NOTES,  ON 9-11 (2021)

Twenty years. Can you believe it has been that long? For everyone alive then, the memory of that horrific day is seared in mind forever. It was one of those times when everyone remembers precisely where he or she was when they heard the news of the planes hitting the World Trade Center in Manhattan. I was a librarian in the South Carolina Room of the Charleston County Library. The magnitude of the moment was almost too much to bear. The shock has not gone away, but has eased over time. 

Let us solemnly remember now all the people who were lost on that terrible day and all the brave first responders who risked their own lives, some losing them, to help their fellow human beings in peril. It was a day of the worst and the best of humanity. As we grieve, I suggest that we all think how our lives have changed in those twenty years. How do you see yourself now as compared to twenty years ago?

September 11 also happens to be another anniversary here. It was on that day in 2013 that I started this modest blog. In that time I have made 900 postings, mostly on the schism in South Carolina, but also on other topics that I thought were important or interesting. Reader, you and I have been through a lot in these eight years. The important thing is that we were together even if electronically. We are all connected. I will keep doing this blog as long as people find it worthwhile. So far, hundreds of people a day click on to see what I have to say (nearly a million hits in the eight years). For me, this blog is a substitute for the classroom that I had for many years but no longer have. I have benefited greatly from an opportunity to address issues, organize my thoughts, and express them in the best ways I know how. I have been the big beneficiary of this project.

There is a lot of bad news around these days. Since we are already dealing with the heaviness of the 9-11 anniversary, let us not dwell on more negatives today. The sorrows of the day are enough now. So, let's turn to the signs or life and hope all around us.

All three dioceses important to us are moving boldly into the future with new leadership. This is a moment to celebrate. 

The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina is about to consecrate its first diocesan bishop since December 5, 2012. It was on that day that the presiding bishop released and removed Mark Lawrence as the bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina. Since then there have been two part-time provisional bishops and one visiting bishop. On October 2, 2021, at 11:00 a.m., Ruth Woodliff-Stanley will be ordained and consecrated the XV bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, in Grace Church Cathedral, in Charleston. The leading officer will be Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, a long and dear friend of the diocese. This will be a major landmark in the history of the diocese and I doubt there will be many dry eyes before the day is out. The service will be livestreamed.

The contingent that broke away from the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of South Carolina and formed a new church, called the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, are also moving forward on choosing a new bishop. This will be the second bishop of the ADSC, to follow Mark Lawrence when he retires. There are three candidates, two internal and one external. The external is the dean of the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of the Carolinas, of which Steve Wood, of Mt. Pleasant, is the bishop. If he is elected, this could signal the merging of the ADSC and the Anglican Diocese of the Carolinas, both in the Anglican Church in North America. They are overlapping jurisdictions, mainly in the lowcountry. If the ADSC loses in the state supreme court, a significant possibility, it would be left with just six parishes, scarcely a viable entity. It would make sense for this remnant to unite with Wood's diocese.

The walkabouts of the three candidates will be on September 13, 14, 15, and 16. They will be livestreamed, starting by 6:00 p.m. on each day. Find more info on this here  .

The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina is also searching for a new bishop. The walkabouts of the five nominees will be today, 11 September, and tomorrow, 12 September. These will be livestreamed beginning at 2:00 p.m. The election will be on 25 September, at Trinity Cathedral, in Columbia, also livestreamed.

Through all these years, one force that has kept me grounded (more or less) has been my garden. There I see the rhythms of nature repeated over and over, year in and year out. Whatever else is going on the world, through all the good news and bad, God's magnificent creation goes on. If nothing else, it reminds me always that I am part of a much larger scheme that operates on a much larger scale by a much larger power. I know that whatever happens, life will go on. And so, I revel in the beauty of nature as I lovingly tend the hundreds of plants I have chosen. As with this blog, I have been the big beneficiary in this. I am the one whose life has been enriched without bound.

And so, as we grieve today, I leave with a few new images of the beauty and wonder of God's gifts to us.

Coral Drift Rose. If you have a sunny spot that needs bright and beautiful color from frost to frost, try this. It is a small shrub rose, to about two feet, that blooms prolifically and requires little to no maintenance. Best planted in a mass.

This tree has become a popular small to medium tree in my area. It is Koelreuteria bipinnata, aka Chinese Flame Tree, Bougainvilla Tree. In summer, it puts out yellow flowers that turn into dark pink capsules. This specimen in my garden is too crowded. If it had more room of its own, it would be covered with a canopy of color.

I am a great fan of ornamental grasses. In the south, we have the ubiquitous and glorious Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana). It shoots forth these magnificent white plumes in late summer/fall. Actually, I do not recommend Pampas Grass for the typical home yard/garden because it grows large (10') and is difficult to maintain. Its sharp-edged leaves have to be trimmed down to about a foot in the winter to keep it from becoming overgrown (not my favorite job). There are many smaller and better managed ornamental grasses available even though their plumes may not match the grandeur of those of Pampas Grass. 

Abelia is one of the best families of shrubs for the home garden. I have many varieties. This is 'Rose Creek.' In summer it is covered in countless white flower clusters that gradually turn dark red in late summer.

Since my garden is rather large, it has become home to a variety of four-legged critters. The best of them is a neighborhood cat who has claimed the territory and stalks it by the hour. I wondered why the rabbits and chipmunks had disappeared. I have nicknamed the cat "Guardenia." I am delighted to have been adopted by this beautiful hunter. Here it is lounging on my back deck:

 

Today we remember the catastrophe of twenty years ago, and we should. We are also enduring layers of adversities, as COVID-19. These are stressful times; and if you are struggling to make it through under the heavy weight of it all, you are not alone. As always, we should remember we did not ask for any of these hardships. They were given to us for the living of our time. Although it may be hard to see, there is an order to the universe. As the seasons, we must go on to the best of our abilities. Peace. 

P.S. Florida State University is playing Jacksonville State University in football tonight. I'll be rooting for both the Seminoles and the Gamecocks.

REVIEWING THE SCHISMS 

AND THE COURTS

On February 26, 2021, I posted a piece entitled "A Status Report on the Schisms and the Courts." As we await word from the South Carolina Supreme Court, it is appropriate to revisit the legal histories of the five schisms in the Episcopal Church. I am repeating that blog piece below.

One point that brings this back is a recent article in "Juicy Ecumenicism" holding that the Episcopal Church has spent $52 million on the lawsuits coming out of the five schisms. The five schisms were from 2007 to 2012: San Joaquin, Pittsburgh, Quincy, Fort Worth, and South Carolina. 

In the first place, anything in "Juicy Ecumenicism" should be regarded with suspicion. It is a publication of The Institute on Religion and Democracy. Find an article about IRD here . The IRD was founded in 1981 as a right-wing PAC. It soon began to target the mainline Protestant denominations which it viewed as dangerously liberal, particularly for their stands for rights and inclusion of homosexuals and women in the life of the church. In 1996, the president of IRD set up the American Anglican Council specifically aimed at destroying or severely diminishing the Episcopal Church in order to end its "liberal" influence in American society, i.e. equal rights for gays and women. IRD and ACC were not grassroots organizations. They were funded from the deep pockets of various right-wing sources. Thus "Juicy Ecumenicism" should be taken with a grain of salt. It has an agenda.

