Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We are delighted to share the news that Reverend Dr. John D. “Jady” Koch has accepted St. Luke’s call to be our next rector! We know that with your continual prayers for us along with guidance from the Holy Spirit, God has truly blessed us with this decision!

Jady’s initial letter to us, which accompanied his application, stated “my passion to bring people to the love and knowledge of the Lord and to help strengthen and encourage the faithful has only grown, and I gladly and with great joy bring that experience, knowledge, and passion to any position I have been called to serve.” This bold statement certainly intrigued us as it aligns directly with St. Luke’s mission statement “to know Christ and to make Him known.” We invited him to answer the Written Response questions as to his next step. In those answers, he addressed such issues as his interest in St Luke’s being a place where people are hungry for faithful, consistent, courageous Bible teaching, and preaching. So many of his personal qualities, skills, and ministry priorities support our expectations of a new Rector and the desires that YOU expressed in the listening sessions, surveys, and in our Parish Profile. The search committee was struck by the powerful depth of Jady ‘s relationship with God. His faith is obvious and authentic. During the Zoom interview, his wife Liza joined him in responding and expressing their priority in ministry. It was clear from the Zoom interview that building relationships are central to their ministry. Invariably, when answering different questions, they both would return to the theme of growing a stronger, wider faith community by building individual relationships and that hospitality is a prime force in forming bonds between brothers and sisters in Christ. They each recognize that we at St. Luke’s are a family not only seeking this with one another but also seeking it within our community and beyond into the world. In other words, missions and outreach are critical to us. You may remember that after the Zoom interviews, several members of the Rector Search Committee visited candidates at their home churches to hear them preach. During the visit to Jady’s church, Christ Church in Mt. Pleasant, Search Committee members not only heard Jady preach the Sunday sermon but also sing with the Worship and Praise team after he finished his Sunday morning Bible study. They had the opportunity to meet all five of his lively and beautiful children! Following that wonderfully blessed time, the Search Committee decided to invite Jady and Liza to visit St Luke’s and meet the staff. This 3-day visit was very insightful for many reasons. There were several meet-and-greets and question-and-answer sessions with different groups. We were impressed not only with how Jady answered our many questions, but more importantly by the questions that he asked of us and how intently he listened to our responses. He has an approachable and inclusive style able to discern the gifts and strengths of each individual that he meets and desires to empower those people to an even more effective ministry.

We believe that Jady will bring us strong leadership and guide us to a renewal of faith in God and in each other.

Our welcome and transition team will now swing into action to be ready for the arrival of the Koch family on August 1st to settle into our island community. As the time gets closer, we will have more details on how you can meet Jady, Liza, and their family. You may want to learn more about Jady’s background and faith by visiting www.jadykoch.com or www.standfirminfaith.com

In His Holy Name,

Your [Saint Luke’s] Search Committee,

John Evans, Chair
Norm Galloway, CoChair
Judy Pugatch, Communications Coordinator
*Beth Meeder
*Nancy Henty
*Bill Peacher
Keith Tillman
Mike Blackshire
Sarah Brigham Partlow
*Robyn Zimmerman
*Denotes Vestry Member as well as RSC
Your Vestry Members
(see above)
Jim McGuirk, Rector’s Warden
Kent James, People’s Warden
Elizabeth Glick
Mike Mitchell
Jim Legg
John Austin
Sarah Tillman
Gleaves Rhodes

Jady Koch, Rector of St. Francis in the Fields (Kentucky), will be our noonday preacher Thursday and Friday. Before coming to St. Francis, he worked in the Church of England’s Diocese in Europe, first at St. George’s Anglican in Berlin and then at Christ Church Vienna in Austria. pic.twitter.com/Y6UW2qhInr

— Cathedral Church of the Advent (@CathedralAdvent) February 22, 2018

On April 20, the state’s top court ordered that 14 of the 29 congregations that split from the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina were to hand over the properties to the Episcopal Church. It appeared that the court’s decision put an end to a decadelong legal battle over the ownership of dozens of church properties valued at roughly $200 million.

But in a stunning development Tuesday, the state’s top court did not deny petitions for rehearing submitted by seven of those churches. Instead, the court requested that the Episcopal Church respond by June 20 to the arguments made by the seven parishes.

