in its horizontal religion is a matter of debate. I for one do not think so. Obviously the schismatics and their fellow travelers think so. 

Where Andrew Pearson goes from here is to be seen. Rumor has it he might start his own church, or perhaps join one already established, in the Birmingham area. Starting a new church in Birmingham is highly problematical. Real estate in the city can be very expensive. Places in the far suburbs, and they stretch for many miles around the city, may be cheaper but less convenient. There are of course some vertical megachurches in the metro area. 

Most importantly, this is an inflection point for the Advent. After decades of evangelical clergy from the lowcountry pushing vertical religion in the parish, here is an opportunity to reflect on the nature and mission of this great parish, the largest in the diocese. The most hopeful sign is that the vestry has set up a committee to talk with Bishop Glenda Curry about ways to improve relations with the diocese and the broader church. Of course the people of the Advent have every right to follow an evangelical bent of religion but they do not have the right to make this parish into something beyond the recognizable limit of Episcopal and traditional Anglican religion. Anglicanism, broad that is is, does eventually have a bound beyond which one cannot go. This is the task of the Advent now: finding its identity. 

NOTES,  10 MAY 2021

Welcome, blog reader, on Monday, May 10, 2021. I suppose everyone has settled down after the bishop's election and is now in anticipation of the bishop-elect's assents from the bishops and Standing Committees and her consecration and ordination as XV of the Diocese of South Carolina, on Oct. 2, 2021. 

It is time to check in on the crises we have been following for over a year now. We will start with the pandemic.

PANDEMIC. The trends here are mixed. COVID-19 continues to spread in the world, but to decline in the United States. According to our usual source, Worldometers, in the last month, the world added 20m new cases, for a total of 159,029,697. Also in the past month, the world reported 400,000 deaths, for a total of 3,308,277 deaths in the whole of the pandemic, so far. The epicenter of the pandemic seems to be shifting from the U.S. to countries as India and Brazil.

Figures have been declining in the United States for the past few weeks. The numbers of new cases have dropped steadily every week for the past month, now at a total of 33,476,781. The numbers of deaths per week have also fallen steadily, for a total of 595,812. Last week, the U.S. reported its lowest weekly death toll since last year, at 4,750. 

Our local states are following the national trends. In South Carolina, new cases have declined every week for a month, for a total of 584,517 cases. Last week (May 3-10), SC reported 4,244 new cases, the lowest weekly number since last year. Likewise, numbers of deaths have declined. Last week, SC reported 72 deaths, for a total of 9,592. Alabama has also shown a steadily declining trajectory. Last week, AL reported 2,421 new cases, for a total of 530,988. This was a fifty percent drop in a month. Charleston County is also reporting constant declines in reported numbers. Last week, it listed 270 new cases, for a total of 43,111. A month ago, the county reported 533 new cases in one week.

Vaccinations are accelerating. As of today, 114,258,244 Americans are fully vaccinated. This is a bit more than a third of the country. In just the last three weeks, 30m Americans have been fully inoculated. However, experts say the country needs to reach 70% to have "herd immunity." We are only half way there. 

SCHISM. Nothing new on the litigation front. No word from the South Carolina Supreme Court. 

The last time the Church diocese appealed to the SCSC, the court acted promptly. On February 3, 2015, Judge Diane Goodstein handed down her sweeping judgment favoring the breakaway diocese. The next month (Mar. 24), the Church diocese appealed the decision to the SCSC. Less than a month later (Apr. 15), the SCSC agreed to accept the appeal and set a hearing date of Sept. 23, 2015. 

This time the SCSC is not so prompt. Judge Edgar Dickson issued his version of Goodstein's order on June 19, 2020. The next month (July 27), the Church diocese filed an appeal with the SCSC. The month after that (August 8), the SCSC agreed to take the appeal. The two sides filed their briefs from then to March 4, 2021. Now, more than two months after all the papers have been filed, there is still no word from the SCSC. The SCSC does not have to hold a hearing. The justices can rule directly on whether to affirm or reject Dickson's Order. The lapse of time since the SCSC agreed to accept the appeal leads me to suspect they may not hold a hearing but go to a written decision. If they do, there is no way to predict how long that may take. One may recall, somewhat wearily, that the last time the justices were in this situation, they took 22 months to issue a written decision. We have no choice but to wait on the slow wheels of justice to turn. After eight and a half years of waiting, we should all be used to waiting, and waiting...

