[Diocese of Upper South Carolina] New Canon To the Ordinary Departing

from Stand Firm by Sarah

Word on the street is that our diocese's new Canon to the Ordinary is departing from his position -- he was hired back at the beginning of the year, in February I believe.

Strange.

I have no idea why he is gone.

Sadly, it looks as if they're going to try to find him a job as a priest of a parish -- sadly for some parish that is, although I certainly hope he finds employment in some incredibly revisionist place as I don't wish for anyone to be jobless if they want to work; I would feel horrible for any conservative to moderate parish, though, who hired him.

But for now, I think I'll just remind everybody of this post back when he was hired, and quote from it:

Tommy Tipton, rector of one of the most liberal parishes in the Diocese of South Carolina, has finally been able [ably aided by a rector in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina] to make his escape as well, this time as our diocese's new Canon to the Ordinary.

Holy Cross Faith Memorial, Father Tipton's parish, has been one of the four central parishes involved in the formation of a small burr in the saddle of the Diocese of South Carolina's leadership -- The Episcopal Forum, a gathering of Episcopalians in that diocese who enthusiastically support the direction and theology of the Episcopal Church at the national level, as well as the actions of our Presiding Bishop. The Episcopal Forum represents beliefs that are antithetical to Episcopalians of traditional theology in our diocese -- which, according to our diocesan survey, is a clear majority of the laypeople [and around 20% of the clergy] -- as one can note with a simple glance through their materials, including their Facebook page. As those of us in Upper South Carolina who have observed their actions and rhetoric at public places like conventions and assemblies, not to mention their written rhetoric, have noticed, their theology places them on the far left even of The Episcopal Church. They are full of buzzing hatred of initiatives of South Carolina, including such innocuous ones as the diocese's thriving and large youth program -- the charge being that the massive youth presence in that diocese aren't participating in national church youth gatherings, or, I suppose, attending Integrity Eucharists at our General Convention, as for instance our old Canon for Youth Ministry organized up here in our diocese. [That led to further boycotts of diocesan youth functions by parents in the Upper Diocese . . . ah well.]

The associate rector of Holy Cross is on the board of The Episcopal Forum, one of its laypeople is vice president of the Forum [and he, incidentally, considers Holy Cross to be "a 'Beacon' for diversity and inclusiveness in the diocese and he strongly supports that role for the parish"], the parish hosted the 2004 Episcopal Forum meeting . . . the parish hosted the 2010 Episcopal Forum meeting, and the parish has consistently voted against protective and differentiating resolutions of the Diocese over the past seven long years. You can note the observed reaction of delegates of Holy Cross at the announcement of the Pawley's Island property resolution in this comment over at T19 -- that's got to have stung.

Since 2003, Father Tipton has publicly opposed the efforts of The Diocese of South Carolina to clearly and publicly differentiate itself from the decisions of The Episcopal Church at the national level.

He opposed the initial resolutions from their 2003 diocesan convention -- and he's continued the trend throughout the next conventions. [Plenty of clergy and lay sources in that diocese will confirm both his theology and his practice over the years. Give your informed friends down that way a call.]

And yes, Tommy Tipton was one of the founding members of The Episcopal Forum -- here's the archive of the membership list of the Episcopal Forum from 2004. And he was on the 2005 members list. And the 2006 members list. It appears that his name . . . oddly . . . was left off the latest membership list which is, of course, understandable. As the membership page notes "List excludes Members who wish not to be listed." [And hey -- those of you from The Episcopal Forum who are reading this -- don't bother trying to cover them up, we've pdf'd the past archive pages of the Episcopal Forum].

I suspect that some time around the time his name began disappearing from the Episcopal Forum's membership list, Father Tipton began entering various search processes elsewhere. That's just a theory, of course.