Meet the Deputies: Jim Taylor

The Reverend Dr. James E. Taylor

Fr. Taylor at the May 2015 Diocesan Clergy Conference in Santee.

Jim Taylor has been Rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in the Park Circle neighborhood of North Charleston since 2003 and has been a priest for 20 years. Born in Wilmington, N.C., he graduated from New Hanover High School, where he played football and threw the discus on the track and field team. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Virginia Theological Seminary. In 2014, he received his Doctor of Ministry degree from VTS; his thesis on stewardship was "Transforming The Giver: Effecting Congregational Giving Patterns Through Faith, Gratitude, Formation and Proclamation."

In 2012-2013, Fr.Taylor served on the Steering Committee for the reorganization of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina. He now serves as treasurer for diocese, as well as treasurer for the Trustees of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina. In his free time he plays racquetball, has fun on the water and works on website design.

Fr. Taylor says he is looking forward to representing our diocese with integrity, joyfulness, and hope for the future. This will be his first General Convention, and he says he looks forward to reconnecting with friends, making new friends, and seeing the larger church.

May Deputation meeting

Deputy Andrea McKellar gives a PowerPoint presentation to the deputies, Bishop vonRosenberg, and others who will be traveling to Salt Lake City June 25-July 3.

Deputies for our diocese met with Bishop vonRosenberg on Wednesday, May 20 at Grace Church, Charleston for an all-day session to prepare for the 78th General Convention. The meeting gave the deputies a chance to review orientation materials, get familiar with the draft schedule, and talk over some of the details and logistics for their time in Salt Lake City.

Each deputy gave a short briefing to the deputation on the resolutions currently before the legislative committees, and the group discussed several major items of legislation. Deputies went home with binders full of information to read and homework to complete. General Convention begins in just over 1 month.

Next: Province IV Synod

Our deputation will be at Kanuga June 3-5 along with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, President of the House of Deputies Gay Clark Jennings, and two of the four nominees for Presiding Bishop, all of whom are planning to attend the Province IV Synod meeting at Kanuga, according to the draft agenda for the gathering released this week.

The deputies are looking forward to getting more information and training for the Virtual Binders they will be using at General Convention. These are iPads that will be issued to bishops and deputies for the duration of General Convention, with an app that will electronically replicate the material that previously was provided in physical binders.

Prayers during General Convention

The Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE) is helping collect words and images for Prayers of the People for General Convention. If you’re familiar with SSJE’s “Brother, Give Us a Word” emails, or if you participated in the “Advent Word” campaign, this is similar: The prayers will follow nine themes (one for each day of convention): life, thanksgiving, praise, intercession, adoration, oblation, penitence, petition, and celebration.

Meet the Deputies: Tom Tisdale

Thomas S. Tisdale, Jr.

Tom at the dedication of a painting of Bishop Guerry
in Grace Church, Charleston in December.

Tom Tisdale serves as Chancellor of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina. He previously served Chancellor of the Diocese of South Carolina during the episcopates of Bishop Temple and Bishop Allison. He has served as a deputy from South Carolina to General Convention on four occasions from 1972-1985 in Louisville, Denver, New Orleans, and Anaheim. Tom also served on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church, and as Chair of the Committee on Program Budget and Finance. He is an attorney practicing law in Charleston, and is a member of Grace Episcopal Church in Charleston.

He’s also the author of the play Truth in Cold Blood, which premiered in Charleston last summer. The play brought renewed attention to the events surrounding the death of the Rt. Rev. William Alexander Guerry, Eighth Bishop of South Carolina. In 1928, Bishop Guerry was shot in his office by a priest who opposed the bishop’s efforts to advance racial equality. Episcopalians in South Carolina remember him on June 9, the anniversary of his death, as Bishop, Reformer and Martyr.

At General Convention this summer, Tom says he is looking forward to sharing information with the rest of the Church about the exciting work we have been doing in our completely reorganized diocese. Tom says we are a model for the wider Church about how to succeed and flourish in difficult circumstances. He also says he is looking forward to seeing old friends from around the country, including fellow Chancellors.

Meet the Deputies: Wilmot Merchant

The Rev. Dr. Wilmot T. Merchant, II

Fr. Merchant at the May 2015 Diocesan Clergy Conference in Santee.

Wilmot Merchant has been a priest in this diocese since 1999, and he has been the Rector of St. Stephen’s, North Myrtle Beach, since 2002. He was elected a Deputy in February 2014, and he currently serves as President of the Standing Committee of the diocese.

Fr. Merchant served as Volunteer Chaplain for North Myrtle Beach Public Safety and the Loris Healthcare System and is very active in the North Strand Ministerial Alliance. He also served as the Chairperson of the Faith Leaders Advisory Council for South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, and was honored ‘volunteer of the year’ of the Victim Assistant Network of South Carolina. In 2008, Fr. Merchant was instrumental in casting St. Stephen’s “Loris Vision” to start another Episcopal presence in the Loris area. With help from the diocese, St. Stephen’s purchased 15 acres of land and began a mentoring program at Loris Elementary School.

This will be the second time Fr. Merchant has attended General Convention. In 2012, he attended with the Union of Black Episcopalians. He says he is looking forward to South Carolina being fully represented this time, after the events of 2012, and is excited to be one of our deputies. Fr. Merchant also says he's looking forward to the election process for the Presiding Bishop. He knows two of the nominees personally – Ian Douglas was his professor, and he and Michael Curry became friends after Wilmot preached at the 2012 Province IV Synod.