NOTES, 25 MARCH 2021
Greetings, blog reader, on March 25, 2021. It is time for our weekly check-in on the crises we have been following on this blog for a year. We must not let the weariness of a year of covid detract us from the rest of what is going on in our lives.
PANDEMIC. Last week we were encouraged that the data showed marked improvement in the trajectories of the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, the numbers are more troublesome. Perhaps our optimism of last week was a bit premature. The plague of the coronavirus still rages all around us.
Some figures for last week (March 15-22) improved and some worsened from the previous week (March 8-15). On the world stage, both new cases and deaths increased last week (15-22) over the earlier week (8-15). According to our usual source, Worldometers, in the world, there were 3,468,200 new cases in the week of 15-22, a rise of 2.8%. In the previous week, there had been 2,962,410 new cases, a rise of 2.5%. Death tolls also increased, from 59,631 (8-15) to 62,708 (15-22). As of now, 2,729,172 people have died of covid. Let this sink in.
The United States, still the epicenter of the plague as it has been all along, is reporting concerning new data. Last week (15-22), new cases jumped to 440,117 from the 384,585 of the earlier week. However, deaths declined from 9,393 (8-15) to 8,080 (15-22). The daily death rate in the U.S. is now slightly over 1,000 (at the first of February, it was over 3,000/day).
Our southeastern states are also showing worrying signs of new surges in the pandemic. South Carolina reported rises in both new cases and deaths. Last week (15-22), SC listed 8,161 new cases, up from the 7,556 of the earlier week. As for deaths, SC reported 132 last week, up from the 121 of the preceding week. The death toll in SC is now 9,007. We should take a moment and reflect on the lives lost.
As SC, Charleston County is also showing up-ticks. Last week (15-22), the county reported 685 new cases, up from the 520 of the previous week. In all, the county is listing 39,929 cases. As for deaths, the county reported 9 last week, up from the 6 of the earlier week. In all, 475 residents of Charleston County have died of covid. We should take a moment and reflect on this too.
As SC, Alabama is reporting a rise in new cases. Last wek (15-22), the state reported 7,787 new cases, up drastically from the 3,854 of the earlier week (8-15). However, deaths declined, to 109 for last week, down from the 178 of the previous week. Anyway, 10,436 Alabamians have died in this plague. Let's take another moment to remember the lives lost.
The winter surge of the pandemic, November-February, has definitely declined. Nevertheless, there are indications of a plateau or increase in cases and deaths in the last couple of weeks. It is still too soon to say if this is a new surge or just a slight blip in a longer range decline. The best news is the movement in vaccinations. As of now, about 15% of Americans have received full vaccinations, either the double or the single versions. About twice that number have had one of the double shots. The vaccinations are moving along apace. The worrisome news is that many places in the U.S. have rolled back or removed their public restrictions. Some critics say these are premature and will lead to increased spread/deaths. Time will tell.
SCHISM.
Litigation. Nothing new to report. We are waiting on the South Carolina Supreme Court to respond. The Episcopal diocese of SC is appealing to the SCSC asking the court to enforce its Aug. 2, 2017 decision that recognized Episcopal ownership of 29 of the 36 parishes in question plus the Camp. The EDSC submitted its brief; the Anglican diocese of SC responded; and the EDSC has replied to the response. This ends the papers. There will not be any more written responses/replies.
To boil it all down, the EDSC is asking the court to order the circuit court to implement the SCSC decision returning the parishes and the Camp. The Anglican side is asking the court to recognize Judge Dickson's order that awarded all to the new diocese. In a nutshell, the SCSC is to decide who owns the properties, the Episcopal diocese or the new diocese. As I understand it, the SCSC may hold a hearing and then issue a written decision, or it may go straight to a written decision. Since there are two new justices on the SCSC, it would make sense for them to call for a hearing in order the these new justices to ask questions and familiarize themselves with the case, which, as everyone knows is exceedingly detailed and complicated.