Anyway, the article said that the Episcopal Church had spent $52 million dollars on the lawsuits arising from the five schisms. It did not venture to say how much the schismatic groups had spent on their legal costs.

Specific figures are impossible to find. The Episcopal Church budget is most forthcoming. However, no diocese has revealed details of all of their legal expenses. We do not know how much has been spent on the litigation.

No doubt, South Carolina has been the most expensive of the legal cases. There, the breakaway organization sued the Episcopal Church for possession of the pre-schism diocese. At the same time, it also became the only one of the five cases in which the local parishes joined individually in the suit. Thus, the people in the secessionist group were faced with two legal expenses, diocesan and parochial. Both the diocese and the parish hired lawyers and took legal actions. Lately, the breakaway diocese admitted spending half a million dollars a year on legal costs. I expect we can double that counting in the individual parishes. If so, the breakaways have spent a million dollars a year on the legal quest against the Episcopal Church. Eight years would equal $8 million. If we say the Episcopal Church side matched the breakaway diocese, we would add $4m. This would mean the two sides in SC have spent $12 million on the lawsuits. I expect that is a fair ballpark figure.

Of course, this vast expenditure did not have to be. In the first place, the reactionary contingent did not have to leave the Episcopal Church. In the second place, the breakaway group refused a compromise settlement in June of 2015. At the time, the Episcopal Church offered to give the breakaways the local parishes in return for the legal rights of the old diocese. The breakaway side flatly refused. I wonder how much money the breakaways have spent since June of 2015 only to see both the state supreme court and the federal court rule in favor of the Episcopal Church.

September is here. That means the South Carolina Supreme Court will be returning to its full schedule of work after its summer lull. Sooner or later, and no one can know which, the SCSC justices will have to rule on the Church's appeal of Judge Dickson's order that handed over all to the breakaways in direct violation of the 2017 SCSC decision. This is where we are now: waiting.

Here is my blog posting of Feb. 26, 2021 concerning the status of the lawsuits:   

A STATUS REPORT ON THE SCHISMS

AND THE COURTS

The settlement of the Fort Worth cases provides a convenient moment to summarize the litigation of the five schisms in the Episcopal Church. From 2007 to 2012, the majorities of the clergy and laity of five dioceses of the Episcopal Church left the Church in opposition to its recent social reforms, particularly equality for and inclusion of open, partnered gay clergy, and equality for and inclusion of women in offices of authority. The affirmation of Bishop Robinson and the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as presiding bishop were specific examples of the reforms that the dissidents refused to accept.

All five schisms went into litigation. Four of them have been settled in court. Only one, South Carolina, is still to be resolved finally. The legal issues boiled down to two main points: whether the local secessionists could take the entity of the diocese with them, and whether the schismatics could retain legal possession of the local church properties. The Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church contained provisions that pertained to both of these issues. Just how strong they were in the view of the law was the question at hand. This was what the courts had to figure out. TEC had incorporated the Dennis Canon in 1979. It declared that all local church properties were held in trust for the Episcopal Church and its local diocese and that if a congregation left TEC the trust would effectuate transfer of the property to the Episcopal Church. So, even if a parish held the deed to the property, TEC had trust control over the property.

Since four of the schisms have been settled in court, what is the score card? Who won? Well,  the answer is a draw. Two cases went to the Episcopal Church and two went to the local secessionists. 

The two that went to the Episcopal Church were Pittsburgh and San Joaquin. However, these were resolved for different reasons. Pittsburgh was a unique case owing to a "Stipulation" that Bishop Duncan made before the schism, in 2005, recognizing that the property held and administered by the diocese would remain under the diocese. In 2010, the judge in the Court of Common Pleas, Allegheny County, following the Stipulation, ordered the breakaway side to turn over all assets to the Episcopal Church diocese. The state appeals court upheld the lower court. The Pennsylvania supreme court refused to take the case.

The case of San Joaquin followed a more conventional path of litigation in the courts. The two sides went to trial in 2014 in the Superior Court, Fresno County. The judge rendered a decision that turned out to be the strongest defense of the Episcopal Church position in any of the five schisms. He declared that the C and C of TEC clearly required conformity of clergy and dioceses. Clergy had no right to act contrary to the C and C and dioceses could not leave the church. He ordered the property to be handed over to the Episcopal Church diocese. The appeals court unanimously affirmed the lower court. The breakaways then went to the California supreme court but that court refused to take the case laving the lower court decision as final.

The two that went against the Episcopal Church were Quincy and Fort Worth. The reasonings of the courts there were similar but not exactly the same. In Quincy, the opinion of the court was the exact opposite of the California courts. Following a trial (Alan Runyan was one of the lawyers for the breakaways), the circuit court judge in Adams County, Illinois, ruled that TEC's C and C did not explicitly create a hierarchy, did not have authority over the dioceses, did not prevent a diocese from leaving the Church, and did not create an enforceable trust in the Dennis Canon. The court followed a very narrow and strict interpretation of state law. In short, the judge recognized the full rights and ownership of the secessionist entity. The appeals court affirmed the lower court. The TEC side went to the Illinois supreme court but that court refused to take the case leaving the circuit court decision as final. This was a sweeping victory for the schismatics.

Ironically, of all five schisms, the one where the Episcopal Church had the strongest position was the one where the Church suffered its strongest defeat. Fort Worth should have been an open and shut case in favor of TEC. It did not turn out that way. Why? The peculiar situation of the Texas courts and the peculiar laws of Texas allowed the secessionists to sweep the field.

The Diocese of Fort Worth had been created in 1983 by division. To enter TEC it had to give explicit accession to TEC's C and C. The Dennis Canon had been added to the C and C four years earlier. This meant at its corporate creation, the diocese explicitly adhered to all the C and C of TEC, including the Dennis Canon. This might have given iron-clad power of TEC over the diocese of Ft. Worth.

The history of the litigation in Texas is as peculiar as the final settlement. It started out in the local court, the 141st District Court. There, the judge ruled all in favor of the Episcopal Church on the basis that the Church was hierarchical. He ordered the turn over of all of the assets and properties of the old diocese to the Church side. The breakaway side then appealed directly to the Texas supreme court. That court ruled that the secessionists had followed state law to withdraw from TEC. Moreover, the court declared that the Dennis Canon could not be enforced because under Texas law a trust could be revoked unless the trust has an explicit provision that it could not be revoked. The Dennis Canon had no such provision, never mind that the nature of a trust should be inherent legally. The state supreme court sent the case back to the lower court with direction to find in favor of the breakways. The district court judge did as he was told but included in his order a virtual demand for appeal.

The TEC side did appeal the district court order to the appeals court. The appeals court justices took two years to compose a masterpiece of jurisprudence. Find my commentary on this here . Find the appeals court decision here . The appeals court decision is a 178-page book carefully and thoroughly spelling out the reasons for its conclusions. In essence, the court ruled that the Episcopal Church is hierarchical and therefore entitled to decide the governance of the diocese. Thus, the Church-backed diocese must prevail. The justices went on to say that the Dennis Canon did not impose a trust since state law required the deed holder to set up a trust and this had not happened. However, the Dennis Canon was irrelevant in view of the fact that the diocese remained under Episcopal Church authority. The properties remained under control of the Episcopal Church regardless of the state law on trusts.

