Monday, September 21 - St. Paul's Vestry Meeting

Thursday, September 24, 7 pm Doar Hall - Briefing #1 - with The Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon
Brief History
What happened at GC2009?
What has been the national and international response?
Q & A

Thursday, October 1, 7 pm Doar Hall - Briefing #2 - with St. Paul's Clergy
Panel Discussion
Q & A

Sunday, October 4 - Briefing #3
Brief summary of first two briefings
Report out Vestry resolution
Statement by the clergy of St. Paul's
Q & A

Saturday, October 24 - Special Convention of the Diocese at Christ Church, Mt. Pleasant

Supporting Documents:

Terms and definitions - definitions of words and acronymns prepared by St. Paul's clergy to facilitate understanding of the documents below.

Timeline for Episcopal-Anglican Communion Crisis - Ann Harrington, has researched and prepared a timeline of significant events, legislative and otherwise, that has taken the Episcopal Church on a definitive path to where it finds itself today.

Four Resolutions of Note:

1. Lambeth 1.10 - Lambeth is the once a decade meeting of all the bishops of the Anglican Communion. At the 1998 Lambeth meeting this resolution was passed by a majority of those present regarding the Communion's position on issues of Sexuality.
2. B033 - This resolution that originated in the House of Bishops was passed at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in 2006.  It offered a compromise between re-asserters and re-appraisers regarding consecration of bishops and asked for a moratorium on any consecrations of any candidate living in a same-gender relationship.
3. D025 - This resolution originated in the House of Deputies (composed of priests and laypersons) affirms that ‘God…may call such individuals (i.e., gay and lesbian persons) to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church’.
4. C056 - This resolution originated out of Committee, was passed by both Houses in 2009, and encourages the development of liturgical resources to be used for the blessing of same-gender relationships.
   

Communion, Covenant and our Anglican Future—this is a response offered by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual Head of the Anglican Communion, after General Convention 2009 concluded.  Among other concerns, Bp. Williams notes particularly the passage of D025 and C056 as creating further rending of the fabric of the Anglican Communion.

Bishop Lawrence’s Interview with Anglican TV - Before returning to SC from General Convention 2009, Bp. Lawrence was interviewed by Anglican TV.  This is an excellent opportunity to hear our Bishop’s views and understanding in a first hand fashion. See the interview on AnglicanTV.org

Bishop Lawrence’s Address to the Clergy—This address was given to the clergy of the Diocese of SC last month on August 13. Writing within a context of the Providence of God, Bp. Lawrence offers a diagnosis of the malaise of the church and our culture, then offers a step-by-step means of more intentional and broader engagement of the issues impacting the life of the church. It is a call to all of the diocese to prepare to stand more definitively. He emphasizes that the steps offered by him remain as provisional steps because the playing field continues to shift rapidly.

The Anglican Communion Covenant  --A newly proposed covenant of relationship for the 38 Provinces of the Anglican Communion effecting 80 million Anglicans is being developed. This third draft, called the Ridley draft, contains four parts. Part IV has been especially resisted by The Episcopal Church leadership because it requires a degree of mutual accountability among the Provinces. Bp. Lawrence has recommended that our diocese makes it known that we support the Covenant’s proposals and we, as a diocese, are ready to sign on regardless of the Episcopal Church’s own desire to delay.

Resolutions from the Diocese of SC Special Convention on October 24 –These are resolutions that will be presented for vote at the October 24, 2009 special convention which will be attended by our three clergy and by our 4 delegates. They are indicative of our desire to demonstrate clearer differentiation between the Diocese of SC and TEC (the Episcopal Church).

St. Paul's Vestry Resolution for Diocesan Special Convention