February 3, 2012
Diocese Cautions Parish Leaders, Clergy about
"Adversarial Intent" of SC Episcopalians
The following email was sent to all Rectors and Wardens this morning:
"Mr. Steve Skardon, on his website, scepiscopalians.com, has asked his
readers to send him copies of all parish changes to by-laws, charters or
other legal documents, including copies of filed quit claim deeds for
the following stated purpose: to “forward them on for an opinion from
people with expertise in Church law.” Given the expressly adversarial
intent of these inquiries, I would suggest extreme caution before
granting any such request. Such requests will not represent attempts by
parishioners to better understand the issues, but efforts by outside
parties to gather information to be used against your parish. My
recommendation would be that you decline to comply and be explicit that
it is for this reason.
As always, feel free to contact me if you have further questions or need to discuss the issue further. In Christ's service,
The Rev. Canon Jim Lewis
Canon to the Ordinary, Protestant Episcopal Church
The Diocese of South Carolina
