Anglican Diocese of South Carolina
Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul
Location
Ecclesiastical provinceAnglican Church in North America
Statistics
Congregations50 (2022)[1]
Members18,007 (2022)[1]
Information
RiteAnglican
CathedralCathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, Charleston
Current leadership
BishopChip Edgar
Website
https://www.adosc.org/

The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina (ADOSC) is a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). The diocese covers an area of 24 counties in the eastern part of the state of South Carolina. In 2019, it had 18,195 baptized members and 47 parishes.[2] The see city is Charleston, home to the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul.

The Anglican Diocese formed in 2012 when the historical Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina (EDOSC) split into two groups after a long period of conflict over theology and authority within the Episcopal Church. Bishop Mark Lawrence and a majority of the members of the historical diocese left the Episcopal Church but continued to claim diocesan property, including church buildings, and to be the continuation of the historical diocese. The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina joined the ACNA in 2017.

A minority of the members of the historical diocese remained affiliated to the Episcopal Church and called themselves the Episcopal Church in South Carolina. This group also claimed the right to the name and property of the historical diocese, including the property of 36 parishes who left. On April 20, 2022, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that 22 of the 36 parishes would keep their property. However, the court ruled that the other 14 parishes and the St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center were the property of the Episcopal Church in South Carolina and must be returned.[3]

On September 19, 2019, a federal court ruled that the trademarks and names "Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina" and "Diocese of South Carolina" were owned by the Episcopal Church and its affiliates in the state. Following this decision, the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina adopted its current name. In 2022, a final ruling of the South Carolina Supreme Court awarded eight parish properties from the ADOSC to the EDOSC, and the two dioceses agreed to settle all remaining litigation over diocesan property, names and seals, with the EDOSC retaining the name, seal and most of the property.[4]

History

Establishment (2012–2013)

With tensions growing between the historical diocese and the larger Episcopal Church, that diocese's standing committee passed two corporate resolutions on October 2, 2012. The resolutions were designed to conditionally disaffiliate the diocese from the Episcopal Church and also call for a special diocesan convention. These resolutions were to take effect if the larger church took disciplinary action against Bishop Lawrence or other diocesan leadership.[5] Bishop Lawrence was notified on October 15, 2012, by the Presiding Bishop that on September 18 the Disciplinary Board for Bishops had certified his abandonment of the Episcopal Church, thus ostensibly triggering the two resolutions passed earlier.[6]

The special convention was held in Charleston at St. Philip’s Church on November 17, 2012. The convention voted to affirm the disassociation and amend the diocesan constitution and canons to remove all references to the Episcopal Church.[7] The Diocese of South Carolina was the fifth diocese voting to leave the Episcopal Church in a trend known as Anglican realignment.[8] The diocese's actions were supported by the steering committee of the primates of the Global South of the Anglican Communion and by the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans.[9][10] The steering committee also recognized Lawrence as a bishop over a diocese "within the Anglican Communion."[11]

In contrast, the Episcopal Church denied the legitimacy of these actions, stating that its canon law does not allow a diocese to unilaterally withdraw from the Episcopal Church.[12] The church re-organized leadership for its continuing diocese of parishes that wanted to remain within the Episcopal Church.[13] On January 26, 2013, that continuing diocese held a special convention to elect Charles G. vonRosenberg, retired Bishop of East Tennessee, its provisional bishop.[14] The Episcopal diocese was known by the name "Episcopal Church in South Carolina" during a 2013-2019 legal dispute over the rights to use the name "Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina."

Joining ACNA (2014–2017)

At its annual convention in March 2014, the diocese voted to join the global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. It also voted to accept temporary "primatial oversight" from Anglican Communion bishops in the Global South, an action which Bishop Lawrence stated brought it "an extra-provincial diocesan status, gracious oversight from one of the largest ecclesial entities within the Communion."[15] According to the Anglican Communion's official website, the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina is not part of the Anglican Communion and does not have extra-provincial status.[16]

The diocese held a two-day meeting in April 2015 at St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center examining "possible compatibility" with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).[17] An "Affiliation Task Force" recommended affiliation with the ACNA at the diocesan convention on March 12, 2016. The affiliation would have to be approved by two future conventions of the diocese.[18]

The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina voted unanimously to affiliate with ACNA at their annual Convention, held in Summerville, on 11 March 2017. ACNA's Provincial Council voted unanimously to formally receive the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina at ACNA's Third Provincial Assembly, meeting in Wheaton, Illinois, on 27 June 2017.[19][20][21]

Litigation (2013–2022)

After leaving the Episcopal Church, the diocese sued to retain ownership of more than $500 million in church properties, the 314-acre St. Christopher Camp, and the Diocese of South Carolina name and registered trademarks. On February 3, 2015, a South Carolina Circuit Court judge ruled that the Anglican diocese was entitled to the property and the historical name.[22][23]

