Betterments Act Case Hearing Rescheduled

The hearing previously scheduled  with Circuit Judge Edgar W. Dickson for Thursday, July 25 has been rescheduled to 10:30 am on Tuesday, July 23. The hearing is in regard to a lawsuit filed against The Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC) and The Episcopal Church by a breakaway group that has come to be known as the Betterments Act case. Despite the change in time and date, the hearing will still take place at the Calhoun County Courthouse in St. Matthews, in the First Judicial Circuit.

The Episcopal parties have asked the judge to dismiss the betterments case, filed in November 2017 by a group led by Bishop Mark Lawrence that "disaffiliated" from The Episcopal Church in 2012-2013 and sued seeking to keep church property and assets. The 2017 suit cites the little-used Betterments Act statute to seek compensation from TECSC and The Episcopal Church for the cost of improvements made to the properties over the years. That suit followed a decision by the South Carolina Supreme Court on August 2, 2017 in favor of The Episcopal Church and TECSC.

This is the first hearing that has been scheduled since a court date in March was canceled a few days before it was to occur. Since receiving the Supreme Court's final decision in 2017, the circuit court has held one scheduling conference and one hearing on a motion for "clarification" filed by the disassociated group.