Multimillion-dollar S.C. Episcopal split heads to trial Tuesday

After years of arguing over theology and administrative control, disputes among Episcopalians boiled over in 2012 when the local bishop and a majority of parishes left the national church.

The aftermath flows Tuesday into the courtroom of a circuit judge in St. George who will decide the future of more than $500 million in church property - although her ruling is likely to be appealed.

As the much-anticipated trial begins, two men will be in court, each in Anglican bishop purple, each claiming to be the rightful leader of the Diocese of South Carolina.

Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein will decide which group is the real Diocese of South Carolina: the one that remains part of the national Episcopal Church, or the one that existed before the national church and now wants to be independent from it?

The lawsuit affects more than $500 million in properties that include some of the nation's most historic and renowned church buildings. Among colonial congregations whose properties are at play: St. Michael's and St. Philip's in downtown Charleston, Christ Church in Mount Pleasant, Old St. Andrew's in West Ashley and St. Helena's in Beaufort.

And the $500 million estimate comprises only the insured value of the buildings - not the land that 70 congregations' properties sit on, some of which include centuries of grave markers and the loved ones resting beneath.

Also at stake is the beloved St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center on Seabrook Island where for 75 years campers have discovered Christ and forged lifelong friendships along 314 acres of beach, marsh and woods.

Something priceless also is at stake in the lawsuit, filed by the Diocese of South Carolina against its once-ecclesiastical brethren. That is the sentimental value of space in which generations of families have worshipped, taken communion, baptized children, married those children and bid final farewell to their dead.

"The biggest issue isn't the insured value but the ministerial value of the property," said the Rev. Canon Jim Lewis, who serves as canon to Bishop Mark Lawrence.

Lawrence and most parishes in the Diocese of South Carolina, which spans the coastal half of the state, left The Episcopal Church in 2012. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. province of the global Anglican Communion.

The diocese and its parishes then filed the lawsuit in January 2013 against The Episcopal Church to retain control of diocesan property, names and seal. Goodstein issued a restraining order that has since allowed Lawrence's group to continue using the diocese's property and identity.

However, 27 local parishes and missions that remain with the national church, temporarily calling themselves The Episcopal Church in South Carolina, argue that the diocese is a "subordinate unit of the Church," their legal response says. That group is now led by Bishop Charles vonRosenberg.

South Carolina is one of five dioceses nationwide that have separated from The Episcopal Church at least partly over scriptural interpretations. Lawrence supports a traditional reading of Scripture.

In recent years The Episcopal Church has ordained gay bishops and voted to allow the blessing of same-sex unions, among a host of comments and actions that have generated tremendous theological debate.

The dioceses that left are seeking other ways to align with the global Anglican Communion and are tied up in similar ongoing lawsuits.

Essentially, the local legal arguments come down to which trumps the other: national church law or state corporate law.

Lawrence's group argues the diocese is a South Carolina corporation, so issues should be settled by state law. The Episcopal Church argues that under the First Amendment, church issues should be settled by church law.

Until the breakup, local Episcopalians relied on Lawrence and other diocesan leaders to protect property and uphold doctrine, spokeswoman Holly Behre said.

"They were supposed to be shepherds of the church for all of us. That they can just go and leave doesn't make sense to a lot of people," Behre said.

The Episcopal Church and vonRosenberg's local diocese argue that the church is a hierarchical institution that controls its property. People can leave the church, but a geographic unit like a diocese cannot.

"This diocese, its name and its assets are things that belong to all of us together, as Episcopalians. We believe they were meant to be held and used for the benefit of the church, not taken out of the church and used to set up a new denomination," Behre said.

However, Lawrence's group contends the Diocese of South Carolina predates the national church, which it voluntarily joined - and voluntarily can leave. In 1789, the Diocese of South Carolina was one of nine founding dioceses of The Episcopal Church.

They argue that the national church tried to remove their duly elected bishop, prompting their departure.

Meanwhile, vonRosenberg's diocese had sought to get Lawrence, Lewis and two other priests added individually to the lawsuit. The four took actions to "withdraw" the diocese from The Episcopal Church in violation of state law, court filing allege.

The state Court of Appeals dismissed that petition last week, and Goodstein ordered the trial to begin Tuesday.

Please pray for Bishop Lawrence. The Bishop has asked the following to be read aloud to congregations in his diocese,

“Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Grace and Peace to you from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 1:3

I write on the eve of the upcoming trial between the Diocese of South Carolina and The Episcopal Church scheduled, God-willing, to take place in St. George, SC from July 8—18, 2014 and under the jurisdiction of the Honorable Diane S. Goodstein. Much work by our legal team under the leadership of Mr. Alan Runyan has already been done. The staff and members from many of our parishes, as well as the diocesan staff, have logged countless hours in the detail work of discovery. Much prayer has been invested by our clergy, vestries, intercessors, and the rank and file members of our congregations. For all of this I am profoundly grateful.

The path that has brought us as a diocese to this hour has been long and winding. Yet through it all we have been guided by a desire to be faithful to the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as we have received it ever striving to be mindful that we have been entrusted with this Truth, this Good News and rich heritage, in order to share it with those who have yet to come into the reach of Christ’s saving embrace.

Certainly we seek to protect our members and the legacy of former generations who under God’s sovereignty and grace have established this diocese and built our churches, more than a few even preceding the founding of The Episcopal Church; but it is of fundamental importance to keep in mind that ours is more than a clinging to heritage for the sake of the past. It is also for the sake of our future mission. It is so that our congregations, their buildings and properties, as well as such places as Camp St. Christopher, may continue to be beachheads and missionary centers for making known the redemptive power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So once again I write to ask for your help—for your prayer—for our attorneys and for those who will testify on our behalf, as well as for me your bishop. I also ask your prayers for Judge Goodstein who will preside over this trial. I offer for your use a prayer crafted earlier by the Very Rev. John Barr, soon to be retired rector of Holy Comforter, Sumter, which I have slightly adapted for this present trial:

Gracious and Sovereign Lord, we pray that your will be done during July 7—18th. May we want what you desire. Guide and be mightily present with Alan Runyan and the other attorneys who represent us and with those who testify on our behalf. May the courtroom be filled with the pleasant aroma of Christ, and at the end of the day, protect this diocese and its parishes that we might bring the redemptive power of the biblical gospel to the South Carolina Low Country, the Pee Dee and beyond. Let not our fear of outcomes tarnish our joy or deter us from the mission you have given us. Enable us to bless and not to curse those on the other side of this conflict. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And in the power of the Holy Spirit make us victorious over-comers wherever this road leads us. For we ask all in the name above all names, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

This truly is a spiritual as well as temporal battle so prayers are a mighty weapon. Pray for this godly man.

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