The Episcopal Church appealed, and the South Carolina Supreme Court issued a complicated decision on August 2, 2017.[3] Each of the five justices wrote separate opinions. Two justices would have returned all property in dispute to the Episcopal Church. Two justices would have upheld the 2015 ruling. The Dennis Canon (a 1979 Episcopal Church bylaw requiring parishes to keep property in trust for the national church) was an important element in the case. The court found that seven parishes never consented to the Dennis Canon and would be allowed to keep their property. The other 29 parishes were determined to belong to the Episcopal Church. The court split on the issue of who owned the name Diocese of South Carolina, leaving that portion of the 2015 decision in place.[22]

First Circuit Judge Edgar W. Dickson was assigned to implement the 2017 decision. On June 19, 2020, he ruled that the 29 parishes could also keep their property, and the Anglican diocese retained ownership of St. Christopher Camp. In his clarification of the multiple Supreme Court opinions, Dickson explained, "the Dennis Canon by itself does not create a legally cognizable trust, nor does it transfer title to property".[24] The case was appealed, and the state Supreme Court issued its final ruling on April 20, 2022. It examined each of the 29 parishes individually to determine if they expressly agreed to the Dennis Canon. It found that 14 parishes did agree to the Dennis Canon and must return their property to the Episcopal Church. The other 15 parishes never agreed to Dennis Canon and keep their property. The court ruled that diocesan property belonged to the Episcopal Church.[3] On August 17, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled on rehearing that an additional 6 Anglican congregations could keep their property.[25] This ruling left eight parish properties set to be returned to EDOSC: St. John's Episcopal Church on Johns Island, Christ Church in Mount Pleasant, St. David's Episcopal Church in Cheraw, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Charleston; St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Hartsville; St. James Episcopal Church in James Island, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Fort Motte, and Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Charleston.[26] (In October 2022, without a critical mass of Episcopalians to restart a congregation, Woodliff-Stanley agreed to sell St. Matthew's Episcopal Church to the ADOSC congregation.[27])

The state Supreme Court declined to rule on the ownership of diocesan trademarks, leaving the matter to be resolved in federal court. As of 2022, the district court had ruled in the Episcopal diocese's favor,[28] but an appeal was pending in the 4th Circuit.[3]

Conclusion of litigation (2022)

Chip Edgar, who had been consecrated as the ADOSC's new bishop succeeding Lawrence in 2022, began mediation with EDOSC Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, who had been consecrated in 2021, to discuss a resolution to the disputes between the dioceses in spring 2022.[29] On September 26, 2022, Edgar and Woodliff-Stanley jointly announced a settlement between the dioceses. While the settlement did not affect remaining issues regarding the property rights of three parishes still pending before the state Supreme Court or a betterments lawsuit by several parishes pending in state trial court, "it does resolve all remaining issues regarding diocesan properties." As part of the settlement, St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center on Seabrook Island was transferred from the ADOSC to the EDOSC on October 1, 2022.[4] Under the settlement, the ADOSC also transferred the bishop's residence in Charleston, additional diocesan-owned real property in Charleston and Santee. The EDOSC waived claims to the ADOSC's leasehold interest in the diocesan headquarters. Historical papers in ADOSC possession will be made available for copying by both dioceses and then donated to the South Carolina Historical Society or another mutually agreed nonprofit; similarly, historical silver in ADOSC without a claim by a parish will be donated to the Charleston Museum or another mutually agreed nonprofit. Bishops' portraits in the possession of ADOSC will be copied and then transferred to EDOSC.[30]

Both the ADOSC and the EDOSC agreed to provide quitclaim deeds to ADOSC church plants whose properties were not subject to orders in the litigation. They also agreed to dismiss pending litigation in federal court over diocesan names and seals, leaving the EDOSC as the owner of the historical name and seal. “This settlement agreement allows us to invest our diocesan energy, time, focus, and resources in gospel ministry rather than litigation," Edgar commented. "While the losses we have experienced, including those of St. Christopher and several of our parish buildings are painful, I am grateful that the work we have done has brought an end to litigation between our dioceses."[30]

Bishops

These are the bishops who served the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina since its formation in 2012.

  1. Mark Lawrence (2012–2022)
  2. Chip Edgar (2022–present)

Parishes

Notable parishes in the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina include:

Church Image City Year founded Year completed Notes
St. Philip's Episcopal Church (Charleston, South Carolina) Charleston 1681 1836 Oldest Anglican congregation south of Virginia
Old St. Andrew's Parish Church Charleston 1706 1706 Oldest church building in South Carolina; oldest church building in the Anglican Church in North America.
St. James Church Goose Creek 1706 1719
Parish Church of St. Helena Beaufort 1712 1724
Prince George Winyah Parish Church Georgetown 1721 1747
Church of the Redeemer Orangeburg 1749 1855
St. Michael's Anglican Church Charleston 1751 1761 Oldest church building in downtown Charleston
Trinity Church Edisto 1770 1876
Church of the Holy Cross Stateburg 1788 1852
Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul Charleston 1810 1815 Diocesan cathedral
Church of the Holy Trinity Grahamville 1824 1858
Church of the Cross Bluffton 1842 1857
Christ Church Florence 1843 1859
Church of the Holy Apostles Barnwell 1848 1857