The court’s order gives hope to some of the breakaway parishes, which fall within the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina umbrella, that they could, in fact, retain their valuable religious facilities.

“We are encouraged by the recent development from the South Carolina Supreme Court and are buoyed by the hope that seven more of our parishes might keep their properties,” said Bishop Chip Edgar of the Anglican Diocese. “But in all these legal matters, we are keeping our eyes focused on our Lord Jesus and the work he has called us to — to glorify God in worship and in our lives, to proclaim his name, to build up the church, and to love our neighbors as Christ loves us.”

Read it all.

Following a recent order by the S.C. Supreme Court, some congregations that broke away from the Episcopal Church are optimistic they could end up keeping their properties after all.https://t.co/ChwBx95dEB

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) June 9, 2022

From there:

Columbia, S.C. (June 8, 2022) – Yesterday, in welcome news for the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, the South Carolina Supreme Court released an order concerning the eight petitions for rehearing filed by parishes of the Diocese. For seven of those congregations, the court requested that the Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC) submit a return by June 20 responding to the arguments made by the seven parishes. The issues TEC and TECSC must address are: 1) the effect of subsection 62-7-602(a) of the South Carolina Code making all trusts created after Jan. 1, 2006 revocable, and 2) the argument that no trust was created by accession language incorporated in governing documents prior to 1979. Based on the April 20 ruling, these parishes maintain they did not create a trust interest in favor of TEC or TECSC and therefore, should retain ownership of their properties.

The parishes whose petitions for rehearing are included in the Court’s request are: the Church of the Holy Cross (Stateburg), the Church of the Good Shepherd (Charleston), the Church of the Holy Comforter (Sumter), St. Jude’s Church (Walterboro), Old St. Andrew’s (Charleston), St. Luke’s Church (Hilton Head) and Trinity Church (Myrtle Beach). The petition for Christ Church (Mt. Pleasant) was denied in its entirety. The people of the Diocese are encouraged to keep these parishes, the Supreme Court and its continued deliberations in their prayers.

In Christ’s Service,

The Rev. Canon Jim Lewis
The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina
Anglican Church in North America

#Southcarolina Supreme Court Moves Petitions for Rehearing Forward for 7 of 8 parishes in the historic Anglican Diocese https://t.co/DYZ9xoJKen #anglican #parishministry #religion #lowcountrylife #law #ethics #stewardship #history pic.twitter.com/2OaVO4j7kX

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) June 8, 2022

There is also still more there.

Flower pedals from the oculus of the Roman Pantheon on the Feast of Pentecost pic.twitter.com/YSPQL4X2wB

— Ryan Haecker (@RyanHaecker) May 23, 2021

St. John’s Chapel on the east side of Charleston starting giving out ring cameras in 2018. They wanted to help solve crime on the east side.

So far, they have given out around 70 cameras and hope to give out about 80 more.

St John’s Chapel works to stop crime on the east side through doorbell cameras. (WCIV)

“As a community we must stand together. I think it’s a rally and cry right now for the community to do that,” said Reverend Matthew Rivers of St. John’s Chapel.

Read it all.

In the News: St. John's Chapel has been providing security cameras to their neighbors—free of charge—to stop crime in their neighborhood. Details: https://t.co/EBlNEGToTi Contact The Rev. Matthew Rivers, Rector of St. John's Chapel, to assist! #StJohnsChapel #ABCNews4 #ADOSC pic.twitter.com/t4T6YdH6Cz

— Anglican Diocese of SC (@anglican_sc) June 2, 2022

South Carolina’s cities are fueling a 1.4 percent increase in the state’s population as younger residents leave rural communities for opportunities in bigger markets, leaving the smaller areas with fewer residents and greater labor force concerns.

The state’s population has grown to 5,190,705 people, recent Census Bureau data shows — up from 5,118,425 residents in July 2021.

Most of the population growth took place in 26 of the Palmetto State’s 46 counties located closest to South Carolina’s biggest cities. At the same time, populations are gradually shrinking in rural areas, particularly those in the southern and eastern parts of the state, said Dan Ellzey, executive director of the state’s Department of Employment and Workforce.

The most significant population declines were in Sumter and Orangeburg counties, where 366 and 177 residents, respectively, left in the past year.

Read it all.

