The Reverend Rob Donehue, President of the Standing Committee, has shared a letter with the diocese regarding updates to the current COVID-19 protocol offered to congregations. Read the letter at this link, or see the text of the letter below:

August 25, 2021
 
Dear faithful people of the Diocese of South Carolina,
 
Earlier this month, the Standing Committee published an update to diocesan guidelines regarding coronavirus precautions. Our hope is that these guidelines have proved to be helpful as congregations continue to navigate the latest wave of the pandemic. As you may recall, when we published the updated guidelines, we promised to update them at least monthly. As we are seeing cases continue to climb across the state, we felt it would be timely to provide an update based on recent conversations we have had with experts in epidemiology from MUSC. We continue to monitor the situation closely, and we will update our guidelines based on the information and advice of our experts. Above all, we are grateful for the leadership being shown in all of our congregations as we seek to implement the best practices to protect the health of our members.      
 
In consultation with medical professionals, other dioceses, and with the consent of our Bishop-elect, we strongly recommend all congregations in our diocese adopt the following precautionary measures to ensure that we all remain safe from COVID:

• Encourage all parishioners to get vaccinated. Please consider providing assistance, such as transportation or access to medical resources, as necessary.
• If possible and practicable, congregations should obtain and retain up-to-date contact information for all service attendees in order to facilitate contact tracing should infection occur associated with your service.
• Remind parishioners and staff to stay home when experiencing any symptoms and seek COVID-19 testing at the onset of symptoms.
• All parishioners, clergy, and staff wear masks for indoor services and during office hours when others are present, leaving them in place at all times during services.
•  Maintain distances of 6 feet between households of parishioners for indoor services.
• Services and fellowship gatherings should take place outdoors whenever possible.
• Continue or implement online worship for adults and children as well as holding meetings virtually whenever possible.
• Holy Communion is to continue in one kind only; avoiding any circumstance in which parishioners or staff are not appropriately distanced (6 feet).
• Parishioners pass the peace without physical contact and maintaining social distancing.
• Hand sanitizer and masks should be made readily available for all.
  
• Nursery, children’s chapel or Sunday school, leadership and families should exercise informed prudence and appropriate safety measures to include suspension of these services until further notice.
• Participants wear masks covering mouth and nose when congregational or choral music is a part of a service.  This includes practice and preparatory sessions as well.
• If any congregation has plans for a large gathering this fall, we highly recommend postponing such gatherings so as to minimize chances of spreading infection. We know the disappointment this may cause; we were saddened to announce the postponement of the long-anticipated clergy retreat.  

 
As we stated when these guidelines were originally updated, will revisit them at least monthly or more often as conditions change. For specific information about your county, please see: https://covidactnow.org/us/south_carolina-sc/?s=21201043 or the CDC website https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker . Keep in mind that the CDC initially recommended indoor gatherings only when the positive test rate fell below 5%.
 
We remain grateful for your prayers, patience, and faithfulness. 
 
Peace and blessings,

 The Reverend Rob Donehue, President, on behalf of the Standing Committee
 

Today, the Reverend Rob Donehue, on behalf of the Standing Committee of which he is president, shared an update on plans for the upcoming ordination service for Bishop-elect Ruth Woodliff-Stanley. The text is posted below, or click here to view the letter.


*******************


August 18, 2021
 
 
To the faithful people of the Diocese of South Carolina, 
 
Greetings. We write to you with an important update regarding the ordination service for our bishop-elect being planned for October 2nd. 
 
As you are likely aware, there is growing concern over the daily increasing number of cases of coronavirus infections in South Carolina. Based on conversations we have had with medical experts, and in keeping with our desire to follow our recently published guidelines, we have made the decision to scale back the events of the ordination weekend. Bishop-elect Ruth was involved in the discussions that led to the change in plans, and it is with her full support that we share this update. 
 
We had been planning for a celebratory reception for Friday, October 1st, at Festival Hall in Charleston. This event was intended to be open to as many attendees as possible. But we have paused planning for the event. The hope - and expectation - is that we will be able to gather in the not-too-distant future for a grand celebration, but for the moment, we believe that the best course of action is to forego the October 1st reception. 
 
For the ordination itself, it will be a full liturgical celebration, but we believe it is necessary to limit the planned attendance for the health and safety of all. We will be asking for all participants to wear face coverings, and we are planning to arrange seating at Grace Church Cathedral to accommodate social distancing between groups of attendees. The service will be live-streamed on the day, and we encourage those who cannot attend in person to tune in. More details about tickets to attend the service and congregational involvement will be shared in due course. We are also planning for a light, “walk through” reception following the service. 
 
