“If the threat of property disputes is the only thing that holds us together, what sort of mission do we have?” he said. “Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom, not the keys to the building.”
He does not believe the quitclaim deeds will make congregations more inclined to separate from the diocese.
“Frankly, the people already believe they can leave because of the All Saints’, Pawleys Island, decision” by the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Distributing the quitclaim deeds was a liberating decision, the bishop said.
Coming from Pittsburgh, I witnessed a variety of strategies evolve, (going back even to the Bp Hathaway days) to discredit, vilify, and eventually (in Pittsburgh) proclaim the Episcopal Church non-Christian and therefor null and void. It sure looks like Bishop Mark and his coterie are winding up to do the same. To be sure, they say different things and have learned from Pittsburgh, but it looks like the same mess brewing down there. Perhaps they could learn something from Pittsburgh: Everybody lost!!!!! Are Bp Mark and S.C. really so confident in themselves that they expect a different result?