I still say, as I have said all along, it is unimaginable that a state supreme court would fail to uphold its own final decision that is the law. It is mind boggling to think they would allow a circuit judge to overthrow a final supreme court decision and substitute a diametrically opposed decision of his own in place of the high court's. But then, the bigger picture here is the culture war and this is the overriding factor that may determine the ultimate outcome of this case. This happened in Texas where the conservative state supreme court ignored a mountain of careful reasoning from all the lower courts to rule on a technicality in order to hand the properties over to the (highly) conservative side in the dispute. My point is that common sense and reason do not always prevail in the supposedly impartial courts, particularly the state courts in states that are historically deeply socially and culturally conservative. No state has been more historically conservative than South Carolina.
Bishop search. Interesting that both the Episcopal and the new dioceses are conducting bishop searches at the same time. This does afford us an opportunity to see the differences between these two parties again.
The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina is farther along in the process. It has selected five candidates, two white men, one African American man, and two white women. This reflects the diversity, equality and inclusion that are hallmarks of the contemporary Episcopal Church. On April 12-14, the diocese will hold "Candidate Conversations" in which the five candidates will have opportunities to answer questions and discuss various topics. It will be via Zoom but will also be available on the diocesan Youtube page, linked from Facebook. Find more details here .
The election of the XV bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina will be held on May 1. It too will be "virtual" and available on Facebook/Youtube. Consult the diocesan website. After the election, the nominee will be offered to all the dioceses of the Episcopal Church. They will have 120 days to respond positively or negatively. The consent requires a simple majority of the bishops and standing committees of the Church. (One will recall that Mark Lawrence did not receive a majority on the first try in 2007 whereupon he issued a letter to the standing committees saying it was his "intent" to stay in the Episcopal Church; this won him consent on the second try. This time there is no question of whether the candidate will remain in the Episcopal Church.)
The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina is just starting its process of choosing a new bishop. It is looking for a bishop coadjutor who will eventually replace Bishop Lawrence as the diocesan. It is now accepting nominations. Find more details here . According to its schedule, it will publish a list of nominees on August 1, 2021, hold walkabouts on Sept. 11, and elect a new candidate on Oct. 16. We can expect all old white men to be their slate of candidates. There certainly will be neither a woman among them nor an openly gay man. In this new denomination (ACNA), women must subject themselves to the authority of men and gays must accept the labels of sin and disorder. (As I keep saying, this schism is all about the culture war in contemporary America, indeed in the world.)
Once ADSC chooses a new candidate for bishop coadjutor, he is not sent to the bishops and standing committees for approval. No, he is sent only to the ACNA House of Bishops which must vote at least 2/3 approval. This means that a third plus one of the bishops of ACNA can reject any candidate. As opposed to the democracy of the Episcopal Church, the ACNA is a purposefully anti-democratic institution where power rests overwhelmingly in the hands of a mini-pope (archbishop) and fewer than two dozen bishops (there are 50-something bishops in the ACNA College of Bishops) who hold the power of veto. This authoritarian system guarantees a rigidly conservative culture in ACNA, as evidenced in the archbishop's recent scathing rebuke of a slightly pro-homosexual letter.
So, what is the status of crisis today? The political crisis has greatly declined so that we may put it aside. On the whole, the pandemic is improving although the pace is frustratingly slow and uneven. Still, it seems that the fever has broken, so to speak, and better times are ahead. I wish we could say the same for the schism. After eight and a half years, we are all beyond exhaustion. We long only for justice and closure. Unfortunately, as with the pandemic, the pace is maddeningly slow and uneven.
As always, we did not ask for these crises (except for the two dozen people who made the schism in SC). These situations presented themselves to us as is. And, here we are trying to cope with them while wishing they would all go away. Meanwhile, these are our days. This is the time that was allotted to us. We are here for the living of this hour. At least we are all in this together at this moment in our lives. No one is alone. Peace.
