And the converse of this observation will be a strengthening of the hand of Bishop Lawrence. For now we see, by the settlement as communicated, the wisdom of his announced policy of not trying to alienate any further the parishes which had already become alienated from ECUSA. I predict that the settlement in Waccamaw Neck, when its details become public, will bear out fully the wisdom of Bishop Lawrence’s announced intention to lower the heat against realigning parishes, and those thinking about realignment — and to deal with the problem as Christians, guided by the words of St. Paul. This development will, in its turn, further undercut 815’s disastrous litigation strategy, and light the way to further and future settlements along the same lines, as I suggested some time ago might be possible in this post.
As an attorney, I am always happy when clients and their opponents agree to bury the hatchet. But as the Chancellor for an Episcopal Church, I am doubly happy when my fellow Christians see the wisdom in the words of St. Paul. And I am triply happy for all the good parishioners of the Diocese of South Carolina, who are most fortunate to have a godly bishop who is blazing the way for all other Episcopalians to follow — and who (not deliberately, of course, but simply out of his sheer willingness to follow in the footsteps of St. Paul) is pointing up the un-Christianlike and scripturally invalid policies being followed by the Presiding Bishop.
Godspeed, Bishop Lawrence! Godspeed, the Diocese of South Carolina, and both of the parishes of All Saints Waccamaw! Blessings be upon you, now and unto all future generations, and may your light so shine before other Episcopalians that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, which is in Heaven.
Yes, I loved this when I read it at the Curmudgeon’s blog. Let’s hope this settlement not only becomes a precedent here but everywhere. Now if Supreme Courts in other states would follow the SC Court’s precedent and rule the same way, that would be wonderful and effectively kill the Denis Canon.
I will never understand the great “love” for acquisition of real property by TECUSA. esp. in a diocese with lots of historic structures which are costly to maintain. Surely they have better things to do? Then again……. maybe not.