23 AUGUST --- NOTES

It is Friday, August 23, 2019. We are still awaiting the start of mediation, on September 4; and so, there is nothing new to report today. I am checking in just to let you readers know I am still here. 

As we wait for mediation to begin, it is appropriate to review the state of the 36 parishes that joined in the lawsuit against the Episcopal Church (Jan. 4, 2013). There has been a sort of settlement. In the hearing last month, Judge Dickson and the two sides agreed to the disposal of the seven parishes that were listed in the South Carolina Supreme Court decision of August 2, 2017, as being independent of trust control of the Episcopal Church. This gave tacit recognition of the three majority decisions on the last page of the SCSC decision (1-8 parish entities outside Dennis Canon, 2-28 parishes property of TEC under the Dennis Canon, 3-Camp St. Christopher property of TECSC). Let's review these seven that are now independent:

1-Christ the King, of Pawleys Island

2-St. Matthew's, of Darlington

3-St. Andrew's, of Mt. Pleasant

4-St. Paul's, of Conway

5-Prince George Winyah, of Georgetown

6-St. John's, of Florence

7-St. Matthias, of Summerton

This settles once and for all the question about St. Andrew's of West Ashley, aka Old St. Andrew's. Some people claimed that it was listed among the eight independent of TEC. It was not, and that is now clear. The eighth one above actually is the St. Andrew's of Mt. Pleasant Land Trust, a corporate entity created to avoid the terms of the Dennis Canon. That meant St. Andrew's of Mt. Pleasant was listed twice. St. Andrew's of West Ashley, in Chalreston, is one of the 28, actually 29, parishes the SCSC recognized as property of TEC.

Removing the eight above, here is the (unofficial) list of the 29 parishes that the SCSC recognized as property of TEC:

BEAUFORT --- St. Helena's

BENNETTSVILLE --- St. Paul's

BLUFFTON --- Church of the Cross

CHARLESTON --- Holy Trinity

                             --- St. James, James Island

                             --- St. Luke and St. Paul

                             --- Good Shepherd

                             --- St. Philip's

                             --- St. Michael's

                             --- St. John's, Johns Island

                             --- St. Andrew's (Old St. Andrew's)

CHERAW --- St. David's

EDISTO  --- Trinity

EUTAWVILLE --- Epiphany

FLORENCE --- All Saints

FORT MOTTE --- St. Matthew's

HARTSVILLE --- St. Bartholomew's

HILTON HEAD --- St. Luke's

JOHNS ISLAND --- Our Saviour

MT. PLEASANT --- Christ Church

MYRTLE BEACH --- Trinity

ORANGEBURG --- Redeemer

PINOPOLIS --- Trinity

STATEBURG --- Holy Cross

SUMMERVILLE --- St. Paul's

SUMTER --- Holy Comforter

SURFSIDE --- Resurrection

WALTERBORO --- St. Jude's

YONGES ISLAND --- Christ/St. Paul's

What will be the status of these 29 in the mediation? No one can say. However, one could argue that the circuit court has already given recognition of the majority decisions in the SCSC Opinion of Aug. 2, 2017. Moreover, we know that the disposal of these parishes was not an issue in the mediation sessions that have already taken place (Oct. 2017-January 2018). Since the negotiations were confidential, we cannot know what was discussed. However, the two sides produced a "Joint Status Report" to Judge Gergel, in January of 2018, that showed the only issue to be whether the Episcopal Church bishop would be allowed to meet with the 29 parishes in question, a point that apparently was summarily rejected by the breakaway side. We can gather from this that the ownership of the 29 was not up for negotiation at that time.

Speaking for myself and no one else, I do not see how the ownership of the 29 parishes could be an issue in the impending  mediation sessions. The legal ownership of the 29 has been settled.

On another note, I recently wondered what had been the most popular entry on this blog in the last three months. It turned out to be the one about eviction. It received more "hits" than any since the first of June. Why is this so? I can only speculate. I think it is because Episcopalians across the diocese of eastern South Carolina are exhausted by the court's refusal to implement the SCSC decision. We are now in our third year of waiting on the SCSC decision to be enacted. There are lots of Church people out there who are past ready to get back into their churches. This is perfectly understandable. However, I think eviction should be only the last resort. It is not something to be desired. Hopefully, this is what the mediation sessions coming up will consider. As I see it, the issue is not who owns the 29. That has been settled. The issue is how the properties will be transferred to their rightful owners. 


(A thought on number discrepancies. Is it 28 or 29 parishes?

The Plaintiffs in the Jan. 4, 2013 lawsuit are officially listed on the "Dorchester County Public Index" website. The Case # is:  2013CP1800013. The list officially names 36 parishes as Plaintiffs (that is, the ones suing TEC) in the Jan. 4, 2013 lawsuit. However, the first page of the Aug. 2, 2017 SCSC decision omits one from the list of the 36 Plaintiffs, St. Matthew's of Ft. Motte. I assume this was a clerical error. This left 35 parishes listed. Removing 7 would leave 28. Since it was an official Plaintiff, St. Matthew's would have be included among the parishes recognized as property of TEC, making a total of 29.)

I am re-posting the July 29 blog entry about eviction: