NOTES,  9 SEPTEMBER 2022

Greetings, blog reader, on Friday, September 9, 2022. Just a little note today to connect with you again. There is no news from the courts to relay. We are awaiting responses from the South Carolina Supreme Court to three petitions before them, two from the Episcopal Church asking for reversal or review of the 17 August SCSC order concerning two parishes, the other from the occupants of Good Shepherd asking for reversal or review of the same order concerning that parish (the court assigned it to the Episcopal Church). The responses could come at any time. There is no way to know when that will be.

Of course, England, or Great Britain, or the United Kingdom, is on everyone's mind these days with the death of the Queen and the accession of the new king. This comes just weeks after everyone had focused on England and the Lambeth Conference. Over one hundred American bishops traveled to the gathering at Canterbury, the spiritual center of the Anglican Communion. BTW here is my favorite picture from the Conference. It was printed in The Alabama Episcopalian magazine. 

Here's my "proof" that South Carolina and Alabama are the bookends of the Anglican Communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury, in the middle, is flanked on one end by the bishop of South Carolina, Woodliff-Stanley, and on the other end by the bishop of Alabama, Glenda Curry. Perfect!

It is hard for us to imagine a world without Queen Elizabeth II but time does move on. In remembering her today we Episcopalians should give thanks for her role as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, our mother church. She was the epitome of Anglicanism and an example and model for the rest of us. She had lifelong and deep faith that she incorporated in her daily life. Following this guide, she rarely made a wrong step. She did not wear her religion on her sleeve. She did not need to do so. She was the living embodiment of the famous Anglican three-legged stool, faith reason and tradition. She represented our religion at its best to the world. For that, we owe her a huge debt of gratitude.

Looking back now in my old age, I am grateful for the numerous trips I was fortunate enough to make to Great Britain. Early on, even as poor graduate students, my wife and I resolved to visit every English cathedral. We did not quite make it over the years, but we came close and profited from our journeys immeasurably. What we found along the way was not so much great buildings but great people. Everywhere we turned we found nothing but kindness and generosity breaking all the stereotypes commonly held in America about the English, and the Europeans in general for that matter.

Just a few examples. One day on leaving Evening Prayer at a church we struck up a conversation with a man, a perfect stranger. He warmly invited us to visit his home on Christmas. We thanked him profusely but declined. Once we went to tea at Harrods, in London, and struck up a conversation with a woman at the next table, another perfect stranger. She insisted that she show us around London. Again, we thanked her but had to decline. On going into a church service, we usually asked the usher if we could sit in the choir stalls. We were never refused. One Christmas Day we sat very close to the high altar at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. On another time, we were walking around Salisbury cathedral only to learn the diocesan Mothers' Union was holding a big convention there. They insisted we join in for their church service. We did.

We found the Scots to be just as warm and friendly. Once we got on the bus in Edinburgh and did not have the correct change as was required. The driver insisted we get on anyway saying, "Complements of Scotland." The dozen passengers looked at each other and collected the fare among themselves. They paid the driver without a word. Our hearts melted. So much for the reputed Scottish stinginess. On another time, we went to the theater in Edinburgh and innocently asked a couple next to us if the buses would be running after the play ended. They instantly insisted on driving us back to our hotel afterwards. We could not talk them out of it although we did not try hard.

In Wales, we were walking around the Cardiff cathedral when out of the blue the dean appeared and insisted on giving us (poor, ordinary American tourists) a guided tour of the whole place and gave us a prayer book, in Welsh, even teaching us how to pronounce some words. I do not know why, but this sort of thing happened to us all the time all over Britain. We could not have asked for better hospitality.

And so, we should give thanks today for not only for the late queen, but also for the gifts we have been given by our mother country and out mother church. How fortunate we have been and still are.