Report from Province IV Synod

Province IV Synod is under way at Kanuga near Hendersonville NC, and the South Carolina deputation is in the morning Plenary Session right now. Today began with a roll call of the 20 dioceses in the province, with each deputation giving a shout or song to represent themselves. “The Episcopal Church in South Carolina” was called in order and shouted “Shrimp and grits!” to indicate its presence, and got a big round of applause in welcome.

On the morning agenda are presentations by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori; the Rt. Rev. Stacy Sauls, Chief Executive Officer of The Episcopal Church; the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, President of the House of Deputies; and the Rev. Michael Barlowe, Executive Secretary of General Convention.

Synod began Wednesday evening with a welcoming reception for the Presiding Bishop at the Lakeside Pavilion. Deputies had time to visit and reconnect with others from all around Province IV. After dinner, more than 200 people gathered in the Chapel of the Transfiguration for the Provincial Eucharist, with the Rt. Rev. Dabney Smith, Bishop of Southwest Florida, as celebrant, and the Presiding Bishop as preacher. An offering was received for Episcopal Relief and Development.

Bishop Guerry

Marking the Feast of the Martyrs of Uganda, the Presiding Bishop opened her sermon by naming martyrs and witnesses to the faith from Province IV, beginning with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

One name she mentioned was William Alexander Guerry, the 8^th Bishop of South Carolina, who was shot to death in 1928 by a priest who disagreed with his efforts to advance racial equality. Many people in our diocese have been working to share Bishop Guerry’s story with the wider church, so our deputies were thrilled to hear him named in the sermon. (The Presiding Bishop also mentioned William Porcher DuBose, Voorhees College founder Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, and South Carolina native Samuel David Ferguson, who founded Cuttington College in Liberia.)

A “surprise” was listed on the agenda after Eucharist, which involved a member of our diocese: Barbara Mann was honored with a surprise cake-and-ice-cream reception, thanking her for 21 years as Treasurer of Province IV.