Message from Bishop David Anderson  Bishop Anderson Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus, This last week has seen some interesting developments in the Anglican/Episcopal world. The Episcopal Church's (TEC) Disciplinary Board for Bishops, chaired by retired Bishop Dorsey Henderson, has issued its findings on the charges filed by the "TEC loyalists" in the Diocese of South Carolina against their orthodox bishop, Mark Lawrence. With TEC Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori's backing and support, the SC loyalists certainly had the time and advice to get the charges right against Bishop Lawrence, but since there isn't actually any hard evidence of his abandoning or intending to abandon the communion of TEC, their combined zeal for a hanging apparently caused them to level charges based on their hopes and fears. Rumors have circulated for several months that a growing number of liberal revisionist bishops are having second thoughts about the Canon Law Title IV revisions and the rush to summary judgement and execution desired by the PB and her SC loyalists. The AAC applauds the decision of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops in dropping the charges, but wonders at the TEC loyalists' animosity that led to the charges in the first place. Bishop Lawrence, being the godly bishop that he is, hasn't taken any action against them and probably won't. I'm not sure that many bishops, myself included, would be so restrained. Apparently, from a close reading of the document, the finding that the charges couldn't be substantiated wasn't unanimous. If the charges had been upheld, Lawrence would have been punished for what his Diocese in Convention decided to do, but fortunately enough members of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops saw clearly and declined to go forward. This body seems in some ways to be similar to a Grand Jury in the secular court system, and in this sense, they refused to indict.

Will Jefferts Schori take her failed indictment attempt directly to the TEC House of Bishops at their next meeting, looking for a second bite of the apple? I don't think so. The recent Diocese of South Carolina Standing Committee's action of giving the parishes in the diocese Quit Claim deeds on their church properties could be seen as an entirely new level of imagined offense, though with the same legal problems for Jefferts Schori to overcome. Bishop Lawrence didn't give the quit claims to the churches as his unique action; the Standing Committee of which he is a part took the action. Additionally, they really didn't give anything of material value away or diminish the fiduciary holdings of the diocese, since a diocesan claim on the titles and properties would have been based on the so-called Dennis Canon. As my readers may recall, the State of South Carolina's Supreme Court has previously ruled that the Dennis Canon is null and void in SC. The SC jurists saw (as few other state courts have) that it isn't legal or proper for a second party to establish an involuntary trust on someone else's property, and especially when it makes the trust in its own favor. Because of the SC Supreme Court's repudiation of the Dennis Canon, it has been evident to the diocesan Standing Committee that there is no actual trust claim by the diocese or national church on SC parish property. A quit claim simply clears the books of what wasn't valid anyway. What is incredible is that highly placed jurists, as recently as a week ago in Georgia, can't see or understand what a five year old on the playground can understand about trust law and what's not fair. Additionally, the action was by the Standing Committee rather than the bishop alone, and had nothing to do with abandoning the communion of the Episcopal Church. Since that potential charge won't stand, the only other charge would be "wasting" the assets of the church/diocese/national church, and you can't waste by quit claim what the state Supremes say doesn't exist. One would think that any orthodox Episcopal parishes in the heterodox Upper South Carolina diocese, whose bishop does not have a claim to orthodox Christianity such as +Mark Lawrence does, might wish to avail themselves of departure opportunities from TEC based on the nullification of the Dennis Canon already established by their courts. Several states have court cases centering on the Dennis Canon claims of the dioceses and national church against local churches that are now ready for appeal to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS). One of them is the Samuel Seabury Church in Connecticut, and another is the Mother Church of all Georgia, Christ Church of Savannah, Georgia. One of the desperate needs is adequate financial support for filing the appeal, called a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to SCOTUS. It is very important to churches all over the United States, not only Episcopal/Anglican but Presbyterian as well, that one of these appeals, or both, be placed before the Supreme Court, and that by the Grace of God one or both be accepted for review. One of the things that the American Anglican Council has been doing for the last several years is providing additional friend of the court, or amicus briefs, supporting congregations both Anglican and Presbyterian, in their defense of their property against their former denomination. Meanwhile, we pray that senior bishops with wisdom will dissuade the Episcopal Presiding Bishop from attempting that second bite out of the apple of South Carolina. Blessings and Peace in Christ Jesus, +David The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr. President and CEO, American Anglican Council