Since it severed ties with the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of South Carolina, St. Andrew’s Church-Mount Pleasant has grown. And now it has secured a central role in a new diocese in formation, part of the Anglican Church in North America.
The Rev. Steve Wood, rector of St. Andrew’s, was appointed vicar general of the not-yet-official Diocese of the Carolinas, which includes eight churches in North and South Carolina and one more that’s still being established.
As a member of ACNA, I must say I think St. Andrew’s was wrong to leave the Diocese of South Carolina. In fact, I think no parish should leave a courageous, orthodox TEC diocese, and South Carolina is the most courageous and orthodox diocese in TEC. I think Chuck Murphy was wrong to do so and I think Fr. Wood was as well. Such behavior can be driven as much by arrogance and ego as by a wish to be faithful to the Gospel. While +Salmon attempted to restrain Fr. Murphy, +Lawrence allowed Fr. Wood to go in peace. I fault neither bishop for the way they handled those situations, but in both cases, the witness of a faithful diocese was diminished by the actions of headstrong rectors. If my former parish had been in a diocese like South Carolina, I believe we would still be in TEC, bearing witness to the Gospel. However, since our bishop was perhaps the most revisionist in TEC (other than New HAmpshire!), the majority felt we had no option but to leave.