Thus, the Episcopal Church won sweeping victories in district and appeals court, even after the state supreme court had intervened to order the district court to reverse itself. The Texas supreme court was not to be pushed aside, however. The secessionists appealed directly to the state high court which issued a thin, 30-page decision on May 22, 2020. Find my commentary on this here . Find the court's decision here . It was this decision that TEC took to the U.S. Supreme Court which denied cert on Feb. 22, 2021. The TX supreme court decision now stands as the final law of the case.

As opposed to the hefty, thorough tome from the appeals court, the thin, 30 page paper from the Texas Supreme Court was anemic with virtually no substantiating jurisprudence to support its assertions. The decision turned out to be a bundle of contradictions but revolved around the essential charge the justices made the first time, that is, the Dennis Canon could not be enforced because it did not include an explicit provision that it could not be revoked. This, of course, was a thin reed, but it was the one the court ultimately clung to in order to justify their awarding all to the breakaways. In spite of the weakness of their explanation, the authority of the state supreme court prevailed and that decision took precedence over the substantial jurisprudence of the lower courts. 

Thus, Fort Worth, where the Episcopal Church had the strongest case, turned out to be the one where the secessionists won their most sweeping victory. This was because one court, the state supreme court, overruled all of the decisions of the lower courts, and did so on a technicality. One should bear in mind that Texas is one of those states where all justices of the state supreme court are elected at large in the state. Hence, conservative Republicans have had a monopoly on the Texas Supreme Court for two decades. That court is known to be a bastion of conservatism. They certainly showed their attitudes in this case.

With the score of 2 to 2, we arrive at the fifth case, the only one yet to be finally settled, South Carolina. In some ways, the case is similar to the Texas experience, but in more important ways it is upside down. In SC, the local court ruled entirely for the breakaways, giving them the entity of the diocese and the local properties. The TEC side appealed to the South Carolina Supreme Court that essentially reversed the lower court, and recognized Episcopal Church ownership of 29 of the 36 local properties in question plus Camp St. Christopher. The SCSC then remitted its decision back to the lower court for implementation. In this case, as opposed to what happened in Texas, the lower judge refused the order from the SCSC. Instead, he issued a new order reversing the SCSC decision. In Texas, the lower judge had carried out the state supreme court order; and it was this decision that was overturned by the appeals court. So, in SC the lower courts sided completely with the breakaways while the state supreme court favored the Church side, opposite what happened in Texas. The Church side appealed the lower court order to the SC Supreme Court asking the court to overrule the lower judge and enforce the SCSC decision of 2017. This is where the matter stands today.

As with Texas, the heart of the matter in SC is the ownership of the properties. The SCSC ruled that 29 parishes had acceded to the Dennis Canon. The lower courts ruled that no parish had acceded to the Dennis Canon.

Meanwhile, SC was the only one of the five schisms that moved along two avenues of litigation, state and federal courts. In 2013, a few months after the schism, the Church side went to the federal district court for enforcement of the Lanham Act that protected federally registered trademarks. In essence, it asked the federal court to recognize the Church diocese as the legal heir of the pre-schism diocese. In 2019, the district court did just that. It said the Church diocese was the only legal and legitimate heir of the old diocese and forbade the breakaway side from pretending to be the Episcopal diocese. This decision is now on appeal with the federal appeals court in Richmond. However, the decision is in effect since both district and appeals court denied the breakways' request for a stay. (However, the case itself is on stay in the appeals court, pending a decision of the SCSC.)

No one knows, and no one should predict, what the SCSC will do about the appeal now before it. Common sense says they should defend the SCSC decision of 2017 and overrule the nullification attempt of the lower court. In my view, it will depend on whether the state high court justices interpret the case before them as one of jurisprudence or of the culture war. If strictly jurisprudence, they would have to defend the SCSC decision. If they allowed a lower court to overrule the state supreme court, they would upend the entire state judicial system which is a hierarchy. This would usher in nothing but chaos and never ending litigation in the state courts. This would be a mind-boggling outcome. If, on the other hand, they are driven mostly by the culture war, they may find a way to give the properties to the breakaway side although this would seriously weaken the authority of the SC Supreme Court by overthrowing an earlier decision. The point that might make one think they might go down this path is their repeated refusal to order the lower court to enforce the SCSC decision after they ordered a Remittitur.

Thus, SC remains the wild card in this long legal war. Now that both sides have submitted their initial briefs, the SCSC should be moving soon to a decision. The court may hold a hearing or they may go directly to a written decision. Either way, it is reasonable to hope for resolution in this calendar year. Who will be the winner, 3-2, the Episcopal Church or the schismatics? We shall see.

In sum, the litigation revolves around two main points, first, who owns the properties, and second, who owns the pre-schism diocese. The prevailing factor in these is whether the Episcopal Church is an hierarchical organization. The consensus of opinion is that it is indeed hierarchical. Even the Texas Supreme Court agreed. If it is an hierarchy, then neither the dioceses nor the clergy could be independent of the higher authority. The General Convention governs the Episcopal Church and its decisions are contained in the Constitution and Canons. The Dennis Canon is part and parcel of this.

To put all of this in a more meaningful perspective, we have to go back to the origins of the schisms. They were parts of the greater culture war going on in America. For better or for worse (better, I think) the Episcopal Church threw in its lot early on with the side of evolving democracy, that is, the equality and inclusion of all people. TEC became a champion of human rights. A minority of the Church, however, balked at this and insisted the church not grant equality and inclusion of certain people, namely women and homosexuals. Hence, the five schisms. 

The courts have been the only way we have to resolve the questions of legal rights and property ownership. However, the courts are not perfect and there is really no such thing as completely impartial justice. Judges are human beings, like the rest of us, who have viewpoints and opinions of their own. Even though they may try hard to be fair, they see the law through their own individual lenses. And so, we have polar opposite outcomes in courts across America, 2 for the Church and 2 for the secessionists. Imperfect as they are, the courts are all we have to bring the scandalous war between the two sets of former friends to an end. The justices of the SCSC are subject to the same humanity as the rest of us. One side will win and one side will lose in SC. Whatever the outcome, this destructive madness of Christians suing Christians must come to an end. We must live with what we get. Above all, in the end, we must behave as the Christians we claim to be or else we have no right to the name we bear.  

 

A HARBINGER OF THINGS TO COME?

Yesterday the South Carolina Supreme Court spoke, this time on mask mandates in school. The question before us now: Is the latest SCSC ruling a sign of things to come on the Episcopal Church case before the court? Are there tea leaves here to be read? 

Find a news article about the SCSC ruling on masks here . 

In short, the SCSC ruled yesterday that a municipality had no right to overrule a state law. The City of Columbia had mandated that face masks be worn in its public schools. A recent law passed by the General Assembly said no school district could use "any state funds to require that its students and/or employees wear a facemask at any of its educational facilities." Columbia declared it would use local and not state funds for the mandate. So, the question was: Did Columbia violate state law if it used its own funds to carry out the mandate?

Everyone knows that COVID-19 is a major political issue in the United States and has been all along. Many conservatives vehemently oppose both vaccinations and mitigation measures as wearing face coverings in public. Whether school children must wear masks in school has turned into a fight (sometimes literally) in many districts. It is most unfortunate that the nation has allowed a common health emergency to divide us even more. Many southern states have passed laws banning various mitigation efforts, as local mandates on the wearing of masks in school. Something as simple and innocuous as a face mask has become an enormous political issue in South Carolina and many other states.

