But Jefferts Schori’s sentiments were largely dismissed by diocese officials.
At a July 19 meeting hosted at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, the South Carolina Diocese’s chancellor, Wade Logan, summarized his experience in Anaheim. “It really is a political convention, that’s what it turned into,” he told a gathering of about 250.
South Carolina was one of seven conservative dioceses attempting to affirm orthodoxy that were consistently marginalized and ignored, he said.
The Rev. Al Zadig, rector of St. Michael’s Church in downtown Charleston, summed up the prevailing attitude of diocese leaders. “The world is coming into the church, and the church says, ‘Have your way,’ and there’s nothing left of theology.”
But, Zadig said, he is thankful for the clarity of the moment, equating The Episcopal Church to Unitarianism. “We are not two denominations but two religions,” he said.