REFLECTIONS ON THE EIGHT PETITIONS FOR REHEARING
On yesterday, May 5, 2022, eight of the fourteen parishes that the SC Supreme Court had found to be properties of the Episcopal Church filed petitions for rehearing with the SCSC. The eight:
---St. Luke's, Hilton Head
---Trinity, Myrtle Beach
---Old Saint Andrew's, Charleston
---St. Jude's, Walterboro
---Holy Comforter, Sumter
---Good Shepherd, Charleston
---Holy Cross, Stateburg
---Christ Church, Mt. Pleasant
Six of the fourteen did not file petitions for rehearing:
---St. James, James Island, Charleston
---St. John's, Johns Island, Charleston
---St. Bartholomew's, Hartsville
---St. David's, Cheraw
---St. Matthew's, Ft. Motte
---Holy Trinity, Charleston
None of the fifteen parishes that the SCSC recognized as owning their properties asked for rehearing.
The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina did not file a petition for rehearing. Twice, in 2017 and 2022, the SCSC recognized the Episcopal diocese as the heir of the historic diocese and the owner of the pre-schism diocesan properties and assets. The ownership of titles and marks is in federal court, presently awaiting a decision of the U.S. Appeals Court concerning the order of the U.S. District judge, in Charleston, that recognized the Episcopal diocese as the sole owner of the legal entity of the historic diocese. Odds are the appeals court will uphold the district court leaving the Episcopal diocese in undisputed possession of the historic diocese.
The trustees and standing committee of ADSC released a statement hinting that they are resigned to accepting the courts' settlements although they talked about "our summer camp." They know Camp St. Christopher is to be returned to the Episcopal diocese. Find their statement HERE . While the Anglican diocese and all its large parishes seem to be ready to quit the legal war, at least one rector is not. Find the Rev. Huey's statement from OSA HERE .
The Episcopal Church and diocese did not ask for rehearing.
On April 20, 2022, the SCSC issued a unanimous opinion that 14 of the 36 parishes in question were property of the Episcopal side as per the Dennis Canon. Almost all of the eight petitions filed yesterday repeated three common themes, obviously coordinated by the lawyers involved. The themes:
---the parish had no "intent" to create a trust for the Episcopal Church. Under SC law, there must be intent.
---any trust under the Dennis Canon was revocable. When the parishes left TEC, they revoked any trust interest TEC might have had.
---the diocese granted quit claim deeds to all parishes in 2010 and 2011. These surrendered any trust interest in the properties.
This layman's interpretation:
---all of these petitions for rehearing are brief and thin. The longest ones are only ten pages. The arguments are equally thin.
---On the issue of "intent," I wonder how this could be measured other than in the language of the parish documents. The justices went by the words in the documents. What else could they do? "Intent" to set up a trust was clear in the reading of the texts to four of the five justices in 2017 and all five in 2022.
---On whether a parish could revoke a trust, a majority of justices in 2017 said it could not. In 2022, the court did not change this.
---The quit claim deeds are legally dubious. The Dennis Canon says the trustees of the parish properties are the Episcopal Church and the local diocese. Did the local bishop have the right to surrender trusteeship of the national church? I rather doubt it. At any rate, courts have ruled that the Diocese of South Carolina did not secede from the Episcopal Church.
All in all, these petitions for rehearing are not impressive.
If the SCSC does as it did in 2017, it will ask the Episcopal side to submit a counter-argument concerning these petitions for rehearing. Then, in my view, the SCSC will deny across the board the petitions for rehearing as lacking substance. If so, the SCSC will send its "Revised Opinion" to the circuit court for implementation. Meanwhile, the road will be clear for the federal appeals court to uphold Judge Gergel's order. The Episcopal diocese can then begin the process of repossessing the fourteen parishes as well as the diocesan properties and assets.
