JUDGE GERGEL ISSUES ORDER
ON ENFORCEMENT AND ON STAY
On yesterday, 18 December 2019, Judge Richard Gergel of the United States District Court, in Charleston, issued a 20-page "Order and Opinion" on two motions, the Episcopal Diocese's Motion to Enforce the Injunction and the Anglican Diocese's Motion to Stay Pending Appeal." Read the Episcopal diocese's news release about this here .
On the second, the judge denied the motion for stay. This means Judge Gergel's orders on enforcement will remain in effect throughout the time ADSC appeals his decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
On the first, the judge allowed the disassociated entity to continue using the name "Anglican Diocese of South Carolina."
He ordered the ADSC to stop using:
---"founded in 1785"
---14th bishop
---XIV bishop
---229th Diocesan Convention
In addition, the judge ordered the ADSC:
---to stop redirecting website domains that are similar to EDSC's.
---to stop posting or publishing any journal of any diocesan convention prior to October of 2012.
---to stop posting or publishing any journal that contains the marks and/or names belonging to the Episcopal diocese.
In sum, except for allowing the disassociated organization to use their chosen name, Anglian Diocese of South Carolina, Judge Gergel has ruled entirely on the side of the Episcopal Church. It is important to point out that Gergel did not levy any fines on ADSC for their failure to comply with his original order. He wrote: "Since Plaintiffs have not requested sanctions or identified any monetary losses, the Court will enforce its finding of civil contempt at this time through an order enjoining the noncompliant acts described above." The term "at this time" could signal a change in the future if the breakaways do not comply with the judge's order of yesterday.
The importance of yesterday's decision is to emphasize the historical realities of the two dioceses at hand. The Episcopal diocese was founded in 1785 and continues unbroken. The Anglican diocese began in October of 2012 and has no history before that point. The judge made this very clear in his two orders on enforcement. This finally disproves once and for all the claim that the diocesan leaders made to their followers before October of 2012 that they could take the Diocese of South Carolina out of the Episcopal Church intact. The federal court has now declared definitively otherwise.
The importance of yesterday's decision is to emphasize the historical realities of the two dioceses at hand. The Episcopal diocese was founded in 1785 and continues unbroken. The Anglican diocese began in October of 2012 and has no history before that point. The judge made this very clear in his two orders on enforcement. This finally disproves once and for all the claim that the diocesan leaders made to their followers before October of 2012 that they could take the Diocese of South Carolina out of the Episcopal Church intact. The federal court has now declared definitively otherwise.
