STILL AT IT

It seems to me the people who broke away from the Diocese of South Carolina are having a hard time accepting the reality of their unfortunate situation. They refused to accept the state supreme court ruling that 29 parishes and the Camp were property of the Episcopal Church. They refused to accept the federal court ruling that the identity, names, and emblems of the historic diocese belong solely to the Episcopal Church diocese. We learned through a court filing two days ago, they are still in denial after all this time and all these court orders.

Nearly a year ago, on September 19, 2019, federal court judge Richard Gergel issued 1-a judgment that the Episcopal Church diocese is hierarchical and the Church diocese is the legal heir of the historic Diocese of South Carolina, and 2-a permanent injunction forbidding the association that broke away from the Episcopal Church from claiming to be in any way the historic diocese. The breakaways cleaned up a bit but left a lot untouched. So, Judge Gergel issued a second order of enforcement on December 19, 2019 (this is called the First Enforcement Order). He demanded that the breakaways cease and desist from claiming in any way to be the historic diocese. 

The new association, calling itself the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, appealed Gergel's decision to the United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, where it stands now. We are awaiting either a hearing or a written decision from the appeals court. The ADSC asked Judge Gergel for a stay pending the appeal. He denied the request. The ADSC also asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for a stay pending the appeal. It too denied the request. Thus, Gergel's two orders to the ADSC are fully functional.

Yet, even after all this, the people in the ADSC continue to claim to be the historic diocese. So, on 10 September 2020, the Church lawyers went back to Judge Gergel asking again that he enforce the order he published nearly a year ago. The filing was entitled "Second Petition to Enforce the Injunction." It gives in detail 27 specific violations of the breakaways against Gergel's order. Find the Diocese of South Carolina's press release about this here . This contains a link to the Second Petition itself. Attached to the Petition are the actual exhibits of the 27 violations. 

In the end, the Church lawyers asked the judge to enforce his injunction. It did not call for money or other penalties. This left me wondering why not. Is not it time to have some teeth in the enforcement? How about arresting the breakaway authorities for contempt of court, or at least slapping an attention-getting fine? (Can't you see the swat team raiding the Coming Street headquarters and hauling off the officers in handcuffs?) What else is going to make them obey the court orders that they have ignored twice ? 

Anyway, the breakaways seem to be in need of a history lesson, so I will offer them a brief run-down.

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RON CALDWELL'S HANDY GUIDE
TO SOUTH CAROLINA EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY

1---The Episcopal churches in South Carolina formed an association in 1785. It was later called: the Diocese of South Carolina, the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, and the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina.

2---In 1789, it was one of nine state associations that formed the Episcopal Church.

3---The Diocese of South Carolina has remained a part of the Episcopal Church (except for the Civil War years).

4---In January of 2008, Mark Lawrence was consecrated as the XIV bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina.

5---Lawrence was removed as bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina on December 5, 2012, by the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.

6---The Standing Committee, supported by the bishop and others, resolved to leave the Episcopal Church on October 15, 2012. This was confirmed by a convention of most of the local churches of the diocese on Nov. 17, 2012.

7---When this group of people left the Episcopal Church, it did not take the diocese with it. It created a new religious denomination separate from the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of South Carolina. This new entity is now known as the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina.

8---The new association declared its bishop as Mark Lawrence. He remains the only bishop of the new religious body.

9---The Episcopal Church reorganized the Diocese of South Carolina under a new standing committee and bishop.

10---The newly formed association obtained an injunction controlling the rights, names, and emblems of the historic diocese, from the circuit court in January of 2013. This injunction remained in place until it was superseded by the federal court order of Sept. 19, 2019.

11---The entity now known as the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina was created on Oct. 15, 2012. Under federal decree of Sept. 19, 2019, it has no right to the identity, names, and emblems of the historic diocese. The federal judge issued an injunction forbidding the new association from pretending in any way to be the historic diocese.

12---The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina and its denomination, the Anglican Church in North America, are not parts of the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of South Carolina are parts of the Anglican Communion.

13---The South  Carolina Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 2, 2017, that 29 of 36 local parishes, and Camp St. Christopher, remained property of the Episcopal Church. The circuit court judge, Edgar Dickson, refused to implement the decision and instead reinterpreted the decision to reach an opposite conclusion. Dickson's nullification is now on appeal in the high state courts (where it is likely to be overturned in favor of the original SCSC order).

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The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina and its local congregations might want to pay attention to the facts of this matter if they want to avoid contempt of court penalties. I doubt that Judge Gergel will be amused at the flagrant disregard of his two orders. I know it is hard for these people to accept because they were fed incorrect and misleading information and opinion by their trusted leaders before the schism. Before the break, people in the old diocese commonly believed they could take the diocese out of the Episcopal Church, intact, and could take their local church properties with them as they departed. These assumptions turned out to be wrong. The state supreme court ruled that the bulk of the local churches were property of the Episcopal Church and the federal court ruled the diocese did not leave the Episcopal Church. It is hard for anyone to accept that what one once believed confidently to be true, is not, in fact, true.