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Clergy Transitions

11/27/2018

The Rev. Bryce Wandrey has been appointed priest associate at Grace Church Cathedral beginning January 1, 2019. Ordained in the Church of England, he was received as a priest of The Episcopal Church in May, and is currently the middle school chaplain of Porter-Gaud Episcopal school in Charleston. Fr. Wandrey previously served as parish priest at All Saints Church in Highgate, London, and as the Assistant Chaplain at Highgate School. He and his wife Nichole have two school-age children.

Wambaw Church celebrates 250 years of history

11/20/2018

When the Brick Church at Wambaw was consecrated in 1768, South Carolina was a British colony and St. James-Santee Parish was a prosperous rice planting community along the Santee River. Two-hundred-fifty years later, the hand-pegged cypress pews of the Wambaw Church were filled once again as St. James-Santee, McClellanville celebrated its 250th anniversary with a Thanksgiving Harvest Celebration of Holy Eucharist on November 18.

It was a chance to experience a taste of what colonial churchgoing was like, with windows open to a mild autumn day as people sat in the enclosed pews, greeted old friends, sang hymns, shared Communion, and heard the Rev. Alex Barron preach from the raised pulpit.

“We are also celebrating the modern-day saints who helped preserve this church over the years,” said the Rev. Caroline Goodkind, interim vicar of St. James-Santee. The Rev. Jennie Olbrych, who recently retired as vicar, gave a tribute to the late William McGillivray “Bo” Morrison, Jr., whose work helped secure the church as a National Historic Landmark and protected the surrounding pine forest and unpaved stretch of road.

In his sermon, the Rev. Alex Barron read words written by his great-grandfather, David Doar, who as a boy carved his name on a pew door that's still visible near the pulpit. Fr. Barron read this excerpt from an article published in "The Diocese" in 1918:

"Her young men and women are going to other homes and other work that call them. Her old men and women are passing away one by one and soon all will be gone, and then she may be desolate for her children, but she still stands, sadly though it be, strong as ever, in spite of her one hundred and fifty years, as evidence of the God-serving who once lived around her, as evidence of the good seed she has sown, which has grown and expanded, like a pebble thrown in the ocean makes a ripple going in an ever widening circle, influencing men for good, and uplifting the world until shall be merged into eternity, as an evidence that the "faith once delivered to the saints" fell not on stony ground, or hearts, but bore fruit, and that abundantly. May she still stand for all time; and may her wide old doors be often thrown open to gather under hoary rooftree the weary, the down-trodden, the sorrrowful, and the saints of the Lord to receive comfort, and to offer their prayers and praises to the Savior, the Living God."

Since its consecration in 1768, the Old Brick Church has survived storms, war, poverty and vandalism, including a short stint as a stable for raiding parties’ horses. But faithful Episcopalians and devoted community members continued to care for the building, both for its architectural and historical significance and as a spiritual home. The non-profit Brick Church Restoration Committee continues to support its ongoing care.

The church’s design is a combination of Georgian and Classical architectural elements with local and imported materials. The body of the church is English brick, while the wedge-shaped bricks throughout the portico columns were made locally. Today, the flagstone floor is worn smooth from countless feet, beneath the original plasterwork of the high, vaulted ceiling.

St. James-Santee Episcopal Church worships primarily in the chapel-of-ease at 205 Oak St., which was built in 1890 after most of the parish families had relocated to the village of McClellanville. Devotion to the Brick Church remained constant, and the local congregation still goes to the Old Brick Church every spring and fall for Sunday worship.

Directions to the Wambaw Church and a detailed history can be found at www.brickchurchstjames.org. Learn more about St. James-Santee Episcopal Church atwww.stjamessantee.org

The 228th Diocesan Convention of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina approved by acclamation this resolution on November 17, and it was read aloud at the beginning of Sunday's service:

BE IT RESOLVED:
That we congratulate St. James-Santee Episcopal Church in McClellanville as they celebrate, this Sunday, the 250th Anniversary of the Brick Church at Wambaw. The Brick Church was consecrated in 1768 and has stood for two and a half centuries through the faith and dedication of generations of Anglicans and Episcopalians. We offer our prayers and best wishes as you continue to serve our Lord for many years to come.

Hearing in Orangeburg on Supreme Court decision

11/19/2018

After an 85-minute hearing in Orangeburg this morning, 1st Circuit Court Judge Edgar W. Dickson told attorneys he will have more questions for them as he prepares to decide how to implement the South Carolina Supreme Court's decision on church property matters.

