Ӣ You will not be asked to make a decision or vote on any resolution at this meeting. This is not a legislative gathering, nor even primarily a meeting to vet resolutions.
”¢ I envision our time together as an opportunity for me to lay out before the active clergy of the diocese the gravity, but by no means the totality, of the challenges that lie before us; and in that context sketch out in broad strokes, (as clearly as I am able to see, define, and articulate it) the direction I believe we are called to go in the weeks and months ahead. Flannery O’Connor once wrote in defense of the bizarre nature of her stories””that “To the hard of hearing you shout, to the almost-blind you draw large and startling figures.” I trust that you are neither.
Ӣ It is my hope, even expectation, that this will be a meeting that will initiate a more robust and expansive conversation within this diocese and, even more importantly, set out the principles that will enable us to begin a broader and more active engagement with the challenges we face.
As a member of a congregation that has left TEC, I can say in hindsight and with great conviction that the circumstances and boundaries established by TEC’s leadership have all of us selecting among difficult, expensive, and unsatisfactory options.
And TEC will come after any decision that is not to their liking with more anger and vengeance than any of us would believe possible…it is hard to believe that these sorts of things would happen in a church.
Among friends who work in various fields, including covert ops, they all say the church has become one of the most dangerous and nasty places to live and work they have ever witnessed.
So Beware SC!!!!
May the good Grace of Flannery O’Connor’s God truly be among you!
A good, calming letter. I hope that somehow Bishop Lawrence’s presentation, or an extensive summary of it, will be made available to the public quickly after it takes place.
David Handy+
I hope and pray that every single priest who attends that meeting will attend with a most humble and hearty gratitude to God for the extraordinary bishops the Diocese of SC has been blessed with. We are all watching. The thoughts of each of your hearts will impact far, far beyond SC. as you gather the fragments that there will be twelve full baskets. I have not the slightest doubt that God will be there with you.
I also have not the slightest doubt that God will be there with these, His faithful servants. My prayer is that His clear guidance to their their prayerful reasoning will show a definite pattern for DioSC to follow and that the pattern would be useful to many others who find themselves in great spiritual distress, within TEC.
For our parish, getting out has been a great blessing, but South Carolina needs to find His perfect will for them. Whatever direction He guides them, they should follow.
CanaAnglican,
Agreed – getting out for us (St. David’s Anglican, Durant, Iowa – Diocese of Holy Spirit, ACNA) has been an unbelieveable joy. We are freed for Gospel ministry, and the oppressive connection to TEC is gladly thrown off. We walked away from a building, and it’s an amazing thing to have your priorities elsewhere than bricks and mortar. We pray for clarity for the folks in SC.
Darin+
All I ask is that the Diocese of SC recall that, as a constituent member of TEC, the monies it transmits to the hierarchy at 815 are being used to bludgeon believing brothers and sisters in scorched-earth litigation.
sophy, I could be wrong, but I don’t think SC has been sending any money to 815 for a number of years. Some individual parishes may, but I don’t *think* the diocese does.