Am I correct that one of the previous complaints about Bishop Lawrence was that he had refused to accept the Port Royal congregation into the diocese? Is that congregation an Episcopal Church or is it an independent congregation using the Book of Common Prayer? What is the canonical status of the clergy who conduct services there? Is the Hilton Head congregtion the only one that does not support the position taken by the diocesan convention and the Standing Committee?
I am unclear as the purpose of running such an ad. Anyone who is interested in the politics of the situation likely already knows about that situation, certainly more than he or she can find out from a 200 word newspaper ad. And I highly doubt that The World,, or any portion thereof, is going to be attracted to a congregation by an ad that says, in essence, “Come to our Church so you can join us on our side of this denominational fight.
@ TomRightmyer: I am not sure it is accurate to say that Bishop Lawrence refused to accept the Port Royal congregation into the diocese. St. Mark’s is a congregation of confirmed Episcopalians that has existed within the diocese for a decade with the diocese’s acquiescence if not full blessing. Its existence predates Bishop Lawrence’s arrival from the American Catholic diocese in central California. It is true that Bishop Lawrence did in the past refuse to grant St. Mark’s status as a mission of the diocese. Now that Bishop Lawrence has been restricted, it appears that St. Mark’s may be in the process of becoming a mission of All Saints Hilton Head, one of about a dozen or so diocese parishes that will remain loyal to the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. If there is no recognized, active bishop in the diocese to stop it from happening, I suppose it can and will. The next bishop will then approve St. Mark’s as a new parish.
@ KevinBabb: It is a little unclear whether the purpose of the ad is to attract “The World” or just Episcopalians who want shelter from the coming storm. It would appear to be the latter. There are of course parishioners in every parish within the diocese who are and will remain loyal to the Protestant Episcopal Church. In some parishes, those loyal approximate 50% or even more of the parishioners, in others they make up only 10% – 25%. These folks have a choice: stay put and be embroiled in nasty fights over property, seating of vestries and calling and dismissing of parish priests OR take shelter from all of this nastiness in like-minded parishes like All Saints in Hilton Head, Grace in Charleston, etc.
By way of example – consider the example of St. Paul’s Summerville – a historic parish once served by a long line of “liberal” priests to include the father of SC Episcopalian Forum director Steve Skardon and Sam Candler, former dean of Trinity Cathedral in Columbia and current dean of St. Phillip’s Cathedral in Atlanta. This parish had been peopled by the same families for more than a century. It was a traditional parish in worship and world view, yet moderate to inclusive in its theology. At some point all that changed. Summerville grew and of course St. Paul’s grew. The leadership began a lurch to the right when Kendall Harmon went to work in Skardon Hall as “theologian in residence.” For a while, there was some attempt at a semblance of balance when Mike Szymanowski came on board as an assistant rector. Over time, the right-ward theological drift at St. Paul’s hardened and many of the old families departed – some to St. George’s with Szymanowski, some to Old St. Andrew’s, some to Epiphany – the small, proud historically African American parish in town, and a few to the other historic mainline congregation in town – Summerville Presbyterian (which has even incorporated parts of the Rite I liturgy into its services for its congregants in refuge from St. Paul’s). Of course, St. Paul’s has become one of the fastest growing parishes in the area since it began its theological lurch to the right. But, for better or worse, practically all of its growth has been newcomers – new to Summerville, new to South Carolina, new to the Protestant Episcopal Church and the Anglican tradition – and in not a few cases new to both Protestantism and liturgical Christianity. The newest St. Paul’s parishioners almost invariably come from the Roman Catholic Church, but more than a few come from the emotional mega churches – whether nondenominational or from one of the pentecostal holiness movement churches. The result is a parish overwhelmed by newcomers in full support of their American Catholic bishop from California. Many of the old St. Paul’s families that have remained appear on the membership list of SC Episcopal Forum – a handful of whom are among those who brought the charges that led to Bishop Lawrence’s restriction. Those folks have made their stand – they are staying put and are quite obviously going to fight for the hallowed ground on which their loved ones are quite literally buried. It will be an uphill battle for them. Most loyal Episcopalians in Summerville have already “voted with their feet” and I suspect more will follow.
The ad by the two Beaufort congregations appears designed to attract those voting with their feet rather than those “hard heads” who have remained at places like St. Paul’s determined to stay and fight.
2, As somebody from the TEC side of “the denominational fight” I can offer at least one purpose:
One of the exercises we in South Carolina who are loyal to TEC are involved in is reaching out to Episcopalians who have left their local Episcopal parish since Bishop Lawrence arrived. I know Bishop Lawrence’s people claim the diocese has grown and I don’t dispute that, but along the way liberals have faced a choice of staying with a diocese taking a hard stand on the matter of human sexuality or trying another denomination.
So the ad isn’t directed at Bishop Lawrence’s supporters–it is directed at Episcopalians who in the last decade or so have decamped for the Methodist, Presbyterian, and nondenominational churches because they don’t recognize Bishop Lawrence’s diocese as having much to do with the TEC they want to be part of.
South Carolina’s population growth in the past decade has been driven in part by inward migration from the northeast and rust belt. That’s hundreds–maybe thousands–of Episcopalians, many of whom would consider themselves institutionalist and inclusive–blue staters who don’t clutch their pearls at the thought of woman priests, homosexuals on the vestry, and an emphasis on the social gospel. Why not let us TEC loyalists have a shot at recruiting them? I doubt they’d qualify as Christians in the eyes of some reasserters.