Meanwhile, we have a diversion with the bishops' elections in both parts of the schism. The old diocese has made its selection. The new diocese is just starting the process. 

The new diocese, the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, has set up a Search Committee of 17 members, 12 men and 5 women (women have never been the majority on any committee of the breakaway diocese). The diocesan establishment controls this committee. It consists of 8 clergy plus Alan Runyan, the chancellor. This means 9 as opposed to the 8 lay people on the committee. One name not on the Search Committee is the Rev. Jeff Miller. He was on both the Search Committee and the Standing Committee when Mark Lawrence was chosen in 2006-07. Find the ADSC Search Committee here . 

According to the timeline , the list of nominees for bishop coadjutor will be published on August 1, 2021. The Walkabouts will be on or about 11 September. The election will be on 16 October. The ordination/consecration of the new bishop coadjutor is set for March 12, 2022. Upon Bishop Lawrence's retirement, the coadjutor will become the diocesan bishop.

It will be interesting to see the slate on nominees from ADSC. The Episcopal diocese had a diverse collection of five including two women, one African American man, and one openly gay man. We certainly will not be seeing diversity when the ADSC list comes out in August. We can safely expect all middle aged straight, white guys. Here is a picture of the ACNA bishops a couple of years ago. 

Of the 41 men here (women are not allowed to be bishops in ACNA), I count 3 "of color."

As all of ACNA, the selection of new bishops is authoritarian. The whole raison d'être of ACNA is to preserve (white) male power. Once a bishop-elect is chosen, he is not sent for approval of the majority of the bishops and Standing Committees as is the case in the Episcopal Church. No, in ACNA, only the College of Bishops acts, They must vote by two-thirds to approve the bishop-elect. The laity of the church and the Standing Committees have no role in approving a new bishop. This means that one-third plus one of the ACNA bishops can veto any bishop-elect. This rigid authoritarian system is meant to preserve the white patriarchy. The Anglican Church in North America was set up in 2010 to keep non-celibate gays and women from having equality and inclusion in the church. This was part of the social counter-revolution against the democratic revolution that swept America, and the Episcopal Church, in the late Twentieth and early Twenty-First Centuries.

Since the new diocese has a limited pool from which to choose, I expect the slate of nominees to be largely from the diocese itself. In fact, I think the new bishop will be someone prominent for years among this group, as the Rev. Jeff Miller, who was promoted from St. Helena's to St. Philip's, of Charleston, the plum rectorship of the diocese.

So, there is quite a contrast in the selection process of the Episcopal and the Anglican dioceses. While the old diocese moves boldly into the new democratic future and awaits its first female bishop, the new diocese will cling desperately to the old system of authoritarian patriarchy. This, in spite of the fact that the recent diocesan survey showed that the laity of the Anglican diocese are open to equality and inclusion for both gays and women. There is a gap in social views between the reactionary clergy and the ordinary people-in-the-pews of ADSC, even by their own evidence. One can only wonder where this gap will lead, but for now the authoritarians are in power and they will control the selection of the new bishop of this experiment in reaction. Nothing demonstrates the differences between the Episcopal and the Anglican dioceses of South Carolina better than the way they are going about choosing their new leadership. There is a stark contrast.

As always, we should remind ourselves we are here for the living of this hour, whatever it may bring. Peace.

A NEW DAY

FOR THE DIOCESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Yesterday was a perfect spring day at my house, blue sky, sunny, warm. As I strolled about my garden, I was enveloped in the new life of spring all around me, fresh green growth bursting forth, colorful flowers warmed by the loving sun, scents sent from heaven, and a singing choir of little feathery angels. It was a new day too for the Diocese of South Carolina. It chose a new bishop. This was the first bishop's election there in fourteen years. It was the first election in the history of the diocese to go to a woman. The diocese chose as its XV shepherd Ruth Woodliff-Stanley. A new day has dawned for the battle weary and long-suffering band of Episcopalian foot soldiers in the eastern half of South Carolina. A new commanding general is on the way. 

The Diocese of South Carolina is still in the worst crisis of its long and eventful history, at least since the Civil War, and arguably ever. When the majority of clergy and laity bolted the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of South Carolina in 2012, they purported to take the diocese and most of the local properties with them. They claimed the entity of the old diocese, all but a handful of parishes, and the diocesan camp, St. Christopher. They immediately sued in court claiming ownership of these. They declared legal war against the Episcopal Church on Jan. 4, 2013 and have been fighting fiercely since. That is more than eight years of combat. It is no wonder the Episcopalians of South Carolina are exhausted and longing for a return to "normality." Everyone has battle fatigue.

The two large legal issues are still unresolved, even after all this time. One is the ownership of the entity of the diocese. The federal district court in Charleston ruled in 2019 entirely in favor of the Episcopal Church and issued an injunction forbidding the schismatics from claiming to be in any way the pre-schism diocese. The breakaways then filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals. At present, there is a stay. The appeals court will take up the matter after the South Carolina Supreme Court issues its decision.

The second large legal issue is the ownership of 29 parishes and Camp St. Christopher. In 2017, the South Carolina Supreme Court awarded these to the Episcopal Church diocese. However, the circuit court, which was directed to implement this decision, reversed it and declared that the Episcopal Church did not own the parishes and the camp. The Church diocese appealed to the state supreme court. At present, we are awaiting word from the court on whether they will hold a hearing, or just issue a written decision. They could uphold the 2017 SC Supreme Court decision; or, they could leave in place the circuit court order. If they leave in place the circuit court order they will be establishing the precedent that a lower court can overturn a decision of the state supreme court, something that at the very least defies common sense.

Unless the courts act before then, this is the state of matters that Bishop Woodliff-Stanley will walk into in October when she is consecrated the XV bishop (she has to be affirmed by a majority of bishops and Standing Committees first, surely a formality). She will have her hands full. By all the indications she gave in the bishop's search, she will hit the ground running with fresh vigor. I am envisioning Joan of Arc (or perhaps Ruth of Mississippi). The beleaguered forces still fighting in the trenches should take heart. New leadership and a new day are just ahead. It is springtime in the Diocese of South Carolina.

ANDREW PEARSON RESIGNS AS DEAN OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF THE ADVENT, BIRMINGHAM AL

The wardens of the Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham, Alabama, John Hargrove and Jay Ezelle, have sent a letter to the parish announcing the resignation of the Very Rev. Andrew Pearson as the Dean. His last Sunday of service will be May 16, 2021.  (Click on the image for enlargement.)

The letter is undated. I received it on 28 April. The theme of the letter is "tension." "Andrew has discerned that the ongoing tension he feels serving in the Episcopal Church makes him no longer able to serve as the spiritual leader of the Advent." 

The letter goes on: "Although the Advent has its own tension with the Episcopal Church, we are hopeful that the new leadership of Bishop Glenda Curry has provided an opportunity to build a foundation for a continued and generational peace between the Advent and the Diocese. Accordingly, the Vestry of the Advent appointed a team to talk with Bishop Curry to find a better, amicable path forward while protecting the essential attributes of the Advent." 

Thus, the letter identifies two kinds of tension: Pearson and Episcopal Church, and Advent and the Diocese of Alabama. Obviously there was tension between Pearson and the Vestry but this the letter does not identify. 

In a sense, the Cathedral Church of the Advent has been an extension of the pre-schism Diocese of South Carolina, and not necessarily in a good way, for the past twenty-five years. The last three deans of the Advent came directly from the Lowcountry and its predominantly evangelical milieu critical of social changes in the Episcopal Church. When the Advent became the diocesan cathedral, in 1982, the parish was known as a "mainstream" or non-controversial parish. This changed in the 1990's. 

In 1995, the first of the three South Carolina evangelical deans arrived. Paul Zahl was dean of the Advent from 1995 to 2004. He had been rector of St. James Church, James Island, Charleston. Zahl was quite a powerful intellectual and charismatic presence and moved the parish rightward while greatly building up the congregation, from 2,400 to 3,400 members. It was he who famously (or infamously) put out the black flag on the front of the cathedral when the General Convention affirmed openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop in 2003. Zahl left the Advent in 2004 to become dean and president of Trinity School for Ministry in PA. By this time, the Advent was squarely at odds with the reformist agenda of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Alabama which remained firmly in the mainstream.  

