A HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHISM IN SOUTH CAROLINA

My new book is now widely available in hardback, paperback, and online formats. You can buy it for as little as $10.!

I will admit the physical book is relatively expensive, at $50 up. In my defense, I had nothing to do with the pricing. That was set by the publisher. But, I can tell you this is not a money-making project for me. Even if it were a bestseller, I could never recover the costs of four years' work on the book. My goal in writing this book was not for money or career advancement. I am comfortably retired. It was to contribute much-needed information and understanding to people about whom I care and to leave a record for posterity of an important event in church history. I am only a lifetime historian doing my job as long as I can.

One need not spend a lot for the book. Amazon has just released it on Kindle for $9.99. What is more, Amazon offers a free app that can be downloaded onto a smart phone, tablet, or computer. With the app, one can then download the book onto these devices. One does not need to have a Kindle reader to read the electronic form of the book. So, you can read the book for around 10 dollars on your Kindle, phone, computer, or other electronic device connected to the Internet.

If you want to get a good understanding of the book before putting out your money for it, the best approach is to go to Google Books. There you will find 112 pages freely available for you to read on your computer. The link is here .

If you want to see and/or buy the physical book in person without having to interact with a computer, you can do so at Grace Church Cathedral's bookstore, Gifts of Grace. Find their info here . My friend Jan does a great job there.

The book can be easily ordered from the Internet. Here are some sources (a Google search may lead to others):

---Wipf and Stock.

The publisher is offering the paperback at $49.60, a discount from the $62 list price. Find their site here .

---Amazon.

Amazon is offering the hardback at $75.81, the paperback at $55.35, and the Kindle form at $9.99. It lists new and used copies available from various vendors. As I said above, Amazon is offering a free app by which you can download the book onto a device using the Internet. One does not have a have a Kindle reader for this.

---Barnes and Noble is selling the book online in three formats: paperback, $62.00, hardback, $85.00, and Nook Book, $21.99. See their order page here . 

---Target.

Target is offering the hardback at $85.67. One may order it here .

---Cokesbury.

Cokesbury is offering the paperback at $54.99. Find it here .

In Canada---

Indigo is advertising the paperback at $80.95. The link is here .

In Australia---

QBD Books. Find the book here .

Booktopia. The link is here .

This book comes at a timely moment in the ongoing saga of the schism in South Carolina. I appears to me that, for all intents and purposes, the decision of the settlement between the two sides of the schism has been determined. The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled, twice and finally, that the Episcopal Church has control over 29 of the 36 parishes in question plus camp St. Christopher. The independent diocese has given de facto recognition of this in their Nov. 19 lawsuit against TEC/TECSC filed as "Complaint." The claim for repayment presumes the properties are not owned by the DSC occupants.

DSC has also said it will appeal the SCSC decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. There is only a minuscule chance SCOTUS will take it. I think DSC is only buying time and dragging out the inevitable end as long as possible. 

Thus, the 13,000 communicants in the 29 parishes will almost certainly face hard choices, staying with the buildings and returning to TEC, or leaving the buildings and forming new congregations aligned with the breakaway diocese. My heart goes out to these faithful people. They put their trust in leaders who failed to deliver on the lofty (and obviously unrealistic) claims they made to their followers. A hard truth that has come to light is that one should not place full confidence in leaders. Now thousands of innocent people are left in the lurch. My recommendation to these 13,000 is to absorb all the information you can about how you got into the situation you are in. I think (of course) my new history of the schism is a helpful starting place. It is long, detailed, balanced, and  painstakingly documented. Once you have gained knowledge of what has happened in your churches, then you should make your own decisions on what to do next. Religion always boils down to a personal decision; and that is what we have here.

So, I say to the 13,000, my prayers and best wishes go out to you. I know many of you read this blog. It has had 67,000 hits since the SCSC decision of August 2. One source lists this blog as # 23 among the top 50 Episcopalian websites (find it here ). In addition, I get e-mails from DSC communicants.

I would not presume to tell you good people of DSC what to do. All I can do is encourage you to take a good and hard look at your situation and learn all you can about how this came about. Be open minded. Then, make your own decisions about where to go from there. Some of you will return home to the Episcopal Church. Some of your will decide you should go with the independent diocese. That is your choice. That is what freedom of religion is all about. You, and you alone should decide.

One final note---I have given several talks to church groups on the history of the schism. These have been well received even though I am not a natural orator. I am available to talk on this topic in churches and other venues. If you would like for me to make a presentation and/or lead a discussion on the history of the schism in SC, contact me by my e-mail given above. I will consider making arrangements.