The Episcopal Church in South Carolina has taken the first steps toward a new budget process that focuses on the vision of the diocese and encourages more people to have a voice in the process of creating the annual diocesan spending plan.
 
The Very Rev. Chris Huff of St. George's, Summerville and the West Charleston Deanery, a member of the ad hoc Budget Creation Committee, reported to Diocesan Council on June 20 about the first phase of the new process, which will begin this summer to shape the 2020 diocesan budget.

The committee, chaired by the Very Rev. Adam Shoemaker of St. Stephen's Charleston and the Peninsula Charleston Deanery, was tasked with recommending a budget process for 2020 and 2021, and setting guidelines for the makeup of a new Budget Review Committee to implement the process. 

The aim is for the new panel that drafts the budget to include representation from Diocesan Council, the Finance Committee and the treasurer and bookkeeper, as well as a diverse mix of lay and clergy from different parts of the diocese, including people from both large and small congregations, Dean Huff said.

Bishop Skip Adams noted at the Diocesan Council meeting that the new process represents an ongoing culture shift for the diocese as it grows in mission and vision, in new ministries and in the number of people served.
 
In previous years, the Finance Committee has developed and recommended a draft budget to Diocesan Council. Last year, however, the process of developing the 2019 budget was enhanced with more input and involvement from Diocesan Council, as well as review and recommendations from the diocesan staff. That process led Diocesan Council to form a Budget Creation Committee to work on further improvements for future budgets.
 
The 2020 budget process will have new features that will carry forward under the new Budget Review Committee, whose members will be appointed by the Bishop this summer. One new feature is a period for soliciting input and feedback from across the diocese. An online form will be available in early July so people can make suggestions about new, increased or continuing budget items.

Key to the process is the Diocesan Vision Statement. Each budget suggestion will be expected to relate to and support some aspect of the Vision Statement. 

Starting in January 2020, the budget process for the 2021 spending plan will  with the Bishop and Diocesan Council opening a discussion on setting vision and ministry priorities for 2021, and then moving on through gathering information and soliciting feedback through the spring and summer.

As is done currently, the Finance Committee would take the resulting draft budget to Diocesan Council for approval in September, and Council members would present it for discussion at the Pre-Convention Deanery Meetings in late September and October. A final draft would then be presented for approval at Diocesan Convention in November.

In addition to Deans Shoemaker and Huff, the ad hoc Budget Creation Committee included Judy Milone of Church of the Messiah in Myrtle Beach in the Pee Dee-Waccamaw Deanery; Lesley Gilbert of All Saints, Hilton Head Island and the Southern Deanery; and Lauren Kinard, Diocesan Administrator and Executive Assistant to the Bishop.

The Rev. Lauren Kay has been called to serve at St. George's Episcopal Church in Sanford, Maine, starting July 21. Lauren, who was ordained to the transitional diaconate from our diocese on June 15, recently received the Master of Divinity degree at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. 

The Church Insurance Company of Vermont has asked the federal court to rule on whether it is required to provide coverage for legal action involving The Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC) and 17 parishes who are suing The Episcopal Church and its local diocese, TECSC, over property matters.

The Church Insurance Company of Vermont (CIC-VT) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court in Charleston on June 14 seeking a declaratory judgment in the case. On June 11, TECSC filed a complaint against CIC-VT, saying the company acted in bad faith by wrongfully making secret payments to churches that have sued TECSC, helping to fund their litigation against the diocese. Only one parish, St. Philip’s in Charleston, was referred to by name, but the complaint noted there could be others. St. Philip’s is part of the group that "disassociated" from The Episcopal Church in 2012-2013.

The CIC-VT complaint names TECSC as well as St. Philip's and 16 other disassociated parishes. All 17 parishes are plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in 2013 against The Episcopal Church and TECSC, seeking control of diocesan and parish property. The South Carolina Supreme Court issued a final ruling in August 2017 saying that property of the diocese and 29 of the disassociated parishes is held in trust for The Episcopal Church and TECSC. Implementation of that decision is awaiting action in the circuit court in Orangeburg County.

CIC-VT is a captive insurance company of The Episcopal Church that has provided TECSC with insurance coverage since the early 2000s. “Captive” insurance is a form of self-insurance in which a parent group or groups create an insurance company to provide coverage for itself.
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CIC-VT in its June 14 complaint asks the federal court to determine who exactly is covered under their relevant policies and whether CIC-VT is required by law to provide a defense for TECSC or for any of the disassociated parishes.

