The Protestant Episcopal Church in Diocese of S.C. v. Episcopal Church
| Decision Date | 20 April 2022 |
| Docket Number | 28095,Appellate Case 2020-000986 |
| Parties | The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina; The Trustees of The Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina, a South Carolina Corporate Body; All Saints Protestant Episcopal Church, Inc.; Christ St. Paul's Episcopal Church; Church Of The Cross, Inc. and Church Of The Cross Declaration Of Trust; Church Of The Holy Comforter; Church of the Redeemer; Holy Trinity Episcopal Church; Saint Luke's Church, Hilton Head; St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church; St. David's Church; St. James' Church, James Island, S.C.; St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Bennettsville, Inc.; The Church Of St. Luke and St Paul, Radcliffeboro; The Church Of Our Saviour Of The Diocese of South Carolina; The Church Of The Epiphany (Episcopal); The Church Of The Good Shepherd, Charleston, SC; The Church Of The Holy Cross; The Church Of The Resurrection, Surfside; The Protestