Diocesan Convention to be Held at St. James, Charleston

The 233rd Convention of the Diocese of South Carolina will be held November 2-4, 2023, at St. James Episcopal Church in Charleston (James Island). Please mark your calendar, particularly those who will serve their congregations as delegates to convention this year, but all are welcome to attend. The official Call to Convention and relevant travel information, including hotel blocks, will be shared soon.

There are a couple of important changes to convention plans this year. First, convention will take place starting Thursday afternoon through midday on Saturday. This expanded time of convention reflects the growing breadth of ministries in our diocese and also will accommodate the need for clergy and lay ministers to travel home and rest before Sunday worship. This adjustment will also allow more time for fellowship. Convention, after all, is not just a business meeting--it is the annual "family reunion" of the diocese.

The venue for convention has been changed from what was previously announced, which was that the event would be hosted in the Southern Deanery. A small group of Southern Deanery clergy and lay leaders began planning with diocesan staff in earnest back in December, but a number of challenges led the group to consider alternative locations. After some exploratory conversations, a promising new course of action began to take shape.

St. James, located at 1872 Camp Road on James Island, a parish with roots in The Episcopal Church dating back more than 200 years, returned to the Diocese of South Carolina and The Episcopal Church in December as a result of the South Carolina Supreme Court’s 2022 rulings. The Rev. Taylor Smith was called as priest-in-charge, and he serves alongside a faithful and capable group of staff and lay leaders who enthusiastically agreed to host the convention. A great deal of energy and work has gone into renovating parts of the large and historic physical plant of the campus, which includes the church, a parish hall and office building, and a facility with a large multipurpose event space, kitchen, and other meeting rooms that will serve well the needs of the diocesan convention. The buildings are surrounded by beautiful grounds, a churchyard, and a marsh-front outdoor chapel, and the campus is across the road from Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Retirement Community. 

Father Smith expressed joy at welcoming the convention to the historic space at St. James. "The people of St. James are honored and excited to have been asked to host the 2023 Diocesan Convention!" said Fr. Smith. "God willing (and we’re pretty sure God is!), we will have beautiful, newly-renovated space to which we can welcome Bishop Ruth and all the faithful of the Diocese of South Carolina to James Island. God is doing great things in the diocese and at St. James and we can’t wait to share!"

Diocesan Convention will be held in the Southern Deanery in 2024. The Very Rev. Roy Tripp serves as regional dean in addition to his ministry as rector of St. Mark's in Port Royal. He and other leaders in the deanery have given the change of venue their full endorsement. Dean Tripp stated,"We look forward to our gathering this November and we look forward even moreso to welcoming the diocese to the Southern Deanery in 2024."

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