This brought in the second link in the chain, Frank Limehouse, who had been rector of St. Helena's, Beaufort SC, from 1995 to 2005 (Jeff Miller replaced him; Miller is now rector of St. Philip's, Charleston). St. Helena's was one of the leading parishes in SC espousing the vertical religion and opposing the reforms of the Episcopal Church (it went on to play an important part in the schism in SC). 

The third link in the chain was Andrew Pearson. He was an associate rector of St. Helena's, under Jeff Miller, from 2007 to 2011. In 2011, Pearson was hired at the Advent for Parish Life and Evangelism, serving until 2014. Upon Limehouse's departure from the Advent, Pearson became dean of the Advent in January 2014, at the age of 33. By that time, the parish had experienced two decades of evangelical and socially conservative leadership. 

For more on Pearson's background and his time at the Advent see my blog piece of Jan. 26, 2016: "Memo to Dean Pearson: No Schism in Alabama." Find it here  .

So, when the wardens talked in the letter about "tension" between the Advent and the diocese, they were talking about the anti-Episcopal Church attitude that has been brewing at the Advent for over 25 years. While the Advent was heavily influenced by the evangelical clergy from the Lowcountry, the rest of the Diocese of Alabama was not. It remained steadily in the mainstream of the Episcopal Church under great bishops as Miller, Parsley, Sloan, and Curry.

So, back to Pearson's resignation. The first question everyone asks is Why? Why did he resign? That we would have to get from Pearson or the vestry. Obviously they agreed for him to step down.

It seems the Advent may be having an identity problem. If so, the "tension" did not form overnight. It has been developing for a long time, for instance in the forms of corporate worship. In 2018, the Advent adopted "Our Liturgy" which can be found on their website. It is based on the TEC Prayer Book, but does not adhere to it strictly. The identity problem was how far the parish should move from the mainstream of the Episcopal Church into the evangelical realm, or, how much vertical and how much horizontal? My guess is that this was the problem that eventually progressed into intolerable "tension" between the vestry and the dean and between the parish and the bishop. So, now the parish needs to move toward resolving its discomfort with the contending strains of the vertical (evangelical) and horizontal (Episcopal). The  most hopeful sign in the letter was the part about a team the vestry had formed to talk with the bishop about better relations between the parish and the diocese. 

So, it seems to me the Advent may be at an inflection point. It may well be that the lay leadership wants to inch its way back toward the Episcopal mainstream without abandoning its self-aware vertical theological posture. We shall see as events unfold there. There is an interim dean, and presumably a search for a new dean. Meanwhile, let's hope for everyone's sake the "tensions" ease at the Advent.

THE BISHOP'S ELECTION,

THE DIOCESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA,

MAY 1, 2021

8:00 a.m. EDT.    

Welcome happy morning! And, greetings to you, blog reader, on this most glorious day. In all probability, within the day, the good people of the Diocese of South Carolina will have a bishop-elect. We have to call him or her "bishop-elect," because technically he or she cannot be a bishop until approval by a majority of bishops and Standing Committees of the Episcopal Church.

There are five nominees for bishop-elect. As everyone knows, they are all fine people and any one would make a good bishop. However, only one of them can be chosen. This is the task of the day, to decide which one of the five best fits the needs of the people of the diocese. And, this is a decision the people have to make. I think we all have to trust their good judgment. They have certainly shown good judgment so far. They stood and fought for human rights when the crowd was against them. From day one, I have been lost in admiration for the heroic people of the Diocese of South Carolina. I still am.

I got up before dawn this morning so I could enjoy one of my favorite things, to watch the sun rise over my garden. I can see part of my garden from my bedroom window. In the peaceful quiet and stillness of the hour, I watch in awe as the sun's rays illuminate the tops of the trees then gradually everything all the way down to the ground. In the end, the earth dazzles in the radiance of the new light, and right now, in the full glory of the springtime. There is nothing more beautiful and wonderful in the world than to watch the glorious new day emerge. 

A glorious new day will be emerging in South Carolina too. I will return to make a running commentary on the election, before the hour of 9:00 a.m. Right now I am off to my garden for a morning devotional. 

8:45 a.m.     I am back after enjoying the beauty of my garden in the early morning of a perfect spring day. I am refreshed and ready to go.