South Carolina’s cities are fueling a 1.4 percent increase in the state’s population as younger residents leave rural communities for opportunities in bigger markets. https://t.co/j7GgVTYZ1Z

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) June 1, 2022

A pregnant woman, a 17-year-old girl and a Charleston police officer were among 10 people hospitalized after a mass shooting at a late-night Memorial Day party in the city’s East Side neighborhood, authorities said.

Four people remained in critical condition the afternoon of May 31, Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds said at a news conference. No deaths have been reported, and police indicated the pregnant woman did not lose her baby.

A police officer came under fire after responding to a noise complaint around 11:40 p.m. at 41 South St., Reynolds said.

Two bullets struck his police cruiser as he took cover and called for backup, Reynolds said. The officer was not shot, but he suffered minor injuries from shattered glass. At least one bullet was found lodged in the headrest of the squad car, police said.

Read it all.

A pregnant woman, a 17-year-old girl and a Charleston police officer were among 10 people hospitalized after a mass shooting during a late-night Memorial Day party in Charleston’s East Side neighborhood, according to authorities. https://t.co/RFtPCggBci #chsnews #scnews

— Caitlin Byrd (@MaryCaitlinByrd) May 31, 2022

There is also still more there.

John Constable's Ascension (1822), one of only 3 religious paintings by the great Suffolk artist, was painted as an altarpiece for Manningtree church but now hangs in an aisle at Dedham – relegated, like all Georgian church art it seems, to a subordinate position pic.twitter.com/E4IiIScP9V

— Dr Francis Young (@DrFrancisYoung) May 13, 2021

As we take steps in response to the recent ruling of the South Carolina Supreme Court, we ask you to keep in mind that every property, every circumstance, every congregation, every timetable is unique. We covet your prayers for our leaders, our congregations, our legal teams, and all involved as each seeks to listen for God’s direction and respond in ways that both glorify God and build up the church.

Read it all.

The Latest Edition of the #Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina Enewsletter https://t.co/oW4QpWlDbU #parishministry #religion #law #transition #lowcountrylife pic.twitter.com/7k7FMcSGZI

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) May 26, 2022

SINGLETON: How many other people are thinking this kind of thing? It’s scary, especially because I’m trying to stop this stuff from happening. And it’s kind of demoralizing, honestly, you know, when it continues to happen.

HANSEN: But Singleton says he won’t let another racist attack shake his faith. He’s now headed to Buffalo to speak with schools where children have lost family members. He remembers the confusion he felt as a college student, robbed of his mother and left to raise his two siblings.

SINGLETON: And so if I could just be of any support to them, just sharing the things that have helped me out, with realizing it’s OK to cry.

HANSEN: Singleton still hopes he can change even one misguided mind by setting an example as a Black man who’s lost a loved one to racism but does not hate. He was supposed to visit Buffalo schools last year but couldn’t make it. The suspect would have still been in high school. Singleton worries he missed an opportunity.

SINGLETON: If he would have realized that everybody has a family and they’re loved and we didn’t choose the very thing that he hates us for, I hope it would change his heart.

HANSEN: It’s a message he shares during public talks.

Read it all.

ICYMI – @VHansenSCRadio was on Weekend Edition, sharing the story of Chris Singleton…who's made it his mission to root out racism one person at a time. https://t.co/B0oKQEcX9V pic.twitter.com/z9J9CZ1DTY

— SC Public Radio (@SCPublicRadio) May 23, 2022

Read it all:

“To my beloved brothers and sisters in Buffalo, New York. It is with a heavy heart that I pen these words to you, your families, and the surrounding community. As the senior pastor of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston S.C., we can relate to your hurt, pain, and anger; the congregation of Mother Emanuel was in the same place almost seven years ago.

For the last six years, I have personally watched how God continued to strengthen our community and I know that He will do the same for yours. However, it does not negate the reality of your pain, and the testimony of the empty seat of your loved ones. Please know that as you mourn, we mourn with you, and will be here for you if you need anything. In closing, I leave you with the following words that are found in Psalm 121 verses one and two, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

May the God of Heaven continue to strengthen you today, tomorrow, and always. In The Strength of The Lord

-Pastor Eric S C Manning

STATEMENT REGARDING BUFFALO SHOOTING FROM MOTHER EMANUEL AME CHURCH IN CHARLESTON S.C. – Charleston Daily – https://t.co/gGgkjmKkBa#MotherAME #CHSnews #Statement #racism #charlestondaily pic.twitter.com/kaWp0PkBHx

— Charleston Daily (@ChuckTownDaily) May 18, 2022

Listen to it all or there are others ways to do so there.

