EIGHT PARISHES PETITION FOR REHEARING TODAY, 5 MAY 2022

Eight of the fourteen parishes the SC Supreme Court determined to be property of the Episcopal Church filed separate petitions with the SC Supreme Court today, May 5, 2022. Today was the last day to file for rehearing. 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

I have read only one, that of OSA. It is a three-page paper making two arguments: 1-that TEC had previously admitted OSA did not create an express trust, and 2-that OSA had the legal right to revoke a trust. It did not argue the merits of the SC opinion, that OSA's parish documents had created an express trust. The first argument is irrelevant. As for the second, a majority of the court, in 2017, ruled that parishes could not unilaterally revoke a trust. The court did not disagree with this in its 2022 decision. In short, OSA's arguments are weak and are highly unlikely to impress the present court.

I will return with remarks on the other seven petitions after I have had time to review them.

Interesting to note that six parishes among the fourteen did not file petitions today or at least none was posted on the SC courts' website.