In a Jan. 4
press release and a
letter to parishioners from the Bishop, the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina announced that it, along with
17 parishes, have filed suit against The Episcopal Church to establish the Diocese's right to the real and personal property of the Diocese and its parishes. As explained by Bishop Lawrence:
The Episcopal Church (TEC) has begun the effort to claim the Diocese of South Carolina’s identity by calling for a convention to identify new leadership for the diocese, creating a website using the Diocesan seal and producing material that invokes the name and identity of the Diocese of South Carolina.
Our suit asks the court to prevent TEC from infringing on the protected marks of the Diocese, including its seal and its historical names, and to prevent it from assuming the Diocese’s identity, which was established long before TEC was formed. It also asks the court to protect our parish and Diocesan property, including church buildings and rectories, which our forefathers built and even shed blood over, and you have maintained without any investment of any kind from the national church.
The underlying point is that the Diocese disassociated from TEC in October 2012, after TEC attempted to remove me as your bishop.
The
Myrtle Beach Sun News reports on the lawsuit.
