Hoping for reconciliation, church offers to settle South Carolina lawsuit

Posted Jun 15, 2015

[The Episcopal Church in South Carolina press release] Episcopalians who are seeking to end the bitter legal battle over church property in eastern South Carolina have presented a settlement agreement to a breakaway group, offering to let 35 parishes keep their church properties, whether or not they choose to remain part of The Episcopal Church.

In exchange, the proposal would require the breakaway group to return the diocesan property, assets and identity of “The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina” to the diocese that is still affiliated with The Episcopal Church.

“From the beginning of this dispute, we have hoped for reconciliation with people in the churches affected by this sad division,” said the Rt. Rev. Charles G. vonRosenberg, bishop of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina. “We see this offer as the strongest possible way we can demonstrate that.”

(See below for a list of the 35 parishes included in the settlement proposal.)

The offer was made with the consent of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, and was presented to attorneys June 2. No response has been received.

Leaders of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina have made reconciliation a key goal since the beginning of this dispute. Discussions about releasing the parish properties have been going on since early 2013, a few months after the split occurred.

“In a situation like this, where there has been so much grief and misunderstanding caused by the actions of a few, we pray that a gracious response to those who are now separated from us will hasten the day when we can be together as one unified diocese again,” vonRosenberg said.

If accepted, the offer would end the legal dispute that began in January 2013 when the breakaway group sued The Episcopal Church, and later its local diocese, seeking to control both diocesan and parish property and the identity of the diocese. It also would resolve a federal lawsuit currently before the U.S. District Court in Charleston.

The Episcopal Church in South Carolina reorganized the diocese in early 2013 and operates with a part-time staff and a sharply reduced budget funded primarily by contributions from the 30 remaining Episcopal congregations. Meanwhile, the diocesan assets have been in the control of the breakaway group led by Mark Lawrence, who was bishop in 2012 when he announced the diocese was leaving The Episcopal Church.

The breakaway organization is now operating separate from any larger religious body. The Episcopal Church in South Carolina remains part of The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.

In February, a state court judge awarded the properties and identity of the diocese to the breakaway group. Episcopalians have appealed to the South Carolina Supreme Court; oral arguments are set for September 23.

In preparing the settlement offer, diocesan leaders worked closely with Episcopalians who had been members of breakaway parishes and were left without church buildings in which to worship when the split occurred. Most have moved ahead and created new Episcopal congregations, and gave their blessing for the settlement offer to be made.

“Buildings are important, but what is most important is the people who are in them,” Bishop vonRosenberg said. “It is the people that we long to welcome back into The Episcopal Church once again.”

Churches included in the settlement proposal
(All these parishes are plaintiffs in the lawsuit against The Episcopal Church and The Episcopal Church in South Carolina)
All Saints, Florence
Christ Church, Mount Pleasant
Christ the King, Waccamaw
Christ-St. Paul’s, Yonges Island
Church of the Cross, Bluffton
Epiphany, Eutawville
Good Shepherd, Charleston
Holy Comforter, Sumter
Holy Cross, Stateburg
Holy Trinity, Charleston
Old St. Andrew’s, Charleston
Church of Our Saviour, John’s Island
Prince George Winyah, Georgetown
Redeemer, Orangeburg
Resurrection, Surfside
St. Bartholomew’s, Hartsville
St. David’s, Cheraw
St. Helena’s, Beaufort
St. James, James Island
St. John’s, Florence
St. John’s, John’s Island
St. Jude’s, Walterboro
St. Luke’s, Hilton Head
St. Luke and St. Paul, Charleston
St. Matthew’s, Darlington
St. Matthew’s, Fort Motte
St. Matthias, Summerton
St. Michael’s, Charleston
St. Paul’s, Bennettsville
St. Paul’s, Conway
St. Paul’s, Summerville
St. Philip’s, Charleston
Trinity, Edisto Island
Trinity, Pinopolis
Trinity, Myrtle Beach


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Comments (1)

  1. Paul Lustig says:

    Episcopal Church will lose. Wait and see how many churches and dioceses pull out from this suspensions and if TEC does not repent. Will go broke in months and ACNU will buy up the properties.

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