If you are watching and not participating in the election convention, you should be tuned into YouTube and the Diocese of South Carolina. The "Electing Convention" page is posted.

8:58 a.m.     Second cup of coffee at hand. Saying a last minute prayer for the delegates and people of the Diocese of South Carolina. Ready for the convention to begin in a few seconds.

9:08 a.m.     Audio and video begins on YouTube. Proceedings to begin momentarily.

9:11-9:37 a.m.     Morning Prayer. Bishop Parsley gave the homily.

9:38 a.m.     Rev. Caleb Lee called the convention to order. Thomas Tisdale named as parliamentarian of the meeting. Resolutions adopted to name secretary and provide for virtual convention.

9:54 a.m. A practice ballot. 5 minutes allotted.

10:04 a.m.     Chair called 10 minute break. 

10:23 a.m.     Meeting resumed. Chair placed the five names into nomination. Called for discussion. No discussion.

10:27 a.m.     FIRST BALLOT begins. Balloting allotted for 10 minutes to be followed by break. Chair announced plan to resume meeting at 10:55 a.m. Moved to 11:05 a.m.

11:11     Results of First Ballot announced:

Woodliff-Stanley  Lay-8 (41%),  Clergy-19 (56%)

Walpole  Lay-3.5,  Clergy-7

Lee  Lay-5,  Clergy-6

Hoare  Lay-2,  Clergy-1

Johnson  Lay-1,  Clergy-1

Woodliff-Stanley carried the majority in the Clergy Order but not in the Lay Order. Walpole came in second in the Clergy Order and third in the Lay Order. It is clear the diocese wants the new bishop to be a woman. 

On the Second Ballot, W-S needs to pick up two votes in the Lay Order to secure the majority. Ruth Woodliff-Stanley was clearly the first choice in both orders.

11:26     Call for Second Ballot. Coverage scheduled to resume at 12:00 p.m.

Ruth Woodliff-Stanley has already secured the majority in the Clergy Order. She must win at least 2 more votes to carry the Laity Order. That would give her a concurrent majority in the two orders and the election.

Meeting to resume at 12:15 p.m. 

E L E C T I O N !

The Rev. Ruth Woodliff-Stanley wins as bishop-elect of the Diocese of South Carolina.

Second Ballot:

W-S  Lay-13 (67%),  Clergy-26 (77%)

Walpole  Lay-3,  Clergy-6

Lee  Lay-3,  Clergy-2

Hoare  Lay-.5,  Clergy-0

Johnson  Lay-0,  Clergy-0

12:33 p.m. Meeting adjourned.

Now, the majority of bishops and of the Standing Committees of the Episcopal Church must give consent to the election of Woodliff-Stanley within the next 120 days. If so, she will be ordained and consecrated the XV bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina on:

October 2, 2021

______________________

Comments:

Historic Day! Historic in many ways. First, the Diocese of South Carolina is back. After eight and a half years without a diocesan bishop, the diocese is about to have a new one. First, too in having a bishop who is a woman.

This is a great step in the healing and rebuilding of a great diocese that was decimated by people who thought they knew better than the combined wisdom of the church. The courts still have to rule finally on who owns the entity of the pre-schism diocese and who owns the bulk of the parish properties. Regardless of what the courts finally decide, the diocese can now move on with new life. 

For the good and long-suffering people of the Diocese of South Carolina, and for all of us, this is a moment of great rejoicing for many reasons. Te Deum laudamus. 

THE MOMENT OF DECISION DRAWS NIGH

It is only a matter of hours before the Episcopalians in the Diocese of South Carolina choose their next bishop-elect. After nearly a year and a half of preparation, the time of decision is finally at hand. Two hundred and thirty six years of history are looking down on the people of the diocese (341 if one wants to go back to the first Anglican church in SC). Will they choose the first woman bishop, the first African American, the first openly gay, or none of the above? This election will be a first in many ways: the first in a schism, first in a pandemic, first by entirely electronic means, first without an assembly. All of this is a lot to process.   

The election convention is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. EDT, on Saturday, May 1, 2021. For the participants, it will be on Zoom. For everyone else, it will be live streamed on YouTube.  

I will open a commentary page on this blog before the convention commences and provide a running account as the election unfolds while I watch the YouTube feed. I expect to start my remarks on this blog within the hour before the convention begins.

