The Rev. Fred Ochieng, Vicar of Emmanuel Church in the Shaurimoyo Parish in the Anglican Diocese of Maseno South, Kisumu-Kenya, invited those present to take steps to form relationships with brothers and sisters in his area. “Pray for us,” he said. “Be our friend. Relationships are more important than anything. Consider coming for a mission. Be a sender. Consider supporting us financially.” Ochieng stressed that while his congregation is seeking to be self-sustaining, they need assistance to move in that direction. He invited attendees to support theological training for their clergy. “Support one of our clergy to go to (the theological training in) Marsabit.”

Thirteen guests spoke that evening including

Bishop Probal Dutta, Bishop of Grace Trust, India
The Rev. John Chol Daau, Episcopal Church of South Sudan
Bishop Daniel Wario Qampicha, Diocese of Marsabit, Kenya
Bishop Stephen Kaziimba, Diocese of Mityana, Uganda
Bishop Seth Ndayirukiye, Bishop of Matana, Burundi
Bishop Francis Matui, Bishop of Makueni, Kenya
The Rev. Bernard Bisoke Balikenga, Provincial Youth Coordinator, Anglican Church of the Congo
Bishop Johnson Gakumba, Diocese of Northern Uganda
The Rev. Fred Ochieng Onyango, Vicar, Emmanuel Church, Shaurimoyo Parish in the Anglican Diocese of Maseno South, Kisumu-Kenya
The Rev. Canon Dr. Rebecca Nyegenye, Provost of All Saints Cathedral, Kampala, Uganda
Bishop George Kasangaki, Diocese of Masindi-Kitara, Uganda
Bishop Joseph Kibucwa, Diocese of Kirinyaga, Kenya

“I’ve got to give our bishop credit,” said the Rev. Gary Beson, Rector of St. Timothy’s, Cane Bay, after the evening presentation. “He’s really emphasized ‘Biblical Anglicanism for a Global Age.’ (My wife) Sue and I were having dinner with Fred (the Rev. Fred Ochieng of Kenya ) and Qampicha (The Bishop of the Diocese of Marsabit, Kenya) the other night. They said, ‘There’s not another diocese in the US as interested in what’s going on in the world as you are.’”

Read it all and note that the full audio presentation is available (and do enjoy the pictures).

From there:

On Thursday, September 20 District Court Judge Richard M. Gergel ruled in favor of The Episcopal Church (TEC) and its local diocese, The Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC), in a federal trademark case. In the 73-page decision, Judge Gergel issued an injunction preventing the Diocese and parishes in union with it from using the names and seal of the diocese. These are: “Diocese of South Carolina”; “The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina”; “The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina” and The Diocesan Seal.

“We’re disappointed, of course,” said the Rev. Marcus Kaiser, Rector of the Church of the Holy Comforter in Sumter, who serves as the President of the Standing Committee, which also serves as the Diocese’s Board of Directors. “But changing our name doesn’t change who we are, or who we’ve ever been. It simply changes the name under which we operate.”

The Standing Committee met Friday morning and unanimously voted to adopt the name “The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina.” Although Counsel for both the Diocese and the Parishes who are studying the order believe it likely will be appealed, even erroneous orders still must be obeyed. “I am grateful,” noted Bishop Lawrence, “for the faithful response of our Standing Committee, the diocesan staff, and legal team in seeking to comply with this order. We work not in fear, for as St. Paul has reminded us, God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind.”

On August 28th , in one of two state cases regarding the ownership of parish and diocesan property, Judge Edgar Dickson issued an order adverse to TEC and TECSC. He rejected their request to dismiss the diocese and parish claims to recover the value of improvements to parish and diocesan real property under the Betterments Statute if it is decided that TEC has title to those properties. He also stated that he had yet to rule on motions before him concerning the question of whether the five separate opinions of the Supreme Court found that there has been any Diocesan or Parish loss of property.“The Court…recognizes that were it to rule against the Defendants [TEC and TECSC] on some or all of those motions, this betterments action could become moot….” “…the Court will consider, for purposes of ruling on the motion to dismiss only, that the betterments action is ripe.”