The opinion of the SCSC was unanimous that a city could not overrule a state law. Justice Kittredge wrote for the court that even if Columbia paid for the mask mandate, the mandate could not be enforced without involving school personnel thereby infringing on state funds and violating the state law. Kittredge's charge was a supposition, logical though it might have been. It was a prediction and not a fact. It seems to me he could just as well have judged that the city could require masks as long as it enforced it with its own, and not state, funds. The court concluded that the city could not do what the city claimed it could do. In my view, this was partiality to the anti-mask party; and the highly unusual gratuitous defense Kittredge and James took in the written decision was clear evidence of such.  

Kittredge went on at length that the court was not taking sides in the mask debate while taking sides in the mask debate. This is similar to the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that rejected a block on the new Texas anti-abortion law while saying it was not taking a stand on the law. Such arguments from the lofty justices are just as disingenuous in Columbia as in Washington. A court's opinions on any case is of itself taking a stand.

Apparently dissatisfied with Kittredge's rather lengthy self-conscious rationalization of the court's decision, Justice James took the unusual step of adding his own wordy and highly defensive claim of neutrality. His assertion of the court's impartiality on the mask debate was even more insistent than Kittredge's. Me thinks he doth protest too much, to paraphrase a famous quote. Why would supposedly impartial judges need to tell us they were impartial?

Although all fives justices agreed the city had to obey state law, they divided three to two on the politicization of the issue. Justice Hearn, backed by Chief Justice Beatty, held that "the majority characterizes this conflict as a debate between parental choice and government mandates." She went on, this "puts an unnecessary political gloss on the issue before the court." It seemed to me she was saying the court was making a scarcely veiled defense of the anti-maskers and attack on the maskers. This would be taking sides in spite of conspicuously insistent claims of judicial impartiality. 

There is the problem of the day:  Was the SC Supreme Court siding with one political force against another, albeit under the guise of neutrality in enforcing state over municipal law? Hearn and Beatty thought so. 

This is the issue that must concern us today: How will this SCSC approach the Episcopal Church's appeal of Judge Dickson's order awarding all to the breakaway entity? Will it take this as a political issue, as Hearn said they did on masks, or a purely legal issue? 

The difference here is monumental and will determine the legal resolution of the schism. The SCSC is about to decide who winds up with the bulk of the local properties. If the justices see the church case basically as a political issue, this conservative panel will side with the conservative party in this dispute. That means they would allow Dickson's order to stand. This would finally leave the 29 parishes in question and the Camp in the hands of the Anglican Diocese. The Anglican Diocese is committed to blocking equal rights and inclusion of women, non-celibate gays, and the transgendered in the life of the church. It is the "conservative" side in this dispute. The Episcopal Church, on the other hand, is committed to equality for and inclusion of women, gays, and the transgendered in the life of the church. 

However, if the justices ultimately see the case as one of legal integrity, they would uphold the 2017 SCSC decision that awarded the 29 parishes and the Camp to the Episcopal Church. They would redirect the circuit court to implement this decision. If they allow a circuit judge to overrule a state supreme court decision, they would throw the entire SC judicial system into chaos. They would establish the precedent that a lower court could overrule the state supreme court. The ramifications of this would be mind-boggling.  

So, it boils down to whether the South Carolina Supreme Court sees the church case as one of the culture war or of the rule of law. The two are not at all the same, in fact, contrary in this case.

One major complication at hand is that only four justices will decide this case (unless a fifth "acting justice" has been quietly brought in). Justice Hearn has recused herself. The specific issue on the desk is the appeal of Dickson's decision. With four justices to decide, a two-to-two draw will leave the Dickson order intact. The Anglican side will win if it gains two or more of the four votes. On the other hand, the Episcopal side must get three or more votes to overturn Dickson. 

At this point, I would say the Episcopal side has the harder challenge. And, the SCSC's new ruling on the mask mandate  may well indicate that the court is ready to wade into the church fight on the conservative side, even as they protest loudly that they are scrupulously impartial. If they do, they will have to go through complicated contortions to defend their revocation of a final SC supreme court decision. I, for one, cannot imagine how they could successfully do that. 

 LEGAL TRAVESTY IN TEXAS

The Texas Supreme Court has rendered a disastrous ruling for the Episcopal Church, and all on a small technicality. This is a monumental travesty of justice.

On May 22, 2020, the TSC ruled entirely in favor of the schismatic diocese of Fort Worth. Virtually the entire pre-schism diocese was handed over to the breakaway party. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to take the case. Thus, the secessionists now have the name, legal rights, and practically all the local properties (a few more to be settled). Moreover, on August 28, 2021, announcement was made that, following mediation, the Episcopal Church had paid the schismatic diocese a whopping $4.5m to cover the breakaways' legal costs. Except for a few "satellite suits" this ends the litigation surrounding the old diocese of Ft. Worth. It was a complete victory of the schismatics and withering defeat for the Episcopal Church.

The breakaway entity now has the title "The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth" even though it has no connection to the Episcopal Church. Many of its local churches are keeping "Episcopal" in their titles even though they have no connection to the Episcopal Church. The diocese is proclaiming itself a constituent member of the Anglican Communion even though it is not part of the Anglican Communion. It is a member of the Anglican Church in North America which is not now, never has been, and almost certainly never be part of the Anglican Communion. The travesty continues.

The continuing Episcopal Church diocese has taken the name "The Episcopal Church in North Texas." Local congregations, driven out of their churches, are scrambling to find appropriate meeting places to continue on the true Episcopal Church in the region. Many people in SC can relate to this. 

All of this is because one court ruled on one technicality. That court was the Texas Supreme Court. The local court and the appeals court in Texas had all sided with the Episcopal Church on the basis of hierarchy. The diocese was a dependent part of a national institution which had sovereignty over the local dioceses. 

The technicality the high court used was that the Dennis Canon could not be enforced in Texas because state law said a trust could be revoked unless it expressly stated that it could not be revoked. In the May 22, 2020 decision (p.10) the justices wrote:

Regarding the existence of a canonical trust, we held that "even assuming a trust was created as to parish property by the Dennis Canon," trusts are revocable under Texas law unless they are expressly made irrevocable and "the Dennis Canon 'simply does not contain language making the trust expressly irrevocable.'"

Such a law is absurd. The trust by its existence automatically holds legal power. It should not have to say it is law, as no law should have to say that. It is implicit in the existence of the trust, or the law. The Texas law means that a trust is only a suggestion unless it is registered with an explicit provision that it cannot be revoked. I wonder if any other state has such a ridiculous law on its books.

Thus, the Texas high court ruled entirely in favor of the secessionist diocese even though the court recognized the hierarchical nature of the national Episcopal Church. To them, state law trumped hierarchy even though the diocese had joined the Episcopal Church in 1982 explicitly adhering to the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church (including the Dennis Canon). 

Why did the Texas Supreme Court follow this narrow path? One has to bear in mind that this court is well-known as a solidly conservative Republican bench. All justices are elected state wide. For many years, all justices have been avowedly conservative Republicans. That is saying a lot in Texas.  

The schisms of 2007-2012 in the Episcopal Church were important parts of the culture war still going on in America (and arguably stronger than ever). The Episcopal Church championed equal rights and inclusion of women, homosexuals, and transgendered persons in the life of the Church. All five breakaway entities rejected all of that and joined a new church explicitly created to keep women, gays, and the transgendered from rights and inclusion. It should be no surprise to anyone that the Texas Supreme Court would come down so strongly on the reactionary side of the schismatic movement just as they have done and are doing on many other aspects of the culture war. At least they are consistent.

