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Adult Education: Epiphany 2019

12/31/2018

New adult education opportunities are beginning in Epiphany in churches around the diocese. Here are some of the offerings. (If your church would like to add to this list, please email [email protected])

Good Shepherd, Summerville
Starting February 3 at 10 am, Good Shepherd will offer a weekly study of Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again, the widely acclaimed book by Rachel Held Evans. Discussions will continue weekly through February 24.

St. Stephen's, Charleston
Starting February 3 at 10 am: Black History Month Series. An overview of the 197-year history of St. Stephen's with discussion and insights from African American parishioners about how the parish's history, roots and identity were formed. Included will be excerpts from the film "Cuzin Sista" about parish matriarch Louise Washington and her family. February 3 will look at 1960-the present; February 10 will cover 1924-1959; February 17 will cover 1822-1923, and the final session on February 24 will be a time to reflect. Child care is provided.

Evening Lecture Series: St. Stephen's will offer a series of evening lectures at 6 pm wiht a light reception to follow.
Thursday, February 21: "Story and Song" with Ann Caldwell, vocalist, performing artist, songwriter, producer and storyteller
Monday, March 25: "Architecture of Ansonborough" with Christina Butler, Professor of Historic Preservation, American College of the Building Arts
Monday, April 29: "Who Built Charleston" with Joseph McGill, History Consultant at Magnolia Plantation and founder of The Slave Dwelling Project Inc.
Monday, May 27: "The Architecture of Sacred Spaces" with Curtis Estes, Architect, AIA Member and Certified INterior Designer and Architectural Consultant.

All Saints, Hilton Head Island
A Thursday book study through April 18 at 11 am, based on the book Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words by Brian McLaren. The group will discuss a different word each week. Details and a schedule are available here.

Grace Church Cathedral
"History of the Christian Church" – On Wednesdays from January 23-February 27, from 12:00-1:30 pm, the Very Rev. Michael Wright and Steve Rhodes will lead six classes at Grace focusing on the history of the Christian Church during the medieval era, based on Diarmaid MacCulloch’s Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. Lunch is provided.

"Pilgrim: A Course for the Christian Journey" – Sundays at 10:10 am from January 20 through April, the Rev. Bryce Wandrey will lead a class focusing on the importance of baptism throughout the entirety of a Christian's spiritual journey.

"Episcopal/AME Book Study" – Grace's ongoing book study gathers at 5 pm Tuesdays. The group currently is reading In Darkest South Carolina: J. Waties Waring and the secret plan that sparked a civil rights movement by Brian Hicks. For information contact the Ven. Calhoun Walpole, [email protected].

Holy Cross Faith Memorial, Pawleys Island
A Community Book Study organized by the Health & Well Being ministry, led by Rev. Jason Roberson and Rev. Johnny Ford, will meet Thursdays at 5 pm at Holy Cross Faith Memorial beginning January 3 and continuing through February 7. The group will discuss The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. Joining the community onversation are House of God Church and St. Peter's Lutheran Church.

Music around the Diocese: Winter & Spring 2019

12/28/2018

The new year brings a new calendar of musical events to churches around our diocese. Here's a listing of events planned in early 2019. Save this link and check back as we add new events to the calendar through the spring.

January 18: Classical Guitar Concert
All Saint's, Hilton Head Island, 12 pm.
Acclaimed guitarist Dr. Brian Luckett of Jacksonville, Florida performs a varied program of classical guitar. A $20 donation is suggested.

January 20:
Organ Dedication Concert
with 'Deux Voix'
St. Mark's, Charleston, 4 pm.
The concert will feature the trumpet-organ duo Deux Voix.

January 20: 'Music for the Seasons' Winter Concert
St. Stephen's, North Myrtle Beach, 4 pm.
The program features Kim Carey (flute) and Roberta Rowland-Raybold (piano, harpsicord and organ). A reception will follow. Details here.

February 3: Choral Evensong
Grace Church Cathedral, Charleston, 4 pm.
Grace's St. Gregory Choir sings this service of Evening Prayer set to music for the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple (Candlemas).

February 3: Choral Evensong
Church of the Holy Communion, Charleston, at 5 pm. The Holy Communion Choir offers Choral Evensong and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament for Candlemas (the Feast of the Presentation), with music by C.V. Stanford and William Bradley Roberts.

February 8: Handel & Bach Concert
All Saints, Hilton Head Island, 7 pm.
Featuring Handel’s Organ Concerto in G minor, Op 4. No. 3 & Bach’s Solo Cantata for Soprano Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen sung by Rebecca Flaherty; both with chamber orchestra. A $20 donation is suggested.

February 22: All Saints on Broadway
All Saints, Hilton Head Island, 6:30 pm. Members of the parish choir will perform an
array of music from Broadway. Hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served during the performance. Tickets are $25.

