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I write to you in this Christmas season to share some news. Today, parishes representing approximately 75 percent of baptized members in our Diocese joined in filing for a declarative judgment in a South Carolina Circuit Court against the Episcopal Church (TEC). We are asking the court to declare that The Episcopal Church (TEC) has no right to the Diocese’s identity and property or that of its parishes.
We are saddened that we feel it necessary to ask a court to protect our property rights, but recent actions compelled us to take this action. As you know, The Episcopal Church (TEC) has begun the effort to claim the Diocese of South Carolina’s identity by calling for a convention to identify new leadership for the diocese, creating a website using the Diocesan seal and producing material that invokes the name and identity of the Diocese of South Carolina.
Our suit asks the court to prevent TEC from infringing on the protected marks of the Diocese, including its seal and its historical names, and to prevent it from assuming the Diocese’s identity, which was established long before TEC was formed. It also asks the court to protect our parish and Diocesan property, including church buildings and rectories, which our forefathers built and even shed blood over, and you have maintained without any investment of any kind from the national church.
[blockquote]The Episcopal Church (TEC) has begun the effort to claim the Diocese of South Carolina’s identity by calling for a convention to identify new leadership for the diocese, creating a website using the Diocesan seal and producing material that invokes the name and identity of the Diocese of South Carolina.[/blockquote]
Just out of curiosity, I visited the [url=”http://www.episcopaldioceseofsc.org]website[/url] mentioned in the above quote. It’s very interesting. On the “Parishes and Mission” page, I find:[blockquote]This list below is a complete list of every parish in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.
Those marked with an asterisk (*) are parishes and missions whose leadership is not in Union with the Convention.[/blockquote]followed by a listing of all the parishes, continuing or not. There is also a page concerning the Diocese of South Carolina Shield which is lifted word-for-word from the Diocese of South Carolina website. There are other examples throughout the website in question. So one can see the absolute necessity for the Diocese of South Carolina to take action to protect itself.
i will pray for them. brave action on their part.