What does this mean for South Carolina? Hard to tell at this point. The SC Supreme Court is also conservative and no doubt impressed by the Texas ruling. However, two of the five justices of the SCSC are new to the church case and it is impossible to tell now what their attitudes towards this case may be. In terms of law, SC does not have the same trust restriction as Texas. In fact, the SC Supreme Court ruled in 2017 that 29 of the 36 parishes in question had acceded to the Dennis Canon and this meant that, at the schism of 2012, the Episcopal Church became the owner of the local properties. The SCSC remitted this decision to the local court for enactment.

Contrary to Texas, the local court in South Carolina rejected the state supreme court decision and ruled on the contrary, entirely in favor of the breakaways. This outrageous order is on appeal at the SCSC now. If the conservative SC high court wants to take a stand in the culture war for the reactionary side, it will have to find a way to rationalize the circuit court's rejection of its own 2017 decision. Although common sense says the SCSC will uphold its own decision, one should not rule out the power of the culture war in judicial decision making. 

The Texas high court found a technicality to devastate the "liberal" Episcopal Church. I, for one, am not assuming the South Carolina high court will not find some way to do the same. If so, it would be another travesty of justice in more ways than one.

We are all anxiously awaiting word from the SC Supreme Court.

DIOCESE OF UPPER SOUTH CAROLINA ANNOUNCES NOMINEES FOR BISHOP

The Episcopal and Anglican dioceses in eastern South Carolina are not the only dioceses seeking new bishops these days. The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina is too. It recently announced its slate of nominees for bishop's election. Find it here .

There are five names on the list:

---Furman Buchanan, St. Peter's, Greenville SC.

---D. Seth Donald, St. Michael and All Angels, Lake Charles LA.

---Thomas A. Lacy II, St. Anne's, Tifton GA.

---Daniel P. Richards, Christ Church of the Ascension, Paradise Valley, AZ.

---R. Jemonde Taylor, St. Ambrose, Raleigh NC.

First, note they are all men. Bucking the trend in episcopal elections these days, no woman made it to the list. A bit surprising.

There are four white men and one African American man. All are rectors of parishes.

Only one of the names is resident in the diocese. Apparently, he is the only one with "roots" in the diocese.

According to the timeline, the "Walkabouts" for the nominees will be on 11 and 12 September. 

The election of the bishop will be on 25 September, at Trinity Cathedral, in Columbia. Hopefully, it will be live-streamed.

Curious to note only four weeks' time between the announcement of the nominees and the election.  

Even though the upper diocese was not involved in the schism of 2012, it was, and still is, uniquely important to the Episcopalians in the lower state. The outstanding Bishop of USC, Andrew Waldo, made a heroic effort to keep the peace in the lower diocese before the break, to no avail. The pre-determined movement to schism was well beyond his, or anyone else's influence. Sadly, Waldo's best efforts to prevent schism failed.

The state of South Carolina is divided into two Episcopal Church dioceses: the Diocese of South Carolina is the eastern half of the state and the Diocese of Upper South Carolina is the western half. 

I suppose everyone has heard the rumors that the lower diocese of SC may reunite with the upper diocese (there was only one diocese before 1922). As far as I can tell, there is no evidence to support such rumors. One should fully expect the Diocese based at Charleston to continue on as its own entity. The incoming bishop is evidence of this. 

UPDATE NOTE. I have been informed by the DUSC office that both walkabouts and the election convention will be live-streamed. The details about these will be posted soon on the diocesan website.

NOTES, 30 AUGUST 2021

Greetings, blog reader, on Monday, August 30, 2021. We are inundated with bad news these days: wars, plagues, earthquakes, storms, you name it. Sometimes it seems it is all too much to bear. 

In Afghanistan, we see heartbreaking scenes of terrified and desperate people about to be left behind. Tomorrow is the last day of the American military presence there. It gives me no pleasure to remember I predicted this scenario twenty years ago when the U.S. started this misbegotten adventure. Throughout history, no outside force has ever controlled Afghanistan, from Alexander the Great to today. The U.S. attempt was always bound to fail. We just did not see it doing so in such an ignoble and terrible way. This is a dark day for America and even darker for the people of Afghanistan.

The COVID-19 plague still ravages the world, and America in particular. We are now in the third great surge of the pandemic. In some places, as Alabama, this is the worst surge of all. Every hospital in the state is in crisis. There is not a single ICU bed free in the entire state, still, after weeks. The state's health care system is on the verge of breakdown. Yet, vaccination rates remain stubbornly low, mainly in our southeastern states. Alabama still brings up the rear, at 37.9% of the people fully vaccinated. South Carolina is at 43.1%. The U.S. as a whole is over 50%. I go out in public only for necessities.

In the last fourteen days, the plague has worsened in SC: new cases up 48%, hospitalizations up 54%, and deaths up 169%. Alabama seems to have hit a (very high) plateau with +36% cases, +17% hospitalizations (no room left), and +28% deaths.

In addition to all of this, Hurricane Ida slammed into the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts yesterday. My brother and sister in Bay St. Louis MS weathered the storm in my sister's house, on high ground. She has not lost electricity. However, there was a strong storm surge of water; and, as of this morning, my brother has not been able to get back to his house which stands on stilts on a water front. He does not know yet whether water reached the floor of the house which is fourteen feet above sea level (Update. He has learned that the storm surge did not reach the floor of his house, whew). The diminished storm is now heading my way as we anticipate a great deal of rain.

On top of all of that, my family member who went to the hospital nearly two weeks ago is still there. The person is making good progress and I expect will be discharged soon. Still, no visitation is allowed in the age of Covid.

So, in the face of this deluge of woes, I search desperately for good news. I refuse to be vanquished by adversity even though the burden may seem too heavy to bear. Some items of good news are the efforts of the two diocese in South Carolina to move forward into the future. One has chosen a brand new leader, and the other is about to do so. This is hopeful. There are better days ahead in SC. Same at the Advent in Birmingham where "normal" corporate worship is gradually returning. There, the search for the new dean seems to be progressing nicely. All of this is good. 

I think we should bear in mind, as we have for a year and a half now, we did not ask for any of this. It fell in our laps. We wish it would all go away and leave us alone but it will not. These adversities were given to us in the days of our lives that were allotted to us. As Job, we had no choice. Our choice now, is to respond in the best way we know, just as Job did. We must not be overwhelmed by these hard times. Peace.

NOTES,  20 AUGUST 2021

Greetings, blog reader, on Friday, August 20, 2021. This has been a tough week in many ways. There is no point in trying to pretend otherwise. We are in a hard time both at home and abroad and we must endure what we wish we could avoid. We did not ask for this, but here we are.

PANDEMIC. Getting worse by the day, particularly in our southeastern states. 

South Carolina is on track to surpass the worst peak of the pandemic of last January. Find the chart for SC here . In the last 14 days, cases in SC were up 53%, hospitalizations 87%, and deaths a staggering 366%. In all, 10,182 South Carolinians have fallen victim to the coronavirus. Stop for a moment and let that sink in.

In spite of the terrifying sweep of the virus, South Carolinians remain vaccine hesitant. While in the United States, more than half the population has been fully vaccinated, in SC the figure is 41.9%.

