"IT'S TIME TO STOP CONTENDING FOR THE BUILDINGS"

ST. JAMES FACES TRANSITION

"It's time to stop contending for the buildings," the rector of St. James, on James Island, Charleston, exhorted repeatedly to his congregation this morning. The Rev. Arthur Jenkins, who is retiring in three weeks, told his people today, "We will have to leave this campus." He went on to muse that the move could come in the summer or the fall of this year. He called his group "St. James Anglican Church" as if this is the name they will use after leaving. Find Jenkins's remarks on Facebook.

St. James is one of the six parishes that did not petition the SC Supreme Court for rehearing of the court's decision that fourteen parishes were property of the Episcopal Church. The other five that refused to petition were:  St. John's, of Johns Island, Charleston; St. Bartholomew's, of Hartsville; St. David's, of Cheraw; St. Matthew's, of Ft. Motte; and Holy Trinity, Charleston. Of the six, one, Cheraw, has an Episcopal worshiping group (hi Janet) awaiting return to their church building after meeting in exile for years. Let us hope for their sake the transition there is expeditious.

Of the eight parishes that have petitioned the SCSC for rehearing, only a few have offered remarks about this on the Internet. The rector of Old Saint Andrew's has been most vocal about his resolve to fight to the bitter end. Last week he made an emotional appeal in his homily. In today's services, however, he said not a word about the subject.

At St. Luke's, of Hilton Head, the rector, the Rev. Greg Kronz (who is also retiring) has mentioned the possibility that the parish could "negotiate" for the property. Find his remarks from last week HERE . He gave no source or evidence to support this. The Episcopal diocese has given no indication of any negotiation to alter the property settlement as per the state supreme court ruling. In fact, Bishop Woodliff-Stanley talked recently about "orderly transition" of the properties involved, meaning return of the specified properties to the Episcopal diocese. 

Kronz also said in his video of last week that Alan Runyan, chief attorney for the Anglican side, was slated to meet his Episcopal counterparts for talks this Wednesday, 25 May. I have not been able to corrobrate this. We do know, however, per Bishop W-S, that the representatives of the two sides are holding ongoing meetings about transition of the properties. This transition will happen on two levels: diocesan and parochial. The diocesan will be the transfer of possession of all the assets and properties of the pre-schism diocese. The parochial will be the transfer of the fourteen parishes. The latter, however, is still contingent on the SCSC's denial of rehearing.

Another of the 14, St. John's has seemed resigned to the transfer all along. There, the rector is leaving to become a Lecturer at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

One of the eight that filed for rehearing may be moving toward resolution from the sound of their words online. The rector of Christ Church, Mt. Pleasant, said the parish is moving to contingency plans. Find his remarks HERE .

Considering various remarks coming from the fourteen, it looks as if there is a concerted strategy among them to keep the present congregations together and move them out so that few if any people stay behind when the Episcopal clergy return for services. And so we are seeing a revival of an old demonization of the Episcopal Church, the same sort that was used to prod people to vote for secession back in 2012 and 2013. The main charge being made is that the TEC no longer believes that Jesus Christ is THE way of salvation, only one way. This is not true. TEC has not changed its theology. What it has changed is its stand for human rights, and this is exactly what caused the schism. TEC championed equality and inclusion of non-celibate gays and women in the life of the church. This is not a theological issue; it is a social issue. Nevertheless, both the rector of OSA and the rector of St. James have already begun beating this drum. The purpose, of course, is to give people reason to leave the buildings and go into exile. If anyone wants to know what life is like in exile, just ask anyone in any of the ten Episcopal worshiping communities that formed after the schism. BTW, these people are my heroes but that is the subject for another day.

I expect matters to be picking up speed in the next couple of weeks. The SC Supreme Court can do one of two things now. In one, they can accept or deny the petitions for rehearing. They do not have to give an explanation of their choice. In the other, they can invite the Episcopal side to submit a counter-argument against rehearing. The latter is what they did in 2017. Soon after the TEC side turned in their argument, the SCSC denied rehearing. Rehearing requires a majority vote of the justices, so at least three of them would have to agree on a rehearing now. In 2017, one of the five recused herself leaving four to vote. They voted 2-2 on rehearing. Since there was no majority for rehearing, the court denied the petition for rehearing. This time, there will be 5 justices to vote. It is all but certain the SCSC will deny rehearing; and I expect the court to do so in the next few weeks. This will clear the deck for the transferal of the fourteen parishes.

Soon, I expect the federal appeals court to rule on the ADSC appeal of Judge Gergel's order. As with SCSC, it is highly unlikely the court will accept the appeal. Upon denial of appeal, the deck will be clear for the transferal of all diocesan assets and properties back to the Episcopal diocese.