The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr., Bishop of South Carolina, referred to facts and figures which demonstrate the fruits of a strongly intentional "mission over maintenance" approach to ministry, structure and budgeting in the Diocese of South Carolina, when the diocese met in convention Feb. 27.

Diocese of South CarolinaBishop Salmon noted that the diocesan budget had been nearly $2 million in 1990, but it has been intentionally reduced to $1.66 million for 1998. During this same period, he pointed out, net disposable income of all congregations in the diocese rose from $9.6 million to $17.1 million. The transformation, accomplished by scaling back centralized staff and programs, reflects at the same time a significant increase in overall communicant membership.

The bishop also said for some years the diocese has been working to implement tithing on three levels: 10 percent from parishioners to their home church; 10 percent from congregations to the diocese; and 10 percent from the diocese to the national church. The convention retained this formula as diocesan policy, but also resolved that for any vestry acting out of theological conscience, the portion designated to go beyond the diocese could be diverted from the national church to mission work identified by the diocesan council.

This allowance for withholding of funds from the national church reflects what Bishop Salmon acknowledged as considerable "unrest and discouragement" in the diocese after the 1997 General Convention, particularly in response to the implications of the amendment of Title III, Canon 8.1, on the ordination of women. The convention adopted a resolution objecting to this action and expressing sympathy with those dioceses, organizations, parishes and individuals who feel violated.

Bishop Salmon said there is "a profound theological struggle within the church that will not be healed with dialogue ... I believe that our common life in the church is under the judgment of God. By that, I mean he has let us become what we do - much like the tower of Babel. Our disarray is the fruit of our fighting and our unwillingness to engage the profound theological issues."

The convention authorized the Society for the Advancement of Christianity in South Carolina to pursue with the cathedral chapter the establishment of a theological institute "to provide appropriate programs and opportunities for theological resourcefulness, including a program of certification of master catechists for the diocese, theological symposia relating to the wider civic and academic community, and an expanded diocesan resource center and bookstore." It also resolved to invite Scholarly Engagement with Anglican Doctrine (SEAD) to make such an institute at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul its permanent base of operations.

In other action, the convention conformed diocesan canon law to the bishop's directive to clergy affirming holy matrimony as "the context for sexual relations" and deeming "sexual relations outside marriage ... a failure to set a wholesome example." The canonical amendment makes it clear that no official rite or act of recognition for same-gender unions is permissible in the diocese.

The Rt. Rev. Julio C. Holguin Khoury, Bishop of the Dominican Republic, South Carolina's companion, and a delegation from that diocese, were introduced. The convention also addressed the sin of racism within the diocese and established programs to promote mutuality between predominantly black and white churches.

Harriet Goodbody (The Very Rev.) William N. McKeachie