27 MAY 2020, NOTES

It is Wednesday, May 27, 2020. Welcome, blog reader as we continue on together in the long, dark night of the coronavirus plague.

COVID-19 is now the fastest spreading deadly disease in American history. One hundred thousand Americans have died of it, all within three months. At the present rate of death, app. 1,000/day, there will be 200,000 Americans dead of the virus by Labor Day. Then, all indications are for a second wave, a resurgence in the autumn. In the great flu pandemic of 1918, there was a first wave in the spring, a lull in the summer, then a much greater and deadlier wave in the last few months of the year. We may expect the same for Covid-19 this year. We should get prepared for the worst.

The bad news is that the virus is spreading as wildfire throughout the world and now beginning to accelerate in Third World countries, as Brazil. According to Worldometer, there are at least 5,707,637 cases in the world, with 703,501 in just the last week, a 14% rise. As for deaths in the world: 352,746, with 27,507 in the last week, an 8% rise.

The United States is by far the hardest hit country in the world. With just 4% of the world's population, it has 30% of the world's cases and 29% of the deaths. The U.S. is now listing 1,725,808 cases and 100,625 deaths. In just the last week, there were 154,790 new cases and 7,083 deaths. From the data, we can see the virus is continuing to spread and kill people in the U.S., but at a declining rate. The government's handing of the pandemic is a national humiliation. For goodness sake, the greatest country in the history of the world is going into a civil war over whether to wear face masks! Pathetic. 

In the southeastern U.S., the numbers and the rates are rising. Both Alabama and South Carolina are now among the leading 'hot spots" in the country. In the last week, SC saw 1,360 new cases for a total of 10,416. It also saw 47 new deaths for a total of 446. AL is even worse. In the last week, it counted a whopping 2,949 new cases for a total of 15,650 and 14 new deaths for a total of 580. The accelerating rate of spread in SC and AL is cause for alarm.

Meanwhile, public places as churches are beginning to re-open. The Centers for Disease Control finally issued a guideline for the re-opening of churches. Find it here . It is so vague and general as to be of little help. Essentially, it says to follow the local guidelines for re-opening. Unfortunately, the CDC has fallen to political influence and has receded into the background of the fight against the virus. Churches are on their own, at least under local regulations. President Trump has demanded the complete re-opening of churches across the country as he campaigns for reelection and reaches out to his bedrock evangelical Christian base. 

Even so, churches have been slow to re-open and parishioners have been reluctant to return to the ones that have opened their doors. On May 17, I found only two churches in the Anglican diocese that re-opened. Old Saint Andrews had about 14 attendees while St. Luke's of Hilton Head had about 30. On last Sunday, the 24th, I counted 14 at St. Andrew's and 37 at St. Luke's. Obviously, parishioners are hesitant to return to their buildings. If any of the other 50 or so local churches of ADSC re-opened to in-person worship, I am not aware of them. The Episcopal diocese remains closed at least until June 1. Both the ADSC and the EDSC have issued guidelines for the re-opening of churches that generally follow the CDC guide that was leaked in April but killed by the White House for being too stringent.

Now, turning to the subject of the litigation, there is some thought floating around that the Texas Supreme Court ruling of May 22 will help the schismatic contingent in South Carolina. Not so. The Texas decision has nothing at all to do with South Carolina. The Texas ruling was that even though the Episcopal Church is hierarchical, the breakaway group had the legal right to leave the Church and the Dennis Canon had no validity in the state because a trust could be legally revoked if it did not explicitly state that it could not be revoked. I suspect there is a good chance the Episcopal Church diocese will petition the U.S. Supreme Court for cert of this absurdly illogical opinion. So far, SCOTUS has retreated from taking Episcopal church cases. However, we now have a federal court ruling declaring TEC to be an hierarchical institution with all the rights that may entail. The scene now is not the same as the one two years ago when SCOTUS denied ADSC's petition for cert as it tried to appeal the SCSC decision of Aug. 2, 2017.

The litigation in SC is still on two tracks. In the federal courts, we are now awaiting the EDSC brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals, in Richmond. Then, we will get an ADSC rebuttal. All of this is expected to occur by July. Then, the Court will decide whether to hold a hearing. With or without a hearing, the justices will decide whether to uphold or overturn Judge Richard Gergel's decision of last September in which he found all in favor of the Episcopal Church diocese. In my view, odds are very strong the appeals court will uphold Gergel's masterful opinion.

It is the other track that is giving trouble. On August 2, 2017, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that 1-7 local parishes are independent, 2-29 local parishes are property of the Episcopal Church, and 3-Camp St. Christopher is property of the Episcopal Church diocese. The SCSC denied a rehearing. SCOTUS denied cert. On Nov. 19, 2017, the SCSC issued a Remittitur to the circuit court to implement the decision. There is where it remains. For two and a half years, Judge Edgar Dickson has had this on his desk. In all this time, he has carried out exactly one point, the first of the three orders in the SCSC decision (independence to the 7). He had done absolutely nothing to implement the other two orders of the decision. Why he has been sitting on his hands is anyone's guess. He is not talking. The Church diocese tried twice to get the state supreme court to prod Dickson on, to no avail. So, we wait interminably as the judge marks time. We know he has to retire by Dec. 31, 2022. It is not inconceivable we will mark time along with him for the next two and a half years. Where is the justice in all of this?

Remember, friends, we are here for the living of this hour regardless of how frightening and unfair it may be. Goodness and truth will not be vanquished. We will get through this, and we will do it together. Peace.