In Alabama, the emergency is even worse. Find the chart for AL here . In the last 14 days, AL has seen 33% more cases, 59% more hospitalizations, and 228% more deaths. AL is now at the same level of infection as the highest peak of last January and on track to exceed that point greatly. In all, 11,914 Alabamians have died in this plague. Pause for a moment in remembrance.

In spite, or at least in full disregard, of this terrifying health emergency, Alabamians remain the most vaccine hostile of all Americans. The state has the lowest rate of the fully vaccinated, at just 35.8%.

Now that school is back in session, all indications are that the pandemic will worsen, at least in our local states. I know two children who returned to school greatly excited to be back after a year and a half out. A few days on, this kindergartner and third grader tested positive and are now at home in quarantine. They are not happy campers. No one would be.

On top of the world-wide plague comes the humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan. Who can watch the pictures on television from Kabul without heartbreak? Countless thousands of terrified and desperate people, men, women, and children, are risking life and limb to escape from a ruling force infamous for its harsh and murderous tactics. We all want to help the people trying to flee but can only look on in horror. And, on top of this, we weep at the ghastly scenes of the earthquake in Haiti. One may wonder what more can the Haitian people endure. It is one hardship after another.

So, the news this week has been especially hard to take: plagues, wars, earthquakes. Yet, we must go on and do so with the courage and faith we claim. 

Finally, at long last, the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina has a diocesan bishop. Ruth Woodliff-Stanley took up residence in Charleston last Monday. All Episcopalians in South Carolina should shout at once, Welcome Happy Morning! To be sure, she is not officially in office. Her ordination and consecration will be on 2 October at Grace Church Cathedral, in Charleston. The Standing Committee sent out a letter this week announcing a scale back of the festivities. The ceremony will still be at Grace on the 2nd, but with highly limited seating. The church holds 600-700 people but with "covid" spacing can accommodate perhaps half that. The attending bishops, diocesan clergy, and local delegates should have priority. This will not leave much space for others. Thankfully, the event will be live-streamed. I plan to stay home and watch on my computer.

The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina is likewise forging ahead. They have scheduled a "walkabout" for their three candidates in preparation for the election of the bishop to follow Mark Lawrence. Both parts of the pre-schism diocese are bravely moving forward with new leadership.

On a personal note, in RE to my last blog past, my family member who is in the hospital is doing well. However, under "covid" rules of the hospital, I cannot visit.

So, we are in a hard time. Let's just accept that grim reality. The question is how we cope with all this adversity. We do it in different ways. As a student of history, I am drawn to the hard times of the past for information and inspiration. Lately, I have returned to the Second World War in books and TV documentaries. Eric Larson's recent bestseller "The Splendid and the Vile" is an excellent account of Churchill and Hitler. The moral won over the immoral but only after a superhuman effort. We are in a situation now that, although it does not come close to the seriousness of WWII, still calls for our own superhuman efforts. We must go on. As Churchill, we will go on. 

Indeed, life does go on, at least in my garden now in its late summer  mode. For whatever reason, dragon flies are abundant now. Here is a male Window Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa) with its beautiful black and white markings. The beauty of God's great creation is all around us, even in the humble dragon fly. Peace.

  

MY VISIT TO THE E.R.

On yesterday, 17 August 2021, I had to visit the Emergency Room of a local major hospital on a matter completely unrelated to COVID-19. I needed to get a family member admitted to the hospital for a relatively minor problem and the admission had to be done in the E.R. I thought you might find my experience in the E.R. interesting and/or useful if you should need to go to the E.R. these days.

My stay in the E.R. lasted six hours. This was relatively short according to my waiting-room mates. One had been there fifteen hours, others nearly as much. The place was packed and movement was fast-paced. Ambulances formed a parade as they backed into the bays to discharge their sick riders. After each ambulance pulled out, it stopped and the attendants disinfected the entire inside of the vehicle. I could not tell how many of the incoming were COVID patients but I knew many of them were.

There was a separate waiting room for the COVID patients adjacent to the main room, but patients had to come and go through the main room. One incoming patient was so weak she had to be brought in on a stretcher and laid out on chairs as a makeshift bed while a room was found for her (she was still there hours later when I left). Apparently hospital rooms were in very short supply. In fact, on yesterday every single Intensive Care Room in the state of Alabama was taken. There was not one free bed in an ICU in the state. There were no tents set up outside at this hospital, but I would not be surprised to see them soon.

The main waiting room had two large air purifiers in the middle of the room going full blast. I sat as close as I could to one. Of course, everyone is required to wear face covering at all times. 

I was lost in admiration of the staff members who were run ragged but refused to show it. The doctors, nurses, attendants, all the way to the janitors did heroic service in the E.R., all at risk to themselves. All of us owe them a big debt of gratitude. I honestly do not know how they hold up under this day after day. 

Intake procedures have become much more involved and complicated in the E.R. during COVID-tide. Incoming patients are checked repeatedly for vital signs. They were also given other tests and scans and chest X-Rays. There must have been a half-dozen steps involved in these checks. This alone ate up hours of time.

Finally, my family member was admitted to the hospital and was taken to the appropriate unit (incidentally, doing well today). I was dismissed and fled from the place as fast as I could. Six hours had seemed as an eternity.

So, after all this time of exposure to numerous people with COVID, I will be fortunate indeed if I do not come down with this terrible disease. I have had my two shots of Moderna. If I am invaded by the coronavirus, I should have a relatively minor bout. I am counting on this.

My advice to you, do not go near an Emergency Room unless it is a dire necessity. It will likely be overrun with COVID patients who will remain in the E.R. for a long time as rooms are found for them. Although the hospital may go to great lengths to protect incoming patients and their attendants, there can be no absolute protection in this kind of radioactive environment. Too, as everyone knows, the new Delta variant is far more contagious and damaging than the original strain of the coronavirus. It is the predominate strain nowadays.

We are  now in the third great surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is getting worse by the day particularly in our southern states. I have seen it first hand and it is not a pretty picture. God help us.     

 

NOTES,  13 AUGUST 2021

Greetings reader, on Friday, August 13, 2021. This is a convenient moment to check in on the crises in our lives we have been following for a long time. So, how do we stand now?

PANDEMIC. Our early summer of joy is turning into our late summer of trauma. The plague is rapidly worsening, particularly in our southern states. We are now in the third great surge of the pandemic. Moreover, this spike is on track to be the worst of all. Find the chart for South Carolina here . In the last 14 days, SC has seen +123% in cases, +161% in hospitalizations, and +186% in deaths. According to the chart, this third spike is rising faster than either of the earlier two. The future looks grim. 

Alabama's chart looks even worse. Find it here . There, cases are up 65%, hospitalizations 112%, and deaths 213%. Hospitals all over the state are overflowing with covid patients, even children (some in ICU on ventilators). According to the graph, within the next two weeks, AL will be in the midst of its worse surge of the plague bypassing the horror of last January. It is a nightmare.

As everyone knows, this new phase is the pandemic of the unvaccinated. However, children under 12 cannot be vaccinated. In our southern states, vaccine hesitancy is becoming vaccine hostility. In the United States as a whole, 50.4% of the population is now fully vaccinated. In SC, it is 41.4%. AL is in the very last place, still, at just 35.1%. 

