[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will convene and chair a special meeting of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina Convention on Jan. 26 at Grace Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Jefferts Schori will celebrate and preach at Eucharist at 9:30 am. The special meeting follows; the slated agenda items include the election of the Rt. Rev. Charles Glenn vonRosenberg as provisional bishop and then the election of clergy and lay people to serve in diocesan leadership positions.
Among the invited guests to the special convention are the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies; Angela Daniel of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina and president of Province IV; Bishop John C. Buchanan, Diocese of Quincy; Bishop Dabney Smith, Diocese of Southwest Florida; Bishop Andrew Waldo, Diocese of Upper South Carolina and Bishop George D. Young, III, Diocese of East Tennessee.
The special meeting was called following the announcement by the former bishop and some diocesan elected leaders that they were no longer affiliated with the Episcopal Church. The Presiding Bishop accepted the former bishop’s renunciation on Dec. 5, 2012.
The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina is composed of 24 counties in eastern South Carolina. Currently, nearly two dozen parishes and missions and six worship communities have indicated their intent on remaining with the Episcopal Church; others are expected to attend the special convention.
I served in the Diocese of South Carolina for 19 years, 11 years as Canon to the Ordinary. What has happened in and to the Diocese that The Right Reverend Gray Temple left to his sucessors is disgracefu.l I am confident that the continuing Diocese of South Carolina will be a vibrant and powerful leader in the power of the Holy Spirit , proclaiming Jesus Christ, our means of grace and hope of glory.
Disgraceful? What an unChristian way to reference Bps. Allison, Salmon, and Lawrence. These are three of the most faithful bishops the Church has known, and they spent their career in the HoB, along with others, being excoriated for holding to the orthodox, catholic faith. Disgraceful? Cn. Chassey, I find your comment disgraceful.
Canon Chassey is absolutely right. Disgraceful it is and that is putting it mildly. Lawrence disrupted the lives of 29,000 people to suit his particular view of morality and his own ego. I attended the special convention last Saturday in Charleston and I can tell Canon Chassey and everyone else that the Episcopal Church in South Carolina is very much alive and well despite every roadblock her enemies threw up against her. The Holy Spirit was there in endless abundance.