The Post and Courier reports on Friday’s meeting of the continuing diocese in South Carolina as well as the extension granted the breakaway diocese to file a request a rehearing of the state’s Supreme Court decision involving the two dioceses:
The Diocese of South Carolina under the leadership of Bishop Mark Lawrence was granted an extension on Friday for filing a request for a rehearing, giving lawyers 30 days to submit their petition with the S.C. Supreme Court. If granted the petition, attorneys will argue the case again, this time potentially before a court whose members have partially changed. If the petition is not granted, the Diocese of South Carolina still can submit a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking for its intervention. The high court generally has not chosen to hear cases of this type in the past. [“potentially” was added to P&C’s story on 8/14/17]
At Grace Church Cathedral in downtown Charleston, leaders of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina [the continuing diocese] gathered Friday to discuss the S.C. Supreme Court opinions and then attended a prayer service. The Very Rev. Michael Wright, rector and dean of Grace Church, said the cathedral has served as “a refuge from the storm” for many, gaining a large number of worshipers from parishes that left The Episcopal Church. They must now contemplate “the next phase” in the life of the diocese, he said.
The article includes a history of the property dispute and the nature of the court’s decision.