[Magdalen] News from The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina

[Grace Cangialosi]

I had forgotten all about Kendall Harmon!
Yes, the African bishops did a number on us here, also.

At one of our clergy conferences several years ago, we had a woman theologian from Kenya. Someone asked her how worried lay people in Africa were about the whole gay issue.
She replied that they were more concerned with the needs at home—like getting clean water and electricity, AIDS, eradicating polio and other diseases. She said, “If your bishops would stop buying them plane tickets, the whole thing would die down.”

> On Sep 20, 2019, at 10:59 AM, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Grace, Kendall Harmon and other clergy were driving the schism long before
> anyone thought of Lawrence for bishop.  As anyone who has followed this
> movement in some conservative dioceses across TEC knows this has taken
> years to bear fruit for the conservatives.  With the Gergel ruling
> yesterday, that fruit is obviously dying on the vine.  As we have
> reorganized TEC in SC, we, too, have born fruit, new fruit.  We are small,
> but this is not about numbers.  It is about being the community called by
> God to be the body of Christ in this place...we in SC have walked that
> journey especially in the last 7 years.  We understand more fully what that
> call actually is/means.  TBTG.
> 
> In my parish, we have never focused our life on the breakaway group or
> Lawrence or ACNA.  We have known who we are...Christ's own forever and have
> never tried in any way to keep up with the unattached "Anglicans".  Our
> journey has been made easier without that diversion.  Now, some in SC have
> focused on the breakaways; I pray they feel better identified with the
> recent ruling.  The Episcopal Church in SC will flourish...it may take
> years, but we will be growing from strength to strength.
> 
> BTW, the schismatic movement began during the Civil Rights Era in US as TEC
> steadily grew more progressive.  My earliest realization that things were
> moving toward an unknown to me right wing was when Fitzsimons Allison was
> elected bishop in the early '80s.  I was very young then but on staff at
> our parish as CE Coordinator, so I was exposed to the change up in
> theology.  Then, for me, in the early '90's, an Evangelism Conference was
> held at Kanuga.  A clergy friend of mine attended and told me about it when
> she returned.  The primates from Africa came to tell TEC something like
> this: You have evangelized us for years, now it is our turn to evangelize
> you.  You have gone astray and we must see that you are brought back.  That
> is a synopsis of their message....but I believe the premise to be correct.
> Kendall Harmon was associate priest in my parish then, and his
> preaching/teaching was completely foreign to me.  My loud mouth opposition
> took off.  Whenever I had an opportunity to disagree with the theology
> being taught and proclaimed, I sounded off in public.  This eventually
> wound me up being publicly identified as 'evil' by our rector.  I stayed in
> that parish, in which I was baptized, for several more years.  When the
> theology became fundamentalism and Pentecostal and I was told by another
> clergy person that I must have a memory problem because I kept saying the
> same thing over and over, as if I thought I hadn't said it before, John and
> I transferred out of St. Paul's, Summerville.  We have always been every
> Sunday worshippers, wherever we have been, even in the worst of my
> experiences at St. Paul's.
> 
> Pardon the length of this.
> Ginga
> 
>> On Fri, Sep 20, 2019 at 9:27 AM Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Ginga,
>> I always had the  feeling that it was being driven by Lawrence and not
>> even so much by clergy. That’s pretty much what happened here. Rectors of
>> three churches started stirring things up. One had the grace to leave his
>> church building; he and one other are now bishops in African dioceses. Some
>> of us think that was their goal all along, as they had lost in several
>> elections here.
>> 
>>> On Sep 19, 2019, at 9:31 PM, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Lynn, the schism began as a clergy driven thing and continues to be so.
>>> 
>>> I think today's ruling will certainly shorten the time remaining because
>> it
>>> came from a federal court.  Ron Caldwell, a retired professor of history
>>> has thoroughly documented this mess.  It is posted on his website (
>>> https://episcopalschismsc.blogspot.com/), as it his summary of today's
>>> ruling.  He is very wise and I encourage anyone who is curious to read
>>> it...won't take too long.  The Chronology of the Schism is in the menu on
>>> the right, at the bottom of the September listings.
>>> 
>>> Ginga
>>> 
>>>> On Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 9:24 PM Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> sigh... I thought this was the FINAL decision.
>>>> 
>>>> I wonder 'who' is driving the other side, if they decide to appeal....
>> the
>>>> clergy (including the Bishop)  or the laity?
>>>> 
>>>> Lynn
>>>> 
>>>> website: www.ichthysdesigns.com
>>>> 
>>>> When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have
>> not
>>>> a
>>>> single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave
>> me."
>>>> attributed to Erma Bombeck
>>>> 
>>>> "Mercy and compassion are more than personal options. They are the
>>>> antidotes
>>>> to that fear and hatred." Mark Singel
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --------------------------------------------------
>>>> From: "Ginga Wilder" <gingawilder at gmail.com>
>>>> Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 7:09 PM
>>>> To: "Magdalen" <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
>>>> Subject: Re: [Magdalen] News from The Episcopal Diocese of South
>> Carolina
>>>> 
>>>>> I'm sure an appeal is in the works.  We believe th federal courts will
>>>>> follow the law of the land.  SC Circuit courts are quite conservative.
>>>>> Today's ruling, or the results of an appeal, will allow the Circuit
>> judge
>>>>> to more easily follow good protocol regarding property.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Ginga
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 7:47 PM Roger Stokes via Magdalen <
>>>>> magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On 19/09/2019 23:05, Ginga Wilder wrote:
>>>>>>> Federal Judge Richard Gergel rules that we are who we have known we
>>>>>>> are.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>> 
>> www.episcopalchurchsc.org/news-blog/september-19th-2019?fbclid=IwAR3HBfYRZc5g7wy3RwEnyA4OGxXOmxWGZzB_nkgIqXtwozZEhdJFTyw4IBU
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Thank be to God and lots of God's gifted people.
>>>>>>> Ginga
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Wow! what more could you want? Doubtyless it will be appealed but this
>>>>>> is a clear injunction effective unless and until overruled on appeal.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Roger
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>