In trying to understand this vaccine hostility, I have studied the map of vaccination rates among the Alabama counties. In the first place, contrary to common belief, rates are not based on race. The counties across the Black Belt (named for soil not people, but inhabited mostly by African Americans) have relatively high vaccination rates. In fact, there is a direct correlation of vaccinations and voting. The "redder" the county, the lower the vaccination rate. This shows that the pandemic is seen by many people in AL as a political rather than a health issue. The most conservative Republicans are the most resistant to vaccines and masks. This is a shame and disgrace; and Alabama is paying a terrible price for this collective lunacy.

SCHISM IN SC. Nothing new. Still waiting on the SC Supreme Court to make a decision on the Episcopal Church's appeal of Judge Dickson 2020 order. I doubt that we hear anything from the SCSC before the end of summer.

THE ADVENT. Happy to report that the clergy and Staff of the Episcopal Cathedral of the Advent, in Birmingham AL, are continuing to work on implementing the Covenant recently signed by the vestry and the bishop of Alabama, Glenda Curry. As one small but important symbolic gesture of healing, the Episcopal Church flag has returned to the front doors. It has been gone so long, no one can remember how long. The previous deans had tried their best to remove names, signs, and symbols of the Episcopal Church (from the Episcopal cathedral).

My thanks to the thoughtful correspondent who made this photo and shared it with me. 

____________________________________

A couple of other happy notes for the day. 

Today is International Lefthanders Day. Happy ILD to my daughter Elizabeth and all the other lefties out there. Today is your day. I must hasten to say you are in very good company indeed. Many of the greatest geniuses of history were lefthanders:   Napoleon Bonaparte, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Aristotle, Mozart, Julius Caesar, Marie Curie. Closer to home, how about Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the greatest Alabamian of all time, Helen Keller.

On another happy note, tomorrow, my wife Sandy and I celebrate our fifty-fifth wedding anniversary. We were married on August 14, 1966, at the Chapel of the Resurrection, Ruge Hall, in Tallahassee. Although we had been born and brought up in Pensacola and our families were well-connected there, we wanted to marry in our new church home. As students at FSU, both of us had been confirmed in the Episcopal Church at Ruge. So, fortunately for us, lots of family and friends made the drive over to Tallahassee for the day. We were exceedingly honored and grateful that they joined us in celebrating our special day. The Rev. Lex Matthews, chaplain, was the officiant. (After the wedding we drove, that day, to Orlando where I was to start a job teaching at a junior college.)

Ruge Hall stands across the street from the old campus of Florida State University. This building was constructed in 1931 as the Episcopal student center. Behind it, out of sight in this picture, is the Chapel. It was built in the 1950's in moderne/minimalist style.

So, we are remembering fifty-five years. There is a lot to be said for long-term relationships. Through thick and thin, we would not have wanted it any other way.

So, life goes on and we go with it. We are still in a dark night of crisis on crisis. No one knows where all of this is going. I have always believed it best we did not know the future. However perilous the seas around us now, we are all in this ship together. No one is alone. Peace.

R.I.P.   BOBBY BOWDEN

For years during my academic career, when people learned that I had been educated at Florida State University, the first words that came out of their mouths were "Bobby Bowden." Everyone in the south knew his name. Bowden died two days ago. A legend has passed.

When I first went to FSU in 1963, it had 11,000 students and was a respectable but not great university, always overshadowed by the larger University of Florida. Today, FSU has over 40,000 students and a world-class academic reputation. Strange to say, it was football, and Bobby Bowden specifically, that made this come about. 

Bowden was at FSU from 1976 to 2009. All the while he led the football program in a stellar record. He became the second winningest coach in college football history. As the other great southern coaches, e.g. Bear Bryant, Bowden was not just a football coach, he was a life mentor and the young men who were privileged to serve under him became his "sons." He, as Bryant, taught his sons ethical and moral values as a way of life. Bowden was a devout Southern Baptist and long-time devoted member of the First Baptist Church of Tallahassee. He took his Christian faith very seriously.

Until 1947, FSU was the state's "girls' school," Florida State College for Women. After WWII, the GI Bill sent countless thousands of veterans to college and FSCW turned into co-ed FSU. The History Department quickly flourished with young professors from far and near. When I was there, 1963-1971, my professors came from the Sorbonne, Harvard, Johns Hopkins and the like. I was fortunate beyond measure to be guided by an A-list team.

My graduate work was rigorous. I had to show proficiency in two foreign languages and mastery of five fields, four of history and one outside of history. My Ph.D. exams, preliminary and final, written and oral, were exceedingly demanding and went on for weeks. I managed to get through and then faced the hurdle of a dissertation (doctoral thesis). Since my major field was French Revolution and Napoleon, I had to go to France for months of research, then to compose and defend a lengthy original composition on an aspect of the period. I finished and successfully defended my 333-page dissertation exactly fifty years ago. My brilliant major professor, Donald D. Horward, a world authority on Napoleon, is still alive and well, in Tallahassee. My gratitude to him knows no bounds.

Back to Bobby Bowden. Outstanding faculty did not put FSU "on the map." Bowden did. With him, money started pouring in and the university expanded beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Of course, this kind of explosion was not limited to FSU. It has occurred repeatedly across the south.

So, a good life has come to an end, but in another sense goes on ever greater. We southerners are known for the "three F's," faith, family, and football, and not in any particular order. Bobby Bowden was the quintessential examplar of our three F's at their best. He made us southerners proud, made us FSU alumni proud, and made us Christians proud. RIP, Bobby Bowden. 

ZAC HICKS LEAVING THE ADVENT

The Rev. Craig Smalley, interim dean of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham AL, released a letter this afternoon, via Advent Communications, announcing the departure of the Rev. Zac Hicks from the Advent. Hicks's last day will be Sunday, 15 August 2021. The parish will hold a reception for Hicks and his family on that day. Find the letter here .

The letter did not provide any details on how this decision came about.

Hicks, a clergyman in an evangelical Presbyterian denomination, was hired several years ago as canon in charge of worship at the Advent. He did not gain Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. For one, he led the "praise band" (the hootenanny band) which will remain for the time being as part of the 9:15 a.m. service, along with organ and choir.

One will recall that, upon the departure of the Rev. Andrew Pearson as dean, on May 16, Hicks produced a half-hour video denouncing Rite I in the Book of Common Prayer as "anti-Christ." He called for the continuation of Pearson's "Our Liturgy" in the Advent's Sunday morning worship services. The vestry refused Hicks and concluded the Covenant with Bishop Glenda Curry. The Covenant included provisions returning only prayer book worship to the cathedral services. Pearson's liturgy is to be phased out. Hicks's shocking video was soon deleted, but, at least as of recently, could still be found on the Internet.

Hicks's future remains unclear although Smalley indicated Hicks, his wife Abby, and their four children would remain in Birmingham for now. One can only wonder what the relationship between Hicks and Andrew Pearson will be as Pearson is busily building a new congregation in the Birmingham area.

I expect the departure of Pearson and Hicks will affect the Advent in two significant ways. In one, a certain but unknown number of Advent parishioners who were fondly attached to the two will leave the parish to follow Pearson in his new church. Although one cannot tell at this point how many people will quit the Advent, so far there does not seem to be a stampede out.

Perhaps most importantly, the theological tenor of the Advent is likely to move back toward the mainstream of the Episcopal Church. Pearson and Hicks had led the parish to the far evangelical edge, arguably beyond the edge, of Episcopalianism/Anglicanism in their zeal to move to more Protestant religion. 