March 2: "Bringing Joy to Others" Concert
Holy Cross Faith Memorial, Pawleys Island hosts a concert presented by Brian Monroe, organist for the church, and tenor Antonio Abate. The concert will benefit the Smith Medical Clinic at HCFM in loving member of Paul A. Noble of Pawleys Island. Admission is free and all are welcome. Mr. Abate is a graduate of Juilliard School of Music and has played title roles in Faust, Offenbach’s Orphee aux enfers, Street Scene, Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro and others, and has studied under world renowned mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne. More details here.

March 3: Mardi Gras Blues Choral Evensong
St. Stephen's, Charleston, 5:00 pm. A Mardi Gras Blues Choral Evensong for the last Sunday of Epiphany, with a New Orleans-style band and choral works by William Dawson and Jester Hairston. A festive Mardi Gras reception will follow.

March 24: Lenten Recital & Evensong
All Saints, Hilton Head Island, 4 pm.
A contemplative service based on Plainsong chant, sung by the Chamber Choir. Evensong
begins with a 30-minute organ recital.

April 7: Lenten Choral Evensong
Grace Church Cathedral, Charleston, 4 pm.
Grace's St. Gregory Choir and St. Nicholas Choristers will sing this service of Evening Prayer set to music for the Fifth Sunday in Lent.

April 14: Chilcott Requiem
All Saints, Hilton Head Island, 4 pm
A concert of music for Holy Week, sung by the Parish Choir, featuring the Chilcott Requiem with a woodwind chamber orchestra and organ. A $20 donation is suggested.

The Rev. Bob Diehl, 1941-2018

12/20/2018

The Reverend Bob Diehl, a retired priest who served as supply clergy for several congregations in our diocese, died this morning after a prolonged illness following heart surgery in October.

The combined congregations of Good Shepherd and St. George’s in Summerville will celebrate his life with a requiem Eucharist at St. George’s, 9110 Dorchester Rd., on Friday, December 21 at 11:00 am. (Please note the time of the service, which has been updated from the initial announcement.)

Fr. Diehl and his wife the Rev. Jane Diehl, a deacon, have been attending Church of the Good Shepherd. Born in Detroit on December 29, 1941, he was ordained in 2008 and was canonically resident in the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan.

Rest eternal grant him, O Lord; let light perpetual shine upon him.

Episcopal Church parties seek summary judgment in federal lawsuit

12/10/2018

The Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC) and The Episcopal Church have asked the U.S. District Court to grant motions for summary judgment and call a halt to the “pervasive” public confusion caused by a group that broke away from the church, yet continues to use Episcopal names and marks.

The motion asks U.S. District Judge Richard M. Gergel to prohibit false advertising and the use of confusing names and marks by the breakaway group and its affiliated churches. A motion for summary judgment is a request for the court to rule that the other party has no case, because there are no facts at issue.

“The public confusion resulting from Defendants’ conduct is pervasive,” according to a memo filed by TECSC on December 7 in support of the motion. “It is undeniably causing irreparable harm to The Episcopal Church, and more locally, to TECSC and its Bishops. All that the Plaintiffs seek in this action is declaratory and injunctive relief, not damages (for which they could easily make a case).”

The lawsuit, known as vonRosenberg v. Lawrence, was filed in March 2013 by Bishop Charles vonRosenberg, who was the only bishop recognized by The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina at that time. 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, TECSC, also joined the case as plaintiffs.

In April, Judge Gergel ordered the expansion of the lawsuit, 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 names “The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina” and "Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina," and the confusion created by that is one facet of the trademark infringement and false-advertising claims. The court has set a target date of March 1, 2019 for a trial to begin.

The federal case is aimed primarily at resolving federal trademark infringement and false-advertising 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 memo filed December 7 by TECSC cites the state Supreme Court's 3-2 ruling that TECSC, not the group led by Mark Lawrence, is the true Episcopal diocese in the eastern half of South Carolina. According to the memo, TECSC has the right to all the diocesan names and marks, including the historic seal of the Diocese of South Carolina.

"The use of all of the diocesan names and marks, and the goodwill that arose from such use over many years, inured to the one and only historic diocese at issue. That goodwill in the diocesan names and marks cannot be divvied up, pursuant to the following well-established principles of trademark law," the memo says.

The Episcopal Church filed a separate Motion for Summary Judgment and a supporting memo on December 7. “Defendants have purported to disaffiliate from the Church, but continue to use the names they used when they were part of the Church and/or continue to hold themselves out as belonging to the ‘Episcopal’ diocese led by the ‘Episcopal’ bishop. These actions are not only likely to cause confusion, but, as we detail below, have caused confusion over and over again,” the memo says.

Defendants in the breakaway group also have filed counterclaims and motions with the federal court in connection with the case.

Adult Education: Epiphany 2019

Music around the Diocese: Winter & Spring 2019

The Rev. Bob Diehl, 1941-2018

Episcopal Church parties seek summary judgment in federal lawsuit

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