DIOCESE OF SC CONVEYING TWO PROPERTIES TO SCHISMATICS
The self-styled Anglican Diocese of South Carolina has announced that one property has already been conveyed from the Episcopal diocese to a local breakaway congregation and another is about to be.
The property that has been sold to the separatist congregation of "St. David's Anglican" church is the rectory of St. David's parish. Find the announcement of that HERE . The Anglican diocesan "Development Fund," aka the "Jerusalem Fund" kicked in $25,000 which, combined with contributions from the congregation allowed the new congregation to buy the Episcopal Church property of the old rectory. The breakaway congregation then sold the house to the Rev. Varnadore, the clergyman of the group. Neither the sale price from the Episcopal diocese nor the sale price from the congregation was disclosed.
The property in process of being sold to a breakaway congregation is St. Matthew's Church, of Ft. Motte. According to the new ADSC newsletter, the sale price is $275,000. The deadline for the sale is January 27, 2023. The congregation still needs $100,000 to meet the goal. One donor has promised $20,000 if someone else will match this. The congregation has set up a "Save Our Church" fund.
The SC Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that both St. David's, of Cheraw, and St. Matthew's, of Ft. Motte, are property of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. Moreover, one should not forget that the federal court has ruled that the Episcopal diocese is the one and only heir of the historic diocese and has placed an Injunction on the breakaways from claiming in any way to be the historic diocese.
Yet, the breakaways are still having trouble processing the reality of the day. The new diocese, set up at the schism in 2012, inserted the word "Anglican" before the title that legally belongs to the Episcopal diocese. Technically it changed its name but left no doubt about its attitude. The same is true of all the parishes that have been returned to the Episcopal diocese. In every case, the breakaway congregation has relocated under the old name of the church with the word "Anglican" attached. As with the diocese, they have refused to embrace the legal reality and still pretend to be the essence of the old entities. One can only wonder about the good faith of their negotiations for a final settlement.
So, when the breakaways at St. Matthew's talk about "Save Our Church" they are refusing to accept that the church building is property of the Episcopal diocese. It is not "our" church until the Episcopal diocese hands it over. Likewise, when the separatist congregation of St. David's talks about "allowing parish to retain property" it is the same. The parish property belongs to the Episcopal Church, not the breakaway group.
In his remarks on these property issues, the Rev. Lewis, said, "for generations, the people of this Diocese..." How many "generations" can fit into ten years? The Rev. Lewis knows very well that there is a federal court Injunction forbidding the new "Anglican" diocese from claiming to be the historic Diocese of SC. In fact, the "Anglican" diocese has already been held in contempt of court TWICE for infractions of the Injunction. They are slow learners.
The two dioceses have indicated they are engaged in ongoing negotiations for a final settlement of all issues in dispute between them. No details have been released other than the few that were actually publicized by the schismatic side.
If the sales of these two properties are any indication, the people of the Episcopal diocese might get prepared for some dramatic deals that may well be more controversial than what has been announced so far.
One has no choice but to wait on the announcements of the settlements from the diocesan offices.