Nowhere was this more apparent than in the liturgy of the Holy Communion/Eucharist. Far evangelicals, and many Protestants, consider this service just a symbolic remembrance. However, in traditional Episcopal/Anglican religion, the Eucharist is much more than a remebrance. It is a transformative event. When the priest consecrates the bread and wine, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ becomes part of the elements. Communicants receive the Real Presence as they receive the bread and wine. All consecrated bread and wine must be consumed or held in reserve. What is held in reserve is placed in the Ambry (wall box) and the Sanctuary Lamp over it is lit to signal the Real Presence. I expect at the Advent we will see a return to the more mainstream norms common in the Episcopal/Anglican churches. If so, this will be the most consequential outcome of the personnel shakeup going on now.    

NOTES,  6 AUGUST 2021

Greetings, blog reader, on Friday, August 6, 2021. We are in the Dog Days of summer now. This is not my favorite time of the year. By this point, we southerners have grown weary of the hot and humid weather we have endured for months on end. Even worse, the mockingbirds do not sing at this time of the year. They are molting. My garden is still in its lush summer mode but noticeably transcending into its early fall phase as daylight wanes. Meanwhile, it is time for us to check in on the crises we have been tracking for many months.

PANDEMIC. The euphoria we felt at the arrival of the vaccines a few months ago has vanished. In fact, we are now in the ghastly third surge of the pandemic. The first peaked in July of 2020, the second in January of 2021. The third, we are in now, is still skyrocketing with no end in sight. If tends continue on for several more weeks, this will be the worst surge of all. By all metrics, this plague has surpassed the great flu pandemic of 1918-19. More horrifying of all is the new reality that variants of the original coronavirus are now spreading like wildfire bringing much more contagious and deadly conditions. Scientists have no idea how many more variants will appear or how bad they will be. We are all on edge.

The United States is now counting 631,879 deaths, according to Worldometers, bypassing the 600,000 who died in the flu pandemic of a century ago (when there was no vaccine). 

The figures for our southern states are disheartening. South Carolina is listing 631,037 cases and 9,939 deaths. While the rate of fully vaccinated is now over half in the U.S. (50.5%), SC is reporting only 40.9%. The present surge is very clear in SC: in the last 14 days, cases up 270%, hospitalizations +156%, and deaths up 32%.

Alabama is reporting similar figures. Of all 50 states plus D.C., AL has the lowest fully vaccinated rate, at 34.6%. AL is listing 599,633 cases and 11,574 deaths. In the last 14 days, cases have arisen 145%, hospitalizations +162%, and deaths +100%. A few days ago, my local hospital in Anniston reported four deaths in one day from COVID-19, the most ever. It is clear in SC and AL, the pandemic is surging out of control. As children and teens are returning to school, we can expect this to get even worse.

Unfortunately, much of the trouble stems from the politicization of this pandemic that has been going on since day one. Public health crises should never become political issues, but this one has. This is a national disgrace. Nothing says this more than the case of Florida, the new epicenter of the plague. There the governor has actually banned mandates to mitigate the spread of the virus. The governor is running to be the next Trump and he thinks this is the way to do it. Meanwhile just look at the appalling statistics coming from the state. If one looks at the charts, one sees that this third surge is already the worst of all three in FL. Florida has a history of bad state government, but this is no excuse for this incredible dereliction of duty in Tallahassee.

SCHISM IN SC. Still waiting on the SC Supreme Court to rule on the Episcopal Church's appeal of Judge Edgar Dickson's outlandish order of 2020. I doubt that we will hear anything from the court until summer is over. Meanwhile, we have no choice but to stand by until the justices move. Remember, it took 22 months last time for the court to go from the hearing to the written decision. We have not had a hearing yet on this go-around and I rather doubt we will have at this point. 

Meanwhile, both parts of the old diocese are moving ahead with new leadership. Incidentally, be sure to read Steve Skardon's insightful description of the Episcopal diocese's election. Find it here .

Two points need to be made here. The first is that the old diocese has settled down into two parts. The hope and expectation I held long ago that the two sides wold reconcile and reunite has faded away. The anti-Episcopal Church vitriol among the breakaways is as strong now, if not stronger, than it was a decade ago. This may well be a defensive strategy to mask, or rationalize, the disastrous decisions of the schism. Nevertheless, I think the Episcopal side should accept the reality that the majority of people in the breakaway congregations will not return to the Episcopal Church.

The second point is that both parts of the old diocese have consciously and decidedly rebuffed their old leadership in favor of new faces. The Episcopal diocese elected a bishop who had nothing at all to do with the history of the diocese, and in the interviews showed remarkably little knowledge of or interest in the schism. The Anglican diocese likewise nominated three candidates who had little to nothing to do with the schism. 

It is entirely clear both dioceses want new leadership, and new life. I suspect this comes from a weariness with the schism. In a couple of months, it will have been nine years since the division of 2012 occurred. Even after countless court actions and millions of dollars spent, sadly there is no closure on the legal front. The Episcopal Church won in both state and federal courts. In state court, the SC Supreme Court awarded the bulk of the local properties to the Episcopal side. However, the breakaways convinced the circuit judge to ignore this and to hand over the properties to the local congregations. The Episcopal side is now in the SC Supreme Court with an appeal of the circuit judge's mind-boggling order. In federal court, a district judge in Charleston recognized the Episcopal Church as hierarchical and the Episcopal diocese as the one and only heir of the pre-schism diocese. The schismatic side then appealed this to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, where it remains awaiting a decision of the SC Supreme Court. So, after all these years of legal warfare, people are simply exhausted and ready for new life. I suspect that explains the two elections for bishop.

THE ADVENT. The leadership of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham AL, is trying its best to restore calm in the parish after the storm of the Pearson years. The Rev. Andrew Pearson, dean of the Advent until May, has not departed Birmingham. Quite the contrary, he and his spouse are busy organizing a new congregation. Pearson sent a letter to some parishioners of the Advent inviting them to join him. He has also set up a number of meetings this month obviously to encourage people to join his new church. No doubt, the concern in the Advent is how many parishioners will leave with the former dean who certainly had a devoted following of Adventers during his tenure at the cathedral.

So, here in the dying days of summer in the year 2021, we are surrounded by crisis on crisis. If you are growing fatigued of all of this, it is perfectly understandable. We long so much for life to return to "normal." Yet, this is not to be, not for the foreseeable future. Please remember, no one asked for all of this. It was given to us in our hour to live. We had no choice. What we should do now is respond the best we can in this hour of adversity. When all of this is over, we must be able to say we passed through as the people of faith we claimed to be. Peace.

Ginger (Hedychium "Beni-oiran'). This beautiful and aromatic specimen came from Hawaii, brought back by my phenomenal county agent who travels the world in search of unusual plants. Ginger is typically a tropical plant, but there are kinds that endure the winters we have.

Unusually generous rain and mild weather have resulted in a robust and lush garden this year. When I feel a bit troubled, I have only to go to my garden. In the Bible, life began in a garden (Eden) and, in a sense, ended in a garden (Gethsemane). Indeed, the first person to encounter Jesus after the Resurrection, Mary Magdalene, at first thought he was the local gardener. The wonders of God's great creation are all around us if we can only see them.