To accommodate the departing ACNA congregation, the reopening of St. James Episcopal Church on James Island (Charleston) has been moved to the Second Sunday of Advent, December 4. The church had previously been scheduled to return to our diocese on November 1 (announced on our website at this link), but the departing congregation was delayed in their ability to occupy a new space.

​With grace, diocesan leadership agreed to postpone the scheduled date by a few weeks. Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley has announced that the Rev. Taylor Smith will now lead the reopening of St. James Episcopal Church on Sunday, December 4. ​

Over the past week, St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Hartsville was returned to our historic diocese and The Episcopal Church. Founded in 1902, the church is located right alongside Coker College at 103 Campus Avenue. It was previously announced that Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley has called the Rev. Michael Bye as interim priest-in-charge of this congregation. He is also currently serving as the same at nearby St. David's, Cheraw. All are welcome to attend the reopening of St. Bart's this Sunday at 9:30 am. 

​The church also plans to livestream the service on their new Facebook page at this link. Check out their new website at: www.stbartsepiscopal-hartsville.org. Please keep this congregation in your prayers during this transition.

Decisions by the South Carolina Supreme Court in April and August of this year initiated the return of at least seven churches, as well as diocesan property and the St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center on Seabrook Island. Below is an update on each of the transitions.

The return of each church requires a tremendous amount of transitional work and negotiation, and since the Orders of the Court, the following churches have returned to the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina: St. John’s, Johns Island (July 2022); St. David’s, Cheraw (August 2022); Christ Church, Mt. Pleasant (September 2022); and Holy Trinity, Charleston (September 2022). Episcopal worship services have resumed at each church, with the exception of Holy Trinity, where diocesan leadership is still in discernment about the best path forward. The Acorn School continues to operate at Holy Trinity and the diocesan office is working with the school’s leadership.

St. Bartholomew’s in Hartsville was scheduled to return at the end of September, but the date of transition has been moved to the end of October to accommodate the departing members of the ACNA congregation and their rector. Due to unforeseen circumstances that resulted in a delay in the ACNA congregation moving to their new worship space, the Episcopal congregation at St. Bartholomew’s graciously allowed them to remain for one more month. St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church is scheduled to reopen on Sunday, October 30. The Rev. Michael Bye, interim priest-in-charge at St. David’s, Cheraw, will be serving St. Bartholomew’s as well, as the diocese continues to search for permanent leadership.

Of the remaining returning congregations, St. James, Charleston is expected to reopen next, with an anticipated date of All Saints Sunday, November 6, 2022, under the leadership of the Rev. Taylor M. Smith. Discernment is in process regarding how best to serve Episcopalians in and surrounding Fort Motte and the best use of returning property there. The diocese is awaiting a further decision of the Court regarding Good Shepherd, Charleston, as well as Old St. Andrew’s, Charleston, and Holy Cross, Stateburg. 

Details on a settlement between our diocese and the ACNA diocese regarding diocesan properties were announced by Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley on September 27, 2022. Since that time, St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center was returned to the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina on October 1, 2022, led by seasoned Episcopal Camp and Conference Center executive directors, the Rev. Deacon Helen and Rick Hargreaves. All staff except for the most recent executive director have been asked to continue their employment, and they have been most helpful as we continue through this transition. The camp and conference center, and barrier island programs, continue operating without interruption.

Bishop Woodliff-Stanley has named a strategic Steering Committee, led by the Rev. Laura Rezac, that will report to the bishop and the Trustees regarding the operation of St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center. In addition, the bishop, with the support of the Trustees, has engaged Rob Watson and Stuart Campbell, veteran executive directors and consultants from Episcopal Camps & Conference Center ECCC Ministries, to help the bishop, the bishop’s steering committee, and St. Christopher’s interim executive directors frame the scope of work at the camp and conference center for the coming months.
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“While these transitional issues have been taking much of the focus lately, I am thrilled about what the Spirit is doing across our diocese, among all of the congregations of our historic diocese,” said Bishop Woodliff-Stanley. “The returning congregations are a part of this emerging vision, and I am excited for us all to embark on this next season of ministry in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. I can’t wait for the people of the diocese to learn more at our Diocesan Convention next month.”