Here are some final thoughts, as we count down the last hours:

---I am sure everyone would agree that the diocese has been blessed with five outstanding nominees. Any one of them would make a good bishop. The people of the diocese should be profoundly grateful that these fine people offered to captain their ship through the perilous seas ahead. I for one do not think this stellar slate is a random accident of history.

---My sense at this point (admittedly with little empirical data) is that no one has a lock on the election. However, there has been a great deal of interest in the two women nominees.

---The search process itself has helped the people of the diocese sort out their own thoughts about where the diocese has been, where it is now, and where it will go moving forward. The diocese itself is better off having gone through the process of a search. The search was not just for a bishop, it was for the soul of the diocese.

---The logistics of a "virtual" election are problematical. The Laity Order will vote by local church. A parish has four delegates while a mission has two. Each delegation will have to stay in close and continuous contact with each other as the voting proceeds because they have to vote by consensus within the delegation. If a delegation splits 50/50, they nullify their church's vote.

 

---For election, there must be a majority in the Clergy Order and the Laity Order at the same time. If there is no concurrent majority, the voting continues to the next ballot. In every bishop's election I have studied, the final winner led the vote in at least one of the orders on the First Ballot. 

Therefore, when the vote on the First Ballot is announced, note the top vote-getter in each of the two orders. If there is not a concurrent majority for one nominee, the voting will proceed to a Second Ballot.  In all probability, one of the nominees who led the voting in one (or the one who led in both orders) on the First Ballot will wind up winning the election. I do not know of a bishop's election in which a dark horse candidate came from behind to overtake one or both of the top vote-getters of the First Ballot.

---If the orders split on the top vote-getter (Clergy give A the most votes while Laity give B the most votes), coming to a consensus may be difficult. Only one can win. A split would mean one of two things would have to happen. Either one order would have to bow to the other to arrive at a consensus majority, or a third candidate would have to arise and overtake the top vote-getter in each order to secure a concurrent majority (again, I do not know of any case in which a third candidate won). The danger here is lingering hard feelings. This is why it is best not to go into the voting too set on one nominee to the exclusion of all others.

---Also, on the First Ballot, note the relative positions of the two women candidates in relation to the three men. If the two women come in first and second places on one or both orders and there is space between them and the three men, this will indicate a consensus among the voters, or at least a strong leaning, to elect a woman as bishop. It would be a clear signal that one of the women, most likely the one who is the top vote-getter, will have a strong chance of winning the election, perhaps on the next ballot.  

   

---Also, one should note the lowest two vote-getters on the First Ballot in each order. Sometimes, seeing that they will not win, the bottom one or two candidates will withdraw from the race as the balloting proceeds. Regardless, votes will shift from the bottom two to the top two. The delegates who leave the bottom contestants will have to decide where to shift their votes.

---It is impossible at this point to know what effect the low numbers of possible votes will mean to the outcome. If all of the certified clergy participate, there will be only 34 votes in the Clergy Order. This means a candidate must get at least 18 votes to win in that order. If all of the eligible local churches participate, there will be only 19.5 lay votes. This means 10 or more votes will be necessary to carry the Laity Order. With so few possible votes, even a slight shift will be more significant than if the election involved greater numbers.

Finally, one cannot overemphasize the importance of this election. In all probability it will set the direction of the Diocese of South Carolina for many years to come. Now, the choice of the new bishop is in the hands of the good people of the diocese. These people are my heroes. Knowing the difference between right and wrong, they took the hard road only because it was the right thing to do. They gave up of themselves so that others might be given full life in the church. Now, at this historic moment of decision, we should all rest confident in the good judgment of the people of the Diocese of South Carolina.

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, St. Stephen SC, 1760's.

(A personal footnote. My goal on this blog in the run-up to the election was to provide information and raise issues which the people of the diocese could use to reach their own conclusions. As I told my students for decades, I am not here to tell you what to think; I am here to tell you how to think. The decision on the bishop of SC is not mine to make. It belongs to the people of the Diocese of South Carolina. I have tried very hard to remain neutral on this blog and to avoid personal commentary on the individual candidates. My fondest wish is that on election day, everyone makes his or her most informed and thoughtful choice.)