The state cases were ordered to be mediated by Judge Dickson which will be held on September 26th. That mediation, which had been scheduled for earlier this month, was postponed due to Hurricane Dorian.

‘Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
They have to take you in.’

–Robert Frost, ‘The Death of the Hired Man’

A new study shows South Carolina’s three major metro areas are among the top 10 moving destinations in the U.S. with Charleston coming in at No. 1.

Realtor.com’s “Top Moving Destinations” analysis shows people from Charlotte, Atlanta and New York are flocking to or are interested in moving to the Lowcountry, based on metro areas that received the most out-of-state views on the real estate website during the April through June quarter of 2019.

The study found that people are moving from larger metro areas that cost a lot more to medium-size markets where housing is relatively more affordable, has plenty of jobs and large baby boomer populations are present.

Read it all.

A new study shows SC’s 3 major metro areas are among the top 10 moving destinations in the US.https://t.co/TGa6ttlk5s

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) September 7, 2019

Look through them all.

20 plus pictures of #huuricaneDorian aftermath in @summervillesc https://t.co/ZrYLHW2TZP #lowcountrylife

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) September 6, 2019

Lost all power and the wind is whipping like crazy in @SummervilleSC; a lot of tree damage as far as the eye can see #chswx @Live5News #HurricaneDorian #weather #southcarolina #lowcountrylife pic.twitter.com/i6PXNQhJYA

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) September 5, 2019

I was an accidental delegate to Assembly 2019, and if I’d had my way, wouldn’t have been there at all. Although I hadn’t investigated Assembly, I declined nomination as a delegate because I don’t like “cast of thousands” events. Plus, it meant going to Texas—in July. There I was, anyway, having been sent as an alternate to the prior Provincial Council meeting that coincided with the biennial Assembly. When flight cancellations kept the South Carolina Assembly delegates in South Carolina, those of us already in Texas were quickly deputized.

I’m confessing my self-serving spirit to emphasize that I was prepared to be underwhelmed by Assembly, but I was wrong. It was a tiny bit of business that gives way to a surfeit of ministry equipping and inspiration with the 2019 theme of Renewing the Call to the Great Commission. I was unprepared (see “hadn’t investigated”) for the quality and variety of the speakers and offerings. The execution of events and meals was flawless for a cast of one thousand, both North American Anglicans (anyone can register and attend all of Assembly) and global guests.

The Plenary session videos are posted on the ACNA app Media Center and two of these are among the best of their kind I have ever encountered….

Read it all (pages 1,7).

8am advisory on Dorian. Still a cat 2 with 105 mph winds. Windy and wet along the Florida coastline, but conditions could be much worse from Savannah, GA north through NC as the storm gets really close to land. pic.twitter.com/sS5AUyn8dq

— Storm Alert 3 (@WRCBweather) September 4, 2019

The track for Hurricane Dorian has shifted westward in the 5PM update, which will likely increase impacts in Charleston. Quick blog update: https://t.co/TlQhV8VnLT pic.twitter.com/0rwjMAlWUy

— Charleston Weather (@chswx) September 3, 2019

You can listen directly there and download the mp3 there.

The Lordship of Christ over the whole of life means that there are no Platonic areas in Christianity, no dichotomy or hierarchy between the body and the soul. God made the body as well as the soul, and redemption is for the whole man.

Francis Schaeffer pic.twitter.com/IDk4sK59KL

— Biblical Eldership (@Eldership) September 2, 2019

A lawsuit filed by a church against a South Carolina town last year for prohibiting worship services at a public facility has prompted the municipality to lift the ban.

Redeemer Fellowship of Edisto Island and the town of Edisto Beach agreed Aug. 19 to end the suit, which alleged the town violated Redeemer Fellowship’s right to free exercise of religion after the municipality banned all rentals for religious worship services at its Edisto Beach Civic Center.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the church in the case, commended the town for lifting its ban, which the alliance said was inconsistent with the town’s own statement that it welcomes “civic, political, business, social groups and others” to use its civic center.

“Churches shouldn’t be treated less favorably than other groups that want to rent facilities,” said ADF Legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb. “Its previous policy that singled out one form of expression — worship — as inferior to other forms of speech was clearly unconstitutional.”

Read it all.