While we realize that many of you will be disappointed by this announcement, we want to be clear that the measures being taken should in no way diminish the joy of the occasion. God willing, on October 2nd, beginning at 11am at Grace Church Cathedral, Bishop-elect Ruth will be ordained as the XV Bishop of South Carolina. We have long awaited this moment, and we believe that the people of this diocese will greet it with a joy undimmed by any external circumstance.      
 
Soon you will hear more about these decisions directly from Bishop-elect Ruth. We greatly appreciate her care and concern for everyone in the diocese and her readiness to change plans in response to the ongoing pandemic.

As we approach the ordination date of October 2nd, we ask everyone in the diocese to remain faithful in their prayers and to continue showing love for each other. We particularly ask that you remember Bishop-elect Ruth and her family in your prayers.  
 
We remain grateful to everyone in the diocese for walking together on this journey, and we remain confident that the joy of the resurrection is guiding us every step of the way. 
 
Faithfully,  
 
The Reverend Rob Donehue (on behalf of the Standing Committee)
President of the Standing Committee 

As we prepare to welcome our Bishop-elect Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, the Transition Committee invites people from across the diocese to offer gifts in support of her ministry. 

It is the Episcopal Church’s tradition to contribute toward a bishop-elect’s vestments and other symbols of the Office of Bishop: stoles, cloaks, mitre, crosier, ring, pectoral cross and other liturgical items. Contributions may be made online (select "Bishop gift" under "Select a fund") and will be processed through the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. Checks may be sent to the diocesan office at the following address: PO Box 20485, Charleston, SC 29413. Checks should be addressed to The Episcopal Church in South Carolina/The Episcopal Church in SC and note on the memo line that the check is for the "bishop gift." Any amounts received will be added to a larger diocesan gift.

Questions about gifts may be directed to the Transition/Standing Committee members who are serving as gift coordinators: the Rev. Jim Dannals ([email protected]) and Mary Dianish ([email protected]). ​

After consulting with medical professionals, other dioceses, and with the consent of our Bishop-elect Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, the Standing Committee President, the Rev. Rob Donehue, shared a letter today on behalf of the entire committee updating the guidance for our diocese in light of the recent increase in COVID-19 cases caused by the delta variant. Read the entire letter below, or as a .pdf at this link.

August 4, 2021
 
 
Dear faithful people of the Diocese of South Carolina,
 
Thank you for your grace, compassion, and faith-filled leadership as we continue to navigate the uncharted waters of COVID-19 together. Unfortunately, just when we were all beginning to be able to implement less restrictive protocols, the Delta variant has placed even the fully vaccinated in danger.
 
After consulting with medical professionals, other dioceses, and with the consent of our Bishop-elect, we ask all parishes in our diocese to adopt the following precautionary measures:
 

• Strongly encourage all parishioners to get vaccinated. Please consider providing assistance, such as transportation or access to medical resources, as necessary.
• Remind parishioners to stay home when experiencing any symptoms and seek COVID-19 testing at the onset of symptoms.
• All parishioners, clergy, and staff wear masks for indoor services.
• Maintain distances between 3 and 6 feet between households of parishioners for indoor services. Fellowship gatherings encouraged outdoors whenever possible. Outdoor services are also encouraged whenever possible.
• Continue or implement online worship for adults and children as well as holding meetings virtually whenever possible.
• Holy Communion is to continue in one kind only.
• Parishioners pass the peace without physical contact and maintaining social distancing.
• When offering nursery, children’s chapel or Sunday school, leadership and families should exercise informed prudence and appropriate safety measures to include suspension of these services until further notice.
• Participants wear masks when congregational or choral music is a part of a service. This includes practice and preparatory sessions as well.

 
We will revisit these protocols at least monthly or more often as conditions change. For specific information about your county, please see: https://covidactnow.org/us/south_carolina-sc/?s=21201043 or the CDC website at https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker.
 
As your Standing Committee, we are deeply grateful for your prayers, creativity, patience, ingenuity, and grace that you have demonstrated during this unprecedented time. We ask you to continue just bit longer, firmly in hope, trusting, in the great gifts and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
 
Faithfully yours,
 
The Reverend Rob Donehue (on behalf of the Standing Committee)
President of the Standing Committee 
​