NOTES, 16 NOVEMBER 2022

Greetings, blog reader on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. The Diocese of South Carolina is about to meet for its 232nd convention. This is history-making in more ways than one.

The first convention was on May 12, 1785, in Charleston, when representatives of eight of the twenty parishes in the state of South Carolina met to begin organizing a state association of the Protestant Episcopal Church, the heir of the Church of England parishes in the old colony. In 1789, the association in SC sent a delegation to Philadelphia to help draw up the Constitution and Canons of the church. SC was one of nine states participating. It has one of the nine little crosses on the church flag today. Except for the brief episode of the Civil War, the Diocese of South Carolina remained very much a part and parcel of the national Episcopal Church for nearly two centuries. In the 1980's this identity began to change and for certain reasons the diocesan leaders opened a long process of disengaging the diocese from the mainstream of the Episcopal Church. One may think of the schism as ten years old, but actually the roots go back much farther, thirty years farther.

After all these years of troubles, the old diocese lies battered and wounded, but still very much alive with a strongly pounding heart. It will not be vanquished, and it will not be because its people refused to bend to the popular but ill-begotten winds of discrimination, hate, dissension and division. They courageously stood for the human rights for all of God's children, even at cost to themselves.

This selflessness for others showed itself clearly last Sunday when Grace Church Cathedral handed out check after check to a very long list of Charleston-area charities. It was quite a crowd in the picture. This was money, a small fortune, made by parishioners in the Tea Room and Mouse Boutique, long traditions at Grace. This remarkable service to the community was horizontal Christianity at its best.

Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend this year's meeting of the Diocese. I will watch whatever is available on live stream. There is a luncheon on Friday at noon followed by a Plenary Session, then 5:30 Eucharist at Grace. The business meeting will be on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. With all the swirling legal issues of the schism, one can imagine lively discussions in the sessions.

Finally, as a long time student of the history of the schism, I must say I am lost in respect and admiration for what the Diocese of South Carolina has done, and is continuing to do, in the face of daunting odds. You did the right thing when it was the hard thing to do. This is my definition of heroism. I want you to know you are my heroes, every one of you because without you, the separatists would have devastated the whole old diocese. You refused to let that happen. So, when you gather together this weekend, I hope you will remember what you have done and put this in perspective. While you grieve for the departed brothers and sisters, you also have good reason to rejoice, for the 232nd time.

I think it is worthwhile to repeat my blog posting of Nov. 3 on where the diocese stands now. Peace.

NOTES,  3 NOVEMBER 2022

Greetings blog reader, on Thursday, November 3, 2022. My last entry, on the sale of the church in Ft. Motte, has generated an energetic response, to say the least. The fact that not one of the emails I have received is printable should tell you something. There is rather strong opinion out there, both pro and con. This should not surprise anyone.

This has been a hard year for the Episcopal side of the schism. In April the South Carolina Supreme Court took away 15 of the 29 parishes it had earlier recognized as property of the Episcopal Church. This just happened to include all of the large parishes of the pre-schism diocese (except Grace). Coincidence? It got worse. In August, the SCSC revisited the scene and snatched away another 6 from TEC. Do you see a trend here? After that, the Episcopal diocese was left with 8 of the original 29. One of the 8 is now in court asking for a redo while another one of the 8 is now buying the property from the Episcopal diocese. So, it is possible the EDSC will wind up with a total of 6, for a loss of 23. Hard to take. 

Moreover, the Episcopal faithful have watched as their bishop announced "settlement" deals that, from what we know so far, were generous to the secessionist side while that side really gave up nothing it actually had. Head scratching. 

At the time of the "settlement" deal in September the separatist bishop made a joint announcement of the terms with the Episcopal bishop. Since then, the secessionist side has gone silent on this matter. Have you noticed that there has been no word about the Ft. Motte sale on the Anglican diocesan website, nor on the St. Matthew's Church website, nor on anglicanink.com, the main anti-Episcopal website? Of course, if they mentioned this they would have to give credit to the Episcopal bishop, something they certainly are loathe to do.