Parishes named include:
Church of the Redeemer, Orangeburg
Old St. Andrews, Charleston
All Saints, Florence
Church of Our Saviour, John's Island
Holy Trinity, Charleston
Church of the Cross, Bluffton
St. Philip's, Charleston
St. John's, John's island
St. Bartholomew's, Hartsville
Church of the Holy Cross, Stateburg
Good Shepherd, Charleston
Resurrection, Surfside
Holy Comforter, Sumter
St. David's, Cheraw
St. Michael's, Charleston
St. Jude's, Walterboro
Christ Church, Mount Pleasant

Earlier this month, our Diocese was represented at the annual Province IV gathering of Episcopal Church Women (ECW) by two members, including Jackie Robe, past president of Province IV ECW. Jackie offers the following report:
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The Episcopal Church in South Carolina was represented June 3-5, 2019 at the Province IV ECW Annual Meeting at Trinity Retreat Center in Pine Knoll Shores, NC (Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina) by me, Jackie Robe, and Jocelyn Irizarry-Anderson, both members of Holy Cross Faith Memorial Episcopal Church in Pawleys Island.

I had almost forgotten how wonderful it is to be present with a large group of women all working together for mission and ministry.  The three-day meeting featured updates, workshops, and future plans for the ECW.  It was wonderful to have Karen Patterson, National President of the ECW, with us to apprise us on our work in the United Nations, in the nine provinces of The Episcopal Church, and throughout the world.  She further touched on the plans for celebration in 2021 – the 150 year anniversary of the ECW organization.

It was my sincere pleasure to represent the re-entry of our diocese for the first time in seven years at this fabulous event.  It was an even greater blessing to have the support of our bishop, Bishop Skip Adams, who submitted a touching letter which was read and received by ovation (see below).

In the hopes of reviving and revitalizing the ECW in our diocese, The Episcopal Church in South Carolina, I am asking for all women in our churches to answer a few questions:

1. Do you have an active ECW branch at your church?
2. Are you interested in helping to organize an annual meeting, at a convenient location, within the next 10 months?
3. Are you willing to take on diocesan/deanery leadership?

Please respond in written format via email or U.S. mail to me at the following addresses no later than August 1, 2019.

Jackie Robe
3791 Brookside Drive
Murrells Inlet, SC 29576
Email:  [email protected]
 
Many thanks to the special women of Province IV who so enthusiastically welcomed us back.  Let’s keep this momentum going!
 
Jackie

A Message to Province IV ECW from Bishop Adams
 
Dear Friends in Christ,

It is my great joy to send you my greetings on behalf of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina. As you may be aware, our part of South Carolina has not been represented at an annual gathering in six years. We want you to know we are still here, full of energy and hope, seeking to be faithful to our loving, liberating and life-giving God through the Episcopal Church.  

I know that Jackie will represent us well as she brings back news of how we can be supportive of the ongoing ministry of the Episcopal Church Women. I am grateful for who you are and what you do in the name of Jesus on behalf of all God’s people.

Blessings and peace to you in Christ,

Bishop Skip Adams

The Scholarship Committee of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of The Episcopal Church has awarded scholarships to six Voorhees College students and a Voorhees graduate for the 2019-2020 academic year. Each student will received a total of $4,533.00. According to the Rev. James Yarsiah, Chaplain at Voorhees, all the recipients are Episcopalians and serve as acolytes at St. Philip’s Chapel during the weekly Tuesday all-school worship services and Sunday Eucharist. 

Bishop Skip Adams and Fr. Yarsiah gave recommendations and support for the scholars in the application process. 

Voorhees students who received scholarships are Denise Freeman, Temah Yarsiah, Dawn Freeman, Fiona Freeman, Nathan Freeman and Franklin Ukoha. Davidetta Yarsiah, a 2019 Voorhees graduate, also received a scholarship to pursue a Master of Business Administration degree at Claflin University in Orangeburg beginning this year.

Seven Voorhees students also were offered summer jobs at Kanuga, the Episcopal camp and conference center in Hendersonville, NC. Since 2013, Voorhees has had two or three students working at Kanuga each summer, but this year is the largest group yet from Voorhees, Fr. Yarsiah said.

The following article appeared in the June-July edition of Words of Grace, the monthly newsletter of Grace Church Cathedral. Clark Cromwell is Grace's parish coordinator for Episcopal Relief & Development. He recently attended a meeting sponsored by Episcopal Relief & Development in Houston, Texas.

