FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE


The annual meeting of the Episcopal Church in South Carolina has adjourned. It was a great festival celebrating faith, hope and love.

For the bishop's address, see the report in www.scepiscopalians.com.

One of the highlights of the meeting was the admission of St. Anne's Episcopal Church, of Conway, as a parish. St. Anne's started as a worshipping community of 22 people meeting in the Lovelaces' living room. It has grown into a large and vibrant church of 122 people.

The diocese is working hard to facilitate the return of the 29 parishes. The Rev. Bill Coyne is overseeing this with the help of a 12 member transition planning group. There were some people present from the returning parishes.

In a moment of gratitude and remembrance, the convention applauded the crucial work of the Episcopal Forum which is now dissolving with mission accomplished.

Several hundred attendees enjoyed the beauty of the Church of the Holy Communion as well as the warm hospitality of its parishioners.

For me personally, the meeting was a great time for catching up with old friends and making new ones. Above all it was a moment to know the presence of God among so many good and faithful people.

After six years of schism, the Episcopal Church is well on the road to recovery from the trauma of the break. Indeed, the end of the long legal road is in sight. It is just a matter of time before the 29 parishes and the entity of the old diocese return home. And, home is the ancestral church standing for faith, hope and love.

I plan to attend the hearing on Monday and will post a report as soon as I can even if I have to send it from my phone as I am doing now.