(St. Stephen's Episcopal Church press release)

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC – St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church has announced $15,000 in awards to seven local nonprofits who are the beneficiaries of the 2018 Rich Jacobs Memorial Pro Am Golf Tournament.

On on August 9, St. Stephen’s hosted a reception in their Parish Hall to distribute the net proceeds from the 2018 Rich Jacobs Memorial Pro Am Golf Tournament, which was held at Arrowhead Country Club on June 20, 2018.
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We are pleased to announce the following beneficiaries:

• North Strand Helping Hand;
• Helping Hand of Myrtle Beach;
• South Strand Helping Hand;
• North Strand Housing Shelter;
• Mobile Meals of the North Strand;
• Teen Angels North Myrtle Beach High School; and
• A Father’s Place.

For the last several years, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, in partnership with the Myrtle Beach Golf Desk and Arrowhead Country Club, has hosted a golf tournament to raise funds to support local charities. Due to the tournament’s ongoing success, we have been able to add to our growing list of beneficiaries. Last year, we added Teen Angels. This year A Father’s Place will be included.

Along with our partners, The Myrtle Beach Golf Desk, and Arrowhead Country Club, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church would like to express thanks and appreciation for the ongoing support we have received over the years from our sponsors as well as individuals and entities that donated raffle items.
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The tournament continues to be a success because of each and every person that has provided support, and our local community continues to benefit directly.

For more information, please contact the Rev. Canon Dr. Wilmot T. Merchant II, Rector, at 843-249-1169.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Gergel has set March 1, 2019 as the target date for a trial in the federal false-advertising and trademark infringement lawsuit against a breakaway group that left The Episcopal Church.
 
In an Amended Scheduling Order issued Thursday, the judge set a timetable for filing motions, identifying witnesses, and other legal steps aiming toward the March 1 date for a trial in the case, known as vonRosenberg v. Lawrence.
 
Prior to the order, the case had been set for trial in September. The new schedule comes after Judge Gergel allowed the expansion of the lawsuit in April, adding as defendants to the case the diocesan organization and trustees who are operating under Bishop Mark Lawrence, and the 54 parishes that followed him after the 2012 split. Those groups have been operating under the name "Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina," and the confusion created by that is one facet of the trademark and false-advertising claims. 
 
The lawsuit was filed in March 2013 by Bishop Charles vonRosenberg, who at that time was the only bishop recognized by The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina. By continuing to represent himself as bishop of the diocese, Mark Lawrence is engaging in false advertising, the lawsuit says. Bishop vonRosenberg retired in 2016, and his successor, Bishop Gladstone B. Adams III, was added as a plaintiff in the case. The Episcopal Church and its local diocese, The Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC), also joined the case as plaintiffs, alleging that the group affiliated with Bishop Lawrence is holding itself out in ways that cause similar confusion.
 
The federal case is key to resolving trademark issues raised by the split. In a separate case, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled in August 2017 that property of the diocese and 29 parishes must be returned to The Episcopal Church and TECSC. That decision resulted from a state lawsuit filed by the breakaway group in 2013 against The Episcopal Church and TECSC.

The Reverend Canon John Zahl has been called to serve as 13th Rector of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Bedford, NY, in the Diocese of New York, beginning September 1.

He has served at Grace Church Cathedral for nearly 6 years, along with his wife Deirdre and their daughter Daphne. The Zahls' final Sunday at Grace will be August 19. ​