In early May I attended an Episcopal Relief & Development meeting as the representative for Grace Church Cathedral. The meeting had an information-packed agenda but also time for us to focus on the passionate commitment of those responsible for the vital work that the organization does. They provide much needed relief after natural and manmade disasters but also help develop stronger and safer communities.

They focus on women, children, and climate. By partnering with community organizations, Episcopal Relief & Development is able to leverage aid and reach the most vulnerable. Those efforts include addressing violence toward women in Liberia and early childhood development in Zambia.

One particularly effective program provides training and aid for deaf, blind, and handicapped Syrian children in a refugee camp in Jordan. By partnering with Holy Land Institute for the Deaf, we are able to meet critical needs of challenged children.

On the final day we took a field trip that began at St. Paul’s Church on the south side of Houston, an area that was hit hard by Hurricane Maria and sustained further damage from flooding. The threat of unemployment and eviction intensified that stress, precipitating domestic abuse and safety issues for many. St Paul’s stepped in with food, clothing, and housing assistance programs that provided immediate relief. Counselors remain available to deal with the ongoing social, spiritual, and domestic issues.

Our last stop was a community of Cambodian and Laotian refugees from the Vietnam war era. They grow water spinach, but their homes and greenhouses were destroyed by hurricanes. Mosaic, the outreach campus of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Pearland, Tex., and Episcopal Relief & Development are hard at work rebuilding stronger and safer structures that should survive future floods and storms. I was impressed by the leaders and volunteers who were so dedicated to these otherwise forgotten victims of the changing climate.

After attending the meeting, I feel more strongly than ever that we are doing the right thing by supporting Episcopal Relief & Development with our Fifth Sunday contributions, and I am proud to be your representative.

Peace,
Clark Cromwell

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Episcopal Relief & Development is the international humanitarian and relief organization of The Episcopal Church. Learn more and offer your support at episcopalrelief.org.

For information on Grace's "Fifth Sunday" support for Episcopal Relief & Development, contact Clark Cromwell at [email protected].

The Episcopal Church in South Carolina will host a public Open Conversation in Beaufort on Thursday, July 11 from 6:00-7:30 pm at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 157 Ladys Island Drive, Beaufort SC 29907.

Like our previous Open Conversations, this is an opportunity to invite people you know who have questions about The Episcopal Church in South Carolina. Use this flyer to spread the word.

TECSC is offering this Open Conversation to provide information, listen, and answer questions about the life and ministry of our diocese and faith communities.

Led by Bishop Skip Adams of TECSC, the Open Conversation will include other clergy and lay leaders, including Archdeacon Callie Walpole and the Rev. Bill Coyne, Diocesan Missioner for Returning Congregations.

The event is open to the public, and will be of special interest to people who attend Episcopal/Anglican churches in the region, including those affected by the 2017 state Supreme Court decision to return the property of the Diocese of South Carolina and 29 parishes to The Episcopal Church. 

“We encourage people in parishes who are affected by the court ruling to bring their questions and concerns to this Open Conversation,” said Fr. Coyne. “This is an opportunity to engage with one another with an open heart as we walk the road toward reconciliation together.”

Information regarding the meetings is posted on the TECSC web page. For more information, view A Historical Timeline of the Episcopal Church in South Carolina and the Frequently Asked Questions.

The Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC) today filed a complaint in federal court against its insurance company, the Church Insurance Company of Vermont, saying the company acted in bad faith by wrongfully making secret payments to churches that have sued TECSC, helping to fund their litigation against the diocese.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in Charleston, seeks actual and punitive damages from The Church Insurance Company of Vermont (CIC-VT), which is a captive insurance company of The Episcopal Church that has provided TECSC with insurance coverage since the early 2000s for diocesan and parish properties.

“Captive” insurance is a form of self-insurance in which a parent group or groups create an insurance company to provide coverage for itself.  In this case, The Episcopal Church is the parent company and CIC-VT has a fiduciary duty to The Episcopal Church and its affiliated dioceses and parishes that it insures.

“Such duties include fiduciary duties of loyalty and care to insure risks only for TEC and its affiliates, and to properly process insurance claims only for the benefit of TEC and its affiliates,” the complaint says.

The complaint involves a group led by Bishop Mark Lawrence that announced it was disaffiliating from The Episcopal Church in 2012, and filed a lawsuit seeking to take the identity and property of the diocese and its churches.