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Congregational Reporting: 2022 in Review" (PDF). Anglican Church in North America. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  2. ↑ "2019 Parochial Report Statistics" (PDF). Anglican Diocese of South Carolina. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Dennis, Rickey (April 20, 2022). "SC Supreme Court Rules Some Breakaway Churches Must Return Properties to Episcopal Diocese". The Post and Courier. Charleston, SC. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Gryboski, Michael (September 26, 2022). "Anglicans, Episcopal Church reach settlement on yearslong $500 million property dispute". Christian Post. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Excerpt from October 2, 2012, minutes of the Diocese of South Carolina Standing Committee and Board of Directors meeting. Accessed January 7, 2013" (PDF). Diosc.com. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Episcopal Church Takes Action Against the Bishop and Diocese of SC" Archived 2014-10-29 at the Wayback Machine, Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, accessed October 17, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Special Convention Approves Canonical and Constitutional Amendments Regarding Disassociation" Archived 2012-12-01 at the Wayback Machine (November 17, 2012). Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.
  8. ↑ McLeod, Harriet (November 17, 2012). "South Carolina Episcopalians break away from U.S. church". Chicago Tribune. Accessed November 18, 2012.
  9. ↑ Letter from the Global South of the Anglican Communion to Bishop Mark Lawrence, 14 December 2012. Accessed January 7, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans Letter of Support" (PDF). Diosc.com. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  11. ↑ ""Steering Committee Primates of Global South Recognize Lawrence's Legitimate Episcopal Oversight," Diocese of South Carolina, 14 December 2012". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  12. ↑ Episcopal News Service (November 15, 2012). "Presiding Bishop's Pastoral Letter to Episcopalians in South Carolina" Archived November 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ↑ "Fact Sheet: The Diocese of South Carolina" (November 9, 2012). The Episcopal Church. Accessed November 18, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Charles vonRosenberg elected Provisional Bishop" Archived 2012-12-30 at the Wayback Machine, the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina (continuing). Accessed January 27, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Convention Wrap-up: Diocese Formalizes Worldwide Anglican Ties". Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  16. ↑ Anglican Communion Office. "Anglican Communion: Member Churches". Anglican Communion Website. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Anglican Church in North America". anglicanchurch.net. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  18. ↑ Conger, George (March 13, 2016). "South Carolina Considers ACNA Affiliation during 225th Diocesan Convention". Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Anglican Church in North America". anglicanchurch.net. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Anglican Church in North America". anglicanchurch.net. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  21. ↑ Hunter, Joy. "Diocese of South Carolina - Diocese of South Carolina Received by the Anglican Church in North America". Diocese of South Carolina. Archived from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  22. 1 2 Hawes, Jennifer Berry; Parker, Adam (August 2, 2017). "State Supreme Court rules The Episcopal Church can reclaim 29 properties from breakaway parishes". The Post and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. Archived from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Court rules breakaway SC Episcopal churches can keep $500 million in property" Archived February 4, 2015, at archive.today (February 4, 2015), The State. Accessed February 4, 2015.
  24. ↑ Dennis, Rickey Ciapha (June 22, 2020). "SC Judge Rules Breakaway Diocese in Episcopal Split Can Keep Properties". The Post and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. Archived from the original on April 24, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  25. ↑ Dennis Jr, Rickey Ciapha (August 17, 2022). "SC Supreme Court says 6 congregations that left Episcopal Church can keep properties". Post and Courier. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  26. ↑ "South Carolina Supreme Court reversal blocks transfer of 6 churches to Episcopal diocese". Episcopal News Service. August 19, 2022. Archived from the original on September 11, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  27. ↑ Woodliff-Stanley, Ruth (November 5, 2022). "A Word From Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley About St. Matthew's, Fort Motte". Anglican Ink. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  28. ↑ "Episcopal Church wins federal trademark suit". Charleston Regional Business Journal. October 1, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  29. ↑ Dennis, Rickey Ciapha (April 22, 2022). "SC bishops discuss 'new season' after high court splits breakaway church properties". The Post and Courier. Archived from the original on August 20, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  30. 1 2 "Details of South Carolina settlement announced". Anglican Ink. September 29, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2022.

Further reading

  • Caldwell, Ronald J. (August 2017). A History of the Episcopal Church Schism in South Carolina. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock. p. 530. ISBN 9781532618857.
  • Childs, Margaretta P.; Leland, Isabella G. (October 1983), "South Carolina Episcopal Church Records", The South Carolina Historical Magazine, 84 (4): 250

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