Am I correct that one of the previous complaints about Bishop Lawrence was that he had refused to accept the Port Royal congregation into the diocese? Is that congregation an Episcopal Church or is it an independent congregation using the Book of Common Prayer? What is the canonical status of the clergy who conduct services there? Is the Hilton Head congregtion the only one that does not support the position taken by the diocesan convention and the Standing Committee?
I am unclear as the purpose of running such an ad. Anyone who is interested in the politics of the situation likely already knows about that situation, certainly more than he or she can find out from a 200 word newspaper ad. And I highly doubt that The World,, or any portion thereof, is going to be attracted to a congregation by an ad that says, in essence, “Come to our Church so you can join us on our side of this denominational fight.
So what’s the point?
It’s sometimes astounding how many words TEC leaders can use WITHOUT saying “Jesus.”
@ TomRightmyer: I am not sure it is accurate to say that Bishop Lawrence refused to accept the Port Royal congregation into the diocese. St. Mark’s is a congregation of confirmed Episcopalians that has existed within the diocese for a decade with the diocese’s acquiescence if not full blessing. Its existence predates Bishop Lawrence’s arrival from the American Catholic diocese in central California. It is true that Bishop Lawrence did in the past refuse to grant St. Mark’s status as a mission of the diocese. Now that Bishop Lawrence has been restricted, it appears that St. Mark’s may be in the process of becoming a mission of All Saints Hilton Head, one of about a dozen or so diocese parishes that will remain loyal to the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. If there is no recognized, active bishop in the diocese to stop it from happening, I suppose it can and will. The next bishop will then approve St. Mark’s as a new parish.
@ KevinBabb: It is a little unclear whether the purpose of the ad is to attract “The World” or just Episcopalians who want shelter from the coming storm. It would appear to be the latter. There are of course parishioners in every parish within the diocese who are and will remain loyal to the Protestant Episcopal Church. In some parishes, those loyal approximate 50% or even more of the parishioners, in others they make up only 10% – 25%. These folks have a choice: stay put and be embroiled in nasty fights over property, seating of vestries and calling and dismissing of parish priests OR take shelter from all of this nastiness in like-minded parishes like All Saints in Hilton Head, Grace in Charleston, etc.
By way of example – consider the example of St. Paul’s Summerville – a historic parish once served by a long line of “liberal” priests to include the father of SC Episcopalian Forum director Steve Skardon and Sam Candler, former dean of Trinity Cathedral in Columbia and current dean of St. Phillip’s Cathedral in Atlanta. This parish had been peopled by the same families for more than a century. It was a traditional parish in worship and world view, yet moderate to inclusive in its theology. At some point all that changed. Summerville grew and of course St. Paul’s grew. The leadership began a lurch to the right when Kendall Harmon went to work in Skardon Hall as “theologian in residence.” For a while, there was some attempt at a semblance of balance when Mike Szymanowski came on board as an assistant rector. Over time, the right-ward theological drift at St. Paul’s hardened and many of the old families departed – some to St. George’s with Szymanowski, some to Old St. Andrew’s, some to Epiphany – the small, proud historically African American parish in town, and a few to the other historic mainline congregation in town – Summerville Presbyterian (which has even incorporated parts of the Rite I liturgy into its services for its congregants in refuge from St. Paul’s). Of course, St. Paul’s has become one of the fastest growing parishes in the area since it began its theological lurch to the right. But, for better or worse, practically all of its growth has been newcomers – new to Summerville, new to South Carolina, new to the Protestant Episcopal Church and the Anglican tradition – and in not a few cases new to both Protestantism and liturgical Christianity. The newest St. Paul’s parishioners almost invariably come from the Roman Catholic Church, but more than a few come from the emotional mega churches – whether nondenominational or from one of the pentecostal holiness movement churches. The result is a parish overwhelmed by newcomers in full support of their American Catholic bishop from California. Many of the old St. Paul’s families that have remained appear on the membership list of SC Episcopal Forum – a handful of whom are among those who brought the charges that led to Bishop Lawrence’s restriction. Those folks have made their stand – they are staying put and are quite obviously going to fight for the hallowed ground on which their loved ones are quite literally buried. It will be an uphill battle for them. Most loyal Episcopalians in Summerville have already “voted with their feet” and I suspect more will follow.
The ad by the two Beaufort congregations appears designed to attract those voting with their feet rather than those “hard heads” who have remained at places like St. Paul’s determined to stay and fight.
2, As somebody from the TEC side of “the denominational fight” I can offer at least one purpose:
One of the exercises we in South Carolina who are loyal to TEC are involved in is reaching out to Episcopalians who have left their local Episcopal parish since Bishop Lawrence arrived. I know Bishop Lawrence’s people claim the diocese has grown and I don’t dispute that, but along the way liberals have faced a choice of staying with a diocese taking a hard stand on the matter of human sexuality or trying another denomination.
So the ad isn’t directed at Bishop Lawrence’s supporters–it is directed at Episcopalians who in the last decade or so have decamped for the Methodist, Presbyterian, and nondenominational churches because they don’t recognize Bishop Lawrence’s diocese as having much to do with the TEC they want to be part of.
South Carolina’s population growth in the past decade has been driven in part by inward migration from the northeast and rust belt. That’s hundreds–maybe thousands–of Episcopalians, many of whom would consider themselves institutionalist and inclusive–blue staters who don’t clutch their pearls at the thought of woman priests, homosexuals on the vestry, and an emphasis on the social gospel. Why not let us TEC loyalists have a shot at recruiting them? I doubt they’d qualify as Christians in the eyes of some reasserters.