THE PRICE OF PEACE

Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, released a STATEMENT today summarizing some of the agreements she has made with Bishop Chip Edgar, of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina. The two sides have declared peace, sort of, but at what price?

Let's look at the gains and losses of the two sides as outlined in today's statement. Here are my initial observations about today's announcement.

WHAT ADOSC GETS:

---all rights to the diocesan headquarters building on Coming Street (EDOSC surrenders any claim to the place).

---EDOSC grants quit claim deeds to "several" missions that remained in ADOSC but did not join the lawsuit. There were about a dozen of these in all. (EDOSC vacates the Dennis Canon for these).

---the three parishes with petitions before the SC Supreme Court can continue their actions against the Episcopal diocese; as well, the ADOSC can continue its betterments suit against the Episcopal diocese.

---right to make joint decisions on placement of the diocesan archives. (All records of the Episcopal diocese from 1785 to 11:59 a.m., Oct. 15, 2012, should be sole property of the Episcopal diocese, as per the federal court ruling of 2019). The ADOSC did not exist before Oct. 15, 2012. They have no right to make decisions about the historical records.

WHAT EDOSC GETS:

---Camp St. Christopher and the bishop's residence on Smith St. (There was no question about ownership of these as per both the SC Supreme Court and the federal court).

---rental property at 129 Coming St. and a lot in Santee, both owned by the Episcopal dicoese( ditto above).

---end of the ADOSC appeal of Judge Gergel's order of 2019 in the U.S. Court of Appeals (there was virtually no chance this appeal would have succeeded since Gergel had written his order to be appeal-proof and the SCSC had ruled repeatedly in support of EDOSC as the sole heir of the historic diocese).

MYSTERY:

The most mysterious bullet point in today's statement referred to "additional financial assets" and that each side had made concessions. This is a huge deal. We must know more about this since it could involve many millions of dollars in pre-schism diocesan assets. Exactly what has the Episcopal diocese given up and gained?

So, to summarize:

The breakaways walk away with the diocesan headquarters, "several" additional missions, and the right to pursue their ongoing litigation in state courts. 

The Episcopal diocese winds up with the Camp and the bishop's residence which they had anyway, two properties the diocese owned anyway, and the end of the federal case which the diocese was almost certainly going to win anyway.

The biggest disappointment of the day is that the schism and the legal war are ongoing. 

So, I ask you dear reader who came out on top in this deal? I think it is clear. The Episcopal diocese is paying a price for peace. From my viewpoint, the Episcopal diocese gave up clearly more than the secessionist side did. Whether this was the right or wrong thing to do should remain the opinion of you, the observer. At best I can say I have a lot of questions about all of this. 

Hopefully we will have more details of the bishops' "settlement" in the coming days. I shall return with commentary.

Disclaimer---I am an independent commentator not connected with any diocese in lower South Carolina.