The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina responds to Presiding BIshop Schori's attempts to take over the diocese

From these three statement we learn who is the legal identity of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, we learn the legal and corporate history of the diocese and how the presiding bishop is assuming authority she does not have (she is not an archbishop by design - she "presides" over a house not over the church as we heard over and over again at last summer's General Convention).  House of Deputies take note (oops, you're not in session - funny how that happens).

The Presiding Bishop has announced she is taking steps to visit take over the diocese in January while the Mere Anglican Conference is going on up the street, as it were.

You know what is really sad?  To see how far the Episcopal New Service has fallen.  Remember when journalists ran the shop?

From here:


The Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence
14th Bishop
Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina

“They are certainly free to gather and meet, but they are not free to assume our identity. The Diocese of South Carolina has disassociated from the Episcopal Church, we’ve not ceased to exist. We continue to be the Diocese of South Carolina – also known, legally as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina and as the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, of which I remain the Bishop. We are eager to get on with the ministry of Jesus Christ to a broken world! I suggest that the Steering Committee of this new group will want to do the same. A good first step for them would be to select a new name or choose another Diocese with which to associate.”


The Rev. Canon Jim Lewis
Canon to the Ordinary
Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina

“I would like to make a point of clarification for those who think we became a new entity upon our disassociation. A brief history lesson seems in order. We were founded in 1785 (prior to the founding of the Episcopal Church). We were incorporated in 1973; adopted our current legal name, “The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina,” in 1987; and we disassociated from the Episcopal Church in October of 2012. We did not become a new entity upon our disassociation. A new entity will need to be created by those who choose to leave the Diocese and re-associate with the Episcopal Church.”


The Rev. Dr. Kendall S. Harmon
Canon Theologian
Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina

“They insist on what others must do yet there is no written standard to support them, and at the same time they run roughshod over their own constitution and canons. They have created a tails we win, heads you lose world where the rules are adjusted according to their desired outcomes--no wonder we dissociated from a community like that.”