There is at least a good measure of confusion, disappointment, and concern among the Episcopalian faithful about the future of the diocese. This is understandable given the many different factors swirling about. The Episcopal diocese will hold its annual meeting in a few days. This is an appropriate time to put things in perspective. Let's review the big picture of the schism. I think this will help. 

In the second half of the Twentieth Century, the Episcopal Church committed itself to a crusade for the equality and inclusion of all people in America, and particularly in the life of the church. This resulted in sweeping reforms for African Americans, women, and homosexuals, especially in the internal life of the Episcopal Church. 

The schism of 2012 was a concerted and deliberate movement of the diocesan leaders to remove the bulk of the diocese from the Episcopal Church in order to prevent the reforms of the Episcopal Church from settling in lower South Carolina. It worked very well. The majority of the clergy and laity followed their leadership out of the Episcopal Church to form a new Christian denomination based on social conservatism.

The schism was not a sudden or accidental event. In fact, it was the product of a long train of opposition to Episcopal Church reforms. In 2003, the diocese rejected and condemned the Church's affirmation of the first open and partnered homosexual bishop. In 2008, the diocese strongly approved of and adopted the Jerusalem Declaration that condemned homosexuality and broke communion with provinces that had pro-homosexual policies, e.g. TEC. In 2012, the diocesan leaders plotted in advance of General Convention to oppose the expected approval of liturgies blessing same-sex unions. After GC, they used the momentum to finalize a secret plan to remove the bulk of the diocese from TEC. 

After the schism, the new diocese solidified its social reaction. In 2015, it adopted, and made mandatory, a homophobic Statement of Faith. In 2017, it joined the Anglican Church in North America, a non-Anglican Communion body set up to oppose rights for homosexuals and also to keep women from the office of bishop. It also allowed local dioceses to ban women from the priesthood.

As rationales to bolster their social policies, secessionist leaders demonized the Episcopal Church on theological grounds. For instance, they claimed TEC had abandoned the central doctrine of the uniqueness of Christ, something that was demonstrably untrue, but widely believed and still is to this day. They tried to make the break about theology instead of the real reasons, social policies. The deep and pervasive hostility to the Episcopal Church is strongly entrenched among the new diocese with no sign of letting up. It is highly dubious that any amount of concession to them will change this fixed mindset.

So, as a longtime student of the schism in SC, my advice, for whatever it is worth, to the good folks of the Episcopal diocese is to stand back and reconsider the big picture. Take stock of where you are.

You are in a moral crusade to promote the God-given worth and dignity of every human being. There is a right side and a wrong side in this conflict. It is not a clash of two equals. In the first place, you are in a war of sorts. In the second place, this war was not of your doing. It was deliberately made by people who opposed the social reforms of the Episcopal Church. The fight was presented to you through no fault of your own. However, it is now on your plate for the time that God has allotted to you for your life. You did not choose it. You did not deserve it. Nevertheless, here it is. It is the right thing to do to fight the good fight. 

Nothing differentiates the two sides better than the services of baptism in their respective prayer books. In the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer we find the Baptismal Covenant  (p. 305):

Will you seek to serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

The keys are serving Christ in all people, loving your neighbor, striving for justice and peace, and respecting the dignity of every person.

The Anglican (ACNA) prayer book (p. 165-166) completely omitted this Covenant. It skipped from the Apostles' Creed to prayers. Coincidence? Certainly not. This speaks volumes about the separation of the social reactionaries from the Episcopal Church.

So, my point of the day is to remind the Episcopalians of lower South Carolina on the eve of your convention why you are in this fight. It was presented to you. Your had a choice to stand or flee. You chose to stand. This is a moral crusade. You are in it for the right reasons. They are the promises you made, or that were made for you, at your baptism. I, for one, am lost in admiration for your faithful courage and endurance.

Often in life the right thing is also the hard thing to do. Yet, we do it anyway because it is the right thing to do and that is what our religion has taught us. Please bear this in mind regardless of whatever is going on around you in the courts or in institutional or administrative issues. Peace.