The Lord has called me to a new ministry, a ministry which He has been preparing me for nearly 5 years. A ministry in the academy to young scientists and their professors. On April 13, I accepted the position as Lecturer in Geology at the University of Tennessee. Just a week later, on April 20 as you know, the Supreme Court ruling came down and not in our favor. I do not fully understand the Lord’s timing in this, but I must believe that it is good, and true and sure.

And I am encouraged in this by knowing that your Wardens and Vestry are ready and able to lead in the interim and to discern the nature of the next pastoral leadership for St. John’s Parish Church. I have seen the giftedness of this special vestry in recent months and you, the people, are all in very good hands.

My position begins at the University of Tennessee on August 1, so there are about two months or so before Beth and I, and Beth’s Mom, June, make the move to Knoxville. I must add that since the Lord has been growing this new call, both of my daughters have returned to Knoxville, and, as you all know, my granddaughter Ellie was born there. I had no idea of this 5 years ago, just as you all have no idea of the great blessing that will be poured out on you in the months and years ahead. “All will be well. All manner of things will be well.”

Read it all.

Greg and Beth Snyder are leaving the #Anglican diocese of #SouthCarolina to head to the University of #Tennessee https://t.co/Hir0PDAXR7 #parishministry #religion #johnsisland #lowcountrylife pic.twitter.com/n97W1LHklt

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) May 12, 2022

There is also still more there.

"The Incredulity of Saint Thomas" by Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, c. 1601–1602. In the Sanssouci Picture Gallery/Museum, Potsdam, Germany pic.twitter.com/Scr43iM0IS

— Pictures of Churches (@ChurchPictures8) July 3, 2019

This week, after much prayer and discussion as well as consultation with legal counsel, the Trustees and the Standing Committee of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina unanimously decided not to seek a rehearing of the April 20 opinion from the South Carolina Supreme Court. Many of the parishes have reached this same conclusion, although eight* of those named in the lawsuit filed a petition yesterday for rehearing, based on their specific and unique circumstances. Several questions remain about how this decision will be implemented, including that of the betterments statute, which may have implications on how these issues are finally resolved.

Nevertheless, we are preparing for the next steps in bringing this dispute to a resolution and charting a creative path forward for the entire diocese, especially our affected parishes and our summer camp. These ministries will continue. Ministry does not depend upon geography as much as it depends upon the faithfulness of the Lord and the Spirit working in the people of God.

This news will no doubt be met with mixed emotions. While we are thankful that many of the parishes in the lawsuit have retained their property, we grieve as we face the loss of sacred spaces where generations have worshipped and met Jesus.

In his pastoral letter, Bishop Edgar reminded us that “the ministry of this diocese to a confused and broken world is dependent on God’s mercy and call, not on our property and resources.” This truth does not lessen our grief, but we grieve as a people with hope (1 Thess 4:13). God remains faithful, Christ still sits on the throne, and our mission remains clear – to proclaim the death, resurrection, and Lordship of Jesus. We will continue to do so boldly, even as we grieve, certain of our strong bonds of fellowship and the Easter hope of the resurrected Christ.

The Rev Tyler Prescott, President

The Standing Committee
The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina
Anglican Church in North America
126 Coming Street
Charleston, SC 29413

tylerp [at]goodsamaritansummerville[dot] org

* Parishes filing Petitions
1. Christ Church, Mt. Pleasant
2. Good Shepherd, Charleston
3. Holy Comforter, Sumter
4. Holy Cross, Stateburg
5, Old St. Andrews, Charleston
6. St. Jude’s, Walterboro
7. St. Luke’s, Hilton Head
8 Trinity, Myrtle Beach

We welcome our new Bishop, the Rt Revd Chip Edgar, who was consecrated March 12, 2022. Let's pray regularly for our new bishop, his wife and family and labor alongside him to produce fruit in the vineyard to which we're called. View the service: https://t.co/4dRKj3inei pic.twitter.com/ShByUuXRIk

— Anglican Diocese of SC (@anglican_sc) March 13, 2022

From there:

The state Supreme Court got it right, and the state Supreme Court got it wrong when it came to the opinion issued last week regarding the former Episcopal Church parishes in South Carolina.