According to the complaint, TECSC recently discovered that CIC-VT paid insurance proceeds to at least one of the disaffiliated parishes, St. Philip’s Church in downtown Charleston. This discovery came through an annual report published online by St. Philip’s that said “After spending for TEC legal fees, Loan Amortization, and Capital Expenditures, St. Philip’s incurred a net cash deficit of $79,045. However, roughly half of the TEC Legal Fees were eligible for partial reimbursement from the Church Insurance Co. of Vermont, totaling some $111,749.”

The payments were wrongful because CIC-VT cannot legally insure parishes not affiliated with the Church, the complaint says. The complaint cites evidence that “similar wrongful conduct also occurred with respect to the Lawrence Diocese and/or additional Lawrence Parish Entities” with payments, insurance proceeds or settlements from CIC-VT which have not been publicly disclosed, but will be subject to the legal discovery process in court.

The Episcopal Church in South Carolina, as the recognized diocese of The Episcopal Church, has a trust interest in all diocesan and parish property including “all rights to insurance policies protecting such property and receivable insurance proceeds,” the complaint says.
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In August 2017, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that diocesan property, along with the property of 29 parishes, including St. Philip’s, are held in trust for The Episcopal Church and TECSC.

“For the last seven years, the Lawrence Diocese and 29 of the Lawrence Parish Entities have unlawfully possessed and controlled and have been misusing, depleting, and diminishing the diocesan and parish property held in trust for TECSC and TEC. They still do today,” the complaint says. “They refuse to accept and obey the final decision of the South Carolina Supreme Court. They are currently opposing its enforcement in the state circuit court, on remittitur. They are also opposing an action pending in this Court seeking an injunction against their ongoing trademark infringement, vonRosenberg v. Lawrence.”
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The complaint says CIC-VT has “has enabled and aided and abetted at least one Lawrence Parish Entity in breaching such fiduciary duties, participating by wrongfully paying and misdirecting insurance proceeds to it for the known purpose of funding their litigation efforts against TECSC and TEC.”

See a copy of the Standing Committee's letter of June 11, 2019 here. The text follows:

Dear Faithful People of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina,
 
“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” - Ephesians 4:11-13
 
In January of this year, your Standing Committee began exploring options for the future of the Episcopacy in our diocese. Over the course of these past several months we have discerned that our diocese is ready for the next faithful step as we continue to “grow into the full stature of Christ.”
 
In our meeting on May 23, the Standing Committee voted unanimously to initiate a process that will lead to our calling for the election of a full-time Bishop Diocesan. With that goal in mind, the Standing Committee is working to find a full-time Bishop Provisional who can provide episcopal leadership during the transition period ahead.
 
As you are aware, Bishop Skip Adams has been our Bishop Provisional for nearly three years and plans to conclude his time with us by the end of 2019, or as soon as a successor is in place. Bishop Adams has been working on a part-time basis for these three years, and both he and the Standing Committee are convinced that our next bishop needs to be full-time to meet the needs of this growing Diocese.
 
Therefore, the Standing Committee continues to work in consultation with the Right Rev. Todd Ousley of the Episcopal Church’s Office for Pastoral Development on two fronts: First, to identify persons for the Standing Committee to consider for the role of full-time bishop to serve our diocese in the interim, and second, to prepare for an official call to election for a full-time Bishop Diocesan.
 
As you may know, electing a bishop is to engage in a significant process of discernment. From the time such a call is issued until a new bishop is ordained and consecrated typically takes 18 months to 2 years. The Standing Committee will oversee that process, which typically includes the formation of search and transition committees, the creation of a diocesan profile, and a period of nominations before the slate is announced. An electing convention would be called. The election then must receive consent from a majority of the House of Bishops and a majority of the Standing Committees of the 110 other dioceses of The Episcopal Church. Upon the successful completion of the canonical consent process, the bishop-elect can be ordained and consecrated.
 
We are developing a plan and timeline for this process in consultation with Bishop Ousley and will be able to announce more details in the weeks ahead. Please know the Standing Committee is committed to keep everyone informed along the way and to be as clear and transparent as possible throughout the process.
 
Please remember that we are at the very beginning of what we believe to be a major step forward in “building up the body of Christ” in The Episcopal Church in South Carolina. We will continue to update you on the next steps as they unfold.
 
Your Standing Committee asks that prayers begin for all involved in this process. Pray for +Skip, our bishop, the councils and committees of our diocese; for all diocesan leadership and all who might be called upon to serve in this process. Most of all, we ask your prayers for those persons whom the Holy Spirit will call forward to provide episcopal leadership for our Diocese.
 
Faithfully,
 
The Standing Committee of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina