S.C. church breaks with diocese

St. Andrew's Church-Mount Pleasant has voted to sever its ties with The Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, becoming the second parish in the diocese to break away and realign with a different church governing body, after All Saint's Church in Pawleys Island left The Episcopal Church in 2003, prompting a court battle over property that ended this month.

At a special meeting Sunday, St. Andrew's vestry unanimously adopted a resolution that transferred the parish's canonical residence to the Anglican Church in North America, a recently established organization meant to provide theologically conservative congregations an alternative to The Episcopal Church.

St. Andrew's members ratified the resolution after the vestry vote. More than 700 members, or 97 percent, voted in favor of the change. Nineteen members voted against "disaffiliation."

The Rev. Steve Wood posted results of the vote on his blog and expressed satisfaction that, after years of consideration, the parish had decided to go its own way.

"I rejoice and give thanks for both the clarity of this discernment process and the unity of purpose within this parish demonstrated by this vote," he wrote. "Having said that, I am reminded that at least 19 members of St. Andrew's may not be rejoicing in this vote and I commend them to you and your prayers as brothers and sisters in Christ. Please commit with me to ensure that St. Andrew's will remain a parish where all are welcome to gather at the foot of the cross."

St. Andrew's will affiliate with the Diocese of The Holy Spirit, part of the Anglican Church in North America. Its bishop will be the Rt. Rev. John Guernsey, rector of All Saints Church in Dale City, Va.

The parish's decision to sever its ties to The Episcopal Church already has prompted a legal query that possibly could lead to litigation over property and action against the leadership of the Diocese of South Carolina.

Last year, St. Andrew's transferred its property valued at $3.45 million into a land trust. The state Supreme Court's decision in the All Saints case, rejecting the idea that dioceses and local parishes hold property in trust for The Episcopal Church, likely will be a factor as the dispute further unfolds.

All Saints' legal battle, which began in 2000, ended this month out of court when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a request to "summarily reverse" a Sept. 19 S.C. Supreme Court ruling that permitted church dissenters to retain the property.

The breakaway parish affiliated with the Anglican Mission in the Americas, part of the Anglican Church of Rwanda, in 2003.

The request was submitted to the nation's high court by Episcopalian parishioners. After the court declined to consider it, the two congregations agreed to settle the dispute and the court petition was withdrawn. The parish soon will be renamed.

Wood said his parish has "tried to handle [the disagreement] as gracefully as possible and as non-reactively as possible." He said he thought the bishop was interested in pursuing legal action against the parish, adding that the Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence's decision to remain part of The Episcopal Church "enabled" St. Andrew's to leave it.

Lawrence has said he would offer a pastoral response to dissenting parishes.

He has asserted Anglican orthodoxy and criticized what he has referred to as the church's "false gospel of indiscriminate inclusivity" and emphasis on political correctness over the authority of Scripture.

In a statement, Lawrence noted the "sad irony" of St. Andrew's departure.

"As bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, I receive almost daily letters and e-mails from people across this Church suggesting that our stance gives them encouragement to remain and fight," he said. "Yet we could not hold one of our strongest congregations: The departure of The Episcopal Church from the way of Christ and the rooted teachings of the Church has become too discordant for them to tolerate any longer. By God's grace we will keep St. Andrew's in our prayers and work with the leadership to find ways to cooperate in Gospel mission and ministry and that honors Jesus Christ and his Kingdom."

St. Andrew's is one of four parishes to take steps to disassociate from The Episcopal Church in recent months. The others are St. Luke's Church on Hilton Head Island; Trinity Episcopal Church in Myrtle Beach; and St. John's Church on Johns Island.