5PM: No major changes. Dorian is still a severe hurricane with 150 MPH max winds. The NHC track continues to indicate a too-close-for-comfort recurvature, with the closest pass Wednesday. All depends on where and when it stalls out, which is expected Monday. pic.twitter.com/Y382eUlGOh

— Charleston Weather (@chswx) August 31, 2019

he Church of the Holy Cross in Stateburg was founded in 1788, said its rector, Michael Ridgill, on Thursday, and its present facility was built in 1850. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places, and its current attendance is about 45 people, he said.

Official appraisals would be necessary to determine the current value of all the diocese’s parishes in question, the two rectors said, but the case has been referred to as a “$500 million lawsuit” by state media outlets.

Kaiser said the 2017 state Supreme Court ruling was “complex” with five separate opinions, but the diocese and congregations believe the individual parishes are the property owners.

The fact that the Church of the Holy Comforter and none of the other parishes agreed to the 1979 trust is a central issue, he said.

“If you look at our church’s governing documents, you won’t find any place where we said, ‘Yes, we agree to this trust,'” Kaiser said. “And the same is true of every parish. So, the deed is in our name, and the fact is the good people of the Church of the Holy Comforter in Sumter – not outside of Sumter – were the ones who gave the money to build these facilities, they were the ones who have maintained them, and they continue to maintain them. Enough is enough. All we really ever wanted was to be left alone to be who we are and not have somebody come and try to change who we are.”

Kaiser said the best option for the diocese is for the national group to drop the case. The next best solution, he said, is for the courts to uphold the deeds of the properties.

He added the whole legal tug-of-war has been a distraction to the church’s mission to tell the world about Jesus Christ.

Read it all.

Holy Comforter priest: Betterments is a ‘Plan B’ https://t.co/Tt6ub9gqED
#southcarolina #law #ethics #churchhistory #religion #anglican #parishministry

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) August 30, 2019

A lawsuit over a faulty background check that allowed a South Carolina man to buy the gun he used to kill nine people in a racist attack at a Charleston church was reinstated Friday by a federal appeals court.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a ruling from a lower court judge who threw out the claims brought by relatives of people killed by Dylann Roof in the 2015 massacre, and by survivors.

The lower court judge found the government immune from liability. The judge said the families’ claims did not fit into narrow exceptions to laws that shield government employees from liability while carrying out their official duties. But the appeals court panel disagreed.

The FBI has acknowledged that Roof’s drug possession arrest in Columbia, South Carolina, weeks before the shooting at AME Emanuel Church should have prevented him from buying a gun. Roof has been sentenced to death for the slayings.

Read it all.

A lawsuit over a faulty background check that allowed Dylann Roof to buy the gun he used to kill nine people in a racist attack at a South Carolina church was reinstated by a federal appeals court. https://t.co/giillkMXzP

— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) August 30, 2019

Read it all.

The Diocesan News is available here – https://t.co/WjqCQQ8nMp pic.twitter.com/E4EIOFBgym

— St Pauls Summerville (@StPaulsSVille) August 29, 2019

A total of 28 parishes, including two in Sumter County, have been involved in the diocese’s legal battle over their right to properties with the national church. The two Sumter parishes are Church of the Holy Comforter, 213 N. Main St., and The Church of the Holy Cross in Stateburg.

After the U.S. Supreme Court denied a diocese petition for a hearing last year, the case is now back at the circuit court where it originated, Lewis said.

The statute describes the process for payback for improvements, but Lewis said he wasn’t sure on the process.

He said the judge’s ruling this week is definitely a “win” for the breakaway diocese, if it lost control of the parishes.

“From our perspective, it would mean, if we lost control of the property because of this trust interest, then The Episcopal Church doesn’t get all this property for free,” Lewis said. “They will have to pay for it in some fashion.”

Currently, Dickson of the circuit court has the responsibility of interpreting a 2017 state Supreme Court 3-2 ruling with five different opinions in it.

Read it all.