The court got it right when it quoted the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1979 case of Jones v. Wolf: “(The) constitution of the general church can be made to recite an express trust in favor of the denominational church.”

The state Supreme Court got it wrong when it relied upon the canons — not the constitution — of the Episcopal Church to determine that some of the parishes had “acceded” to the Dennis Canon.

Anyone who looks at the constitution of the Episcopal Church will find no provision in it addressing trusts for real estate owned by any church.

Such language is in the canons, which are analogous to an entity’s bylaws or operating rules, of the Episcopal Church but not in the constitution of the church, as required in the Jones v. Wolf decision.

The language was put into the canons because adopting those is a much simpler process that can be accomplished quickly.

ROBERT M. KUNES

South Carolina Supreme Court divides the babyhttps://t.co/PRC8oR4jqh pic.twitter.com/wCeIc8cce3

— Anglican Ink (@anglicanink) April 22, 2022

As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received: with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In light of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, I believe it is imperative that we spend time together, to grieve with those who have lost, to rejoice with those who have won; to pray and encourage one another in the Lord, and to prepare ourselves as a diocese to meet the days ahead.

To that end, we will gather in The Cathedral from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26 to worship, pray, and take counsel together.

Read it all.

He starts a little past 20 minutes in.

The sermon starts some 32 minutes in.

There is also still more there.

Wednesday after Easter …..
Painting by Rembrandt – Christ at Emmaus ,1648
Louvre pic.twitter.com/o8c3hiWMat

— anisja rossi (@anisja_rossi) April 20, 2022

The unanimous decision announced on April 20, 2022 by the South Carolina Supreme Court fulfilled (by its unanimity) at least one of the predictions made in the previous post on this blog after the oral arguments last December. Unanimity, however, in this instance served not to resolve thorny issues of South Carolina law, but rather sent a strong signal that the collective Justices were circling their wagons around their own, in a somewhat transparent attempt to recover the Court’s dignity lost in the fiasco created by its disgraceful disunity in 2017.

The result (reached by implicit design) can, alas, bring peace to neither of the litigating factions. Applying extremely arbitrary criteria of its own devising, the Court decided that of the twenty-nine individual parishes before it, fourteen (by the documents they adopted) allowed the nationwide trust specified in the Dennis Canon to be applied to their properties, while fifteen did not. The hair-splitting on display here is best illustrated by the following passage from footnote 12 of the main opinion by Justice Few:

The analysis of whether Holy Cross, Stateburg satisfied the second element discussed above—intent to create a trust—is the same as our analysis for St. Paul’s, Bennettsville, but the outcome of the case for the two Parishes is different. This is because Holy Cross, Stateburg took affirmative present action in its 2011 Bylaws to “accede[] to the . . . Canons of the [National Church],” but St. Paul’s, Bennettsville merely stated it was “organized under” and “subject to” the Canons.

This strained construction transforms the English word “accede” (“join in, agree and consent to”) into a poison pill that forever dooms the property of the parish using it to belong to the national Church rather than to the parish itself and its members — the latter are entitled to make use of their own property only for as long as they agree to remain with the sinking ecclesiastical shipwreck that is the current Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

The construction has acquired its severity by a questionable legerdemain performed by Justice Few and his colleagues.

Read it all.

A Pastoral Letter To The Clergy And People Of The #Anglican Diocese Of South Carolina in the light of today's #SouthCarolina Supreme Court ruling https://t.co/v6zbK37lCk #law #history #parishministry #religion #lowcountrylife pic.twitter.com/YF8TGr2604

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) April 20, 2022

From there:

A Petition for Sunday Prayers

Gracious God, every morning your mercies are new, and your faithfulness is great. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us, comfort us in our losses, and fill us with a desire to serve each other in these challenging days. Make known your will and plan for us as we seek to follow the path you prepare.

Lord in your mercy…

Beautiful circumhorizontal arc over Bennettsville right now. 📸 via Connie Freeman. #scwx #ncwx pic.twitter.com/wiVS6P0BVs

— Ed Piotrowski (@EdPiotrowski) April 21, 2022