The Right Reverend Ruth Woodliff-Stanley has called the Rev. Taylor M. Smith as priest-in-charge of St. James Episcopal Church in Charleston (James Island), which will soon be returning to the Diocese of South Carolina and The Episcopal Church as a result of the SC Supreme Court decision in April 2022.  Fr. Taylor, who recently served a congregation in the Diocese of Maryland, will lead the reopening of St. James Episcopal Church on Sunday, November 6.

Bishop Woodliff-Stanley is hopeful for the future of St. James, and for the pastoral skills and experience Fr. Taylor will bring to the congregation. “I am thrilled to call the Rev. Taylor Smith to serve as priest-in-charge of St. James as we welcome this historic church back to the diocese,” said Bishop Woodliff-Stanley. “Taylor is a seasoned priest with a heart for outreach and a keen pastoral intuition; his easy manner and gracious spirit will be great gifts in helping us reestablish St. James as a strong presence in our diocese.”

A lifelong Episcopalian, Fr. Taylor has roots in Buffalo, NY, and spent his high school years in New Jersey before moving to North Carolina to attend Duke University as an undergraduate. Upon graduation, he began a career as a commercial loan officer near Charlotte for about six years prior to discerning a call to the priesthood. He graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1996 and was ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Western North Carolina where he continued to serve in diocesan and parish ministry for four years.

In 2000, he was called to the Diocese of Maryland, where he served at Grace Church, Elkridge for 12 years and then St. Mark’s Church in Highland, MD for nine years. In January, Fr. Taylor moved to Charleston with his wife, Kathy, after she accepted a job with Roper St. Francis Healthcare.

Since moving here earlier this year, Fr. Taylor has spent time visiting a number of Episcopal churches in the Lowcountry as he discerned his next call. He shares Bishop Woodliff-Stanley’s vision for the future of St. James Episcopal Church on James Island. “I am equally honored and excited to be called by Bishop Woodliff-Stanley to serve St. James,” said Fr. Taylor. “I look forward to living into the call and living up to the challenge.  As with everywhere else in the world, there’s great opportunity in James Island to spread Good News of God's inclusive love and we will do that through worship and by serving Christ by serving the world around us.”

​While Fr. Taylor and his wife are new residents of South Carolina, Kathy was born in Columbia, SC, and much of her extended family still lives in the area. Married for 26 years, they have two sons: Stafford, a senior at the University of South Carolina, and Mason, who works in the Charleston area.
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Details and service times for Fr. Taylor’s first Sunday at St. James are still being finalized, and will be shared as soon as they are available. With a history dating back to the early 1700s, St. James was a part of St. Andrew’s Parish and has a long history with the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. It is located directly across from the Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Retirement Community at 1872 Camp Road in Charleston (James Island). 

The Strategic Transition Task Force, a new formation of the previous Transition Planning Group that was reorganized last year and announced at the 231st Diocesan Convention, met for a final time last week as they completed the task of formulating and implementing the plans to move forward for the well being of the diocese. The group, led by The Rev. Denise Trogdon was initially charged with making plans regardless of pending litigation, but pivoted into how to best implement the decisions of the Court after South Carolina Supreme Court handed down decisions in April and August of this year.

Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley expressed her tremendous gratitude to the Strategic Transition Task Force, helping the diocese best utilize its assets and resources to implement the decisions of the Court. “The work of the Strategic Transition Task Force has been pivotal in assisting me and our Standing Committee as we have faced complex decisions regarding returning properties,” said Bishop Woodliff-Stanley. “Their work has provided critically-important context for making strategic decisions about the future of the diocese.”
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Members of the Strategic Transition Task Force represented all areas of the diocese, and their collective voices allowed the group to make decisions that were in the best interest of The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and our shared vision for the future. Members included: Lenny Blevins (Grace Church Cathedral), Thad Daise (Episcopal Church on Edisto), Charles Jordan (Messiah, Myrtle Beach), the Rev. Michael Shaffer (St. Francis, Charleston), Sarah Tipton (Grace Church Cathedral and Bishop Gadsden), the Rev. Denise Trogdon (All Saints, Hilton Head Island), and Carrington Wingard (St. Catherine’s, Florence), as well as the bishop, the chancellor (initially Tom Tisdale, and then Bert “Skip” Utsey), and the president of the Standing Committee, the Rev. Rob Donehue. The Rev. Cn. Philip Linder, as Canon to the Ordinary, was part of the committee as well.