(Item) Judge: If it comes to that, Historic #SouthCarolina diocese has right to money for property upgrades https://t.co/ANhDRU9VsZ #religion #law #history #ethics #stewardship #anglican #parishministry #tec pic.twitter.com/WHXbpCRbP0

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) August 29, 2019

From there:

Orangeburg, S.C. (August 28, 2019) – In a follow up to the July 23 hearing on the Motion to Dismiss filed by The Episcopal Church (TEC) and The Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC) regarding the Betterments Statute claim filed by the Diocese of South Carolina (Diocese), Judge Edgar W. Dickson ruled late yesterday that he is denying TEC and TECSC’s motion. Counsel for the Diocese has been asked to submit a proposed order reflecting that decision by September 6th.

The Betterments Statute provides that a party who makes good faith improvements to property they believe they own, may be compensated for the value of those improvements, if a court makes a final determination that another party is the true owner. Many of the parishes in the Diocese of South Carolina can trace their unbroken history back to the colonial era of the state. During that entire time, there has never been any question of their unencumbered title to property or legal identity. All have proceeded throughout their history with the maintaining and improving of their properties in the good faith belief of their ownership of them.

The Betterments claim was filed in late 2017 because of the timing requirements for filing such an action. The complaint asks that the court stay any proceedings on the merits of that claim until the issue of property ownership is finally decided. The issue of property ownership is before Judge Dickson on motions filed by both sides after the case was remitted back to the Circuit Court from the Supreme Court. These are still under consideration by the Circuit Court. Yesterday’s ruling means that if Judge Dickson rules TEC/TECSC does have a trust interest in any parish property, then those parishes have claims against TEC/TECSC for the value of the improvements made in good faith to those properties since they were created.

On @Live5News, we discuss our properties parishioners have prayed at for 12+ generations! https://t.co/kCYj5g5kKZ #anglicannews #dioceseofsc

— Diocese of SC (@dioceseofsc) October 2, 2017

You can listen directly there and download the mp3 there.

The Lord gives us power and strength when we need it most. Never lose faith! 🙏🏿🙌🏿 pic.twitter.com/Ay7wcbNNQu

— Charlie Wilson (@CharlieWilson) August 11, 2019

For David Shorter, Thursday morning brought back a monumental memory.

He was in the seventh or eighth grade at West Ashley’s Blessed Sacrament School in the 1960s when a construction crew installed the twin spires atop the new Catholic church next door. The schoolchildren were allowed to step over the steeples before they were hoisted into place.

Of course, Shorter also remembers them being blown down by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, and the church’s brick towers have stood unadorned ever since. At least until Thursday.

Shorter was among a few dozen who gathered just outside the church to watch as a construction crew hoisted the first steeple back into place.

“I ain’t missing this for no reason,” he said. “Twice in a lifetime.”

The spectacle was so dramatic that those involved waited until after the morning rush hour on Savannah Highway, reducing the chance of causing any wrecks. Thursday’s weather was near perfect: clear skies and only the slightest breeze. But a computer glitch with a construction crane ended up delaying the lift until the lunch hour.

But by 1:20 p.m., the first one — weighing almost 3 tons — was stood up and hoisted off the ground….

Read it all.

A few dozen gathered just outside the church to watch as a construction crew hoisted the first steeple back into place.https://t.co/xzmq5NlGiL

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) August 2, 2019

Christian book publishers and some Charleston-area faith leaders fear that a proposed tariff on Chinese imports could lead to a shortage of Bibles in the United States.

Millions of Bibles are produced in China annually and a 25 percent tariff recently proposed by President Donald Trump would make it more expensive to print the religious text, according to Mark Schoenwald, CEO of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. That cost increase likely would be passed on to consumers, who would pay more for the world’s best-selling book.

If the 25 percent increase is reflected in the sticker price, a Bible that costs $15 today would cost $18.50 after the tariff takes effect.

Read it all.

If the 25 percent increase is reflected in the sticker price, a Bible that costs $15 today would cost $18.50 after the tariff takes effect.https://t.co/7HXZPcmof1

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) July 27, 2019

You can listen directly there and download the mp3 there.

DeacPost “Ora et Labora” Deaconess Dawn Riske #TheLDA #DeacPost Painting by Jan Vermeer 1655 “Mary and Martha” pic.twitter.com/2xq2YkSiYB

— The LDA (@LutheranDeacs) July 25, 2019