The judge heard only one of the five motions currently before the court in the 85-minute hearing, listening as both sides addressed a “Motion for Clarification” filed by the plaintiffs, the group that left The Episcopal Church.

Attorney for the plaintiffs Alan Runyan spent about 45 minutes on a slide presentation challenging the state Supreme Court’s decision, telling the court the ruling is unclear and that Judge Dickson will need to “decide what was decided.”

Thomas S. Tisdale Jr., Chancellor of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC), maintained that the Supreme Court ruling is clear. “Our purpose is to help you and support you in effecting this decision, which is final,” he told Judge Dickson. “And there can be no argument about its finality.”

Representing The Episcopal Church, attorney Mary Kostel focused on Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty’s opinion in the 2017 state Supreme Court decision, noting that he used the word “disposition” in describing the majority ruling to return the property of the Diocese of South Carolina and 29 parishes to The Episcopal Church and its local diocese, TECSC.

“Nothing Justice Beatty is doing here is inconsistent with what happened in the All Saints case,” she said. “There is no ambiguity.”

The Episcopal Church and TECSC have asked the court to implement the August 2017 decision, return the property and assets, and order a full accounting. TECSC also has asked the court to dismiss a related lawsuit filed by the breakaway group.

The Episcopal Forum of South Carolina

11/18/2018

The Episcopal Forum of South Carolina was organized in 2003 by local residents who wanted to maintain a strong connection between Episcopalians in our diocese and the wider Episcopal Church.

This month, its mission completed, the Episcopal Forum has announced it is closing. Its final act: To donate its remaining funds to support communication for reconciliation efforts in The Episcopal Church in South Carolina.

"Today, The Episcopal Church in South Carolina is a vibrant, growing, and fully engaged Diocese with The Episcopal Church. With the support of hundreds of members and thousands of other supporters both near and far, the Forum has done what it could do to both preserve the spirit of The Episcopal Church in the diocese... and provide complementary educational programs," Forum President Warren Mersereau wrote. "Consequently, the time has come for the Forum to quietly close its 'doors.'" Read the announcement here.

Bishop Skip Adams, in a letter thanking the Forum, wrote: "Your group was hard at work to guarantee the Episcopal flag would conttinue to fly in this part of the state years before the split was official, and your members were those who stepped up as we reorganized.

"As we continue to look to the future, seeking reconciliation and unity with those who left, we do so with the appreciation and understanding that you all played a pivotal role in what such a road would look like," the Bishop wrote. The letter is posted in full in the Forum's final newsletter.

Tributes to the Forum also can be read on the blogs of Dr. Ron Caldwell and Steve Skardon. A formal resolution was adopted at the Diocesan Convention on November 17, expressing gratitude for the Forum's work:

Be it RESOLVED,

That we, the members of the 228th Annual Convention of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina, on this 17th Day of November 2018, give thanks to God for the Episcopal Forum of South Carolina for their critical and selfless role in celebrating and encouraging the spirit of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina and broadness of who we are as Anglicans.

Since its founding in 2003, the Episcopal Forum has labored, often under much duress and opposition, as well as personal sacrifice, to provide connection to South Carolina from the broader Episcopal Church. This effort manifested itself in many ways, chiefly in the form of conferences and workshops for those loyal to The Episcopal Church. They facilitated the visits of personalities from around the Church, thus affording South Carolina Episcopalians rare but valuable opportunities to meet and hear voices from outside South Carolina, where the winds of diocesan secession were blowing.

In the words of Bishop Adams, the Forum undertook the hard work “to guarantee the Episcopal flag would continue to fly in this part of the state.’

After the re-organization of the diocese in 2013, the Episcopal Forum re-focused its mission toward providing educational endeavors within the diocese, sponsoring visits from both Presiding Bishops Katharine Jefferts-Schori and Michael Curry, and others. Additionally, the Forum has sponsored conferences for clergy and laity alike celebrating and highlighting the ministries of many who, historically, have been marginalized and disenfranchised, particularly women, African-Americans and LGBTQ persons.

Always with a Gospel focus, the Episcopal Forum encouraged us to be “Enthusiastically Episcopalian!”

We give thanks to the Episcopal Forum of South Carolina, and we give thanks to God for its tireless labors.

Clergy Transitions

Wambaw Church celebrates 250 years of history

Hearing in Orangeburg on Supreme Court decision

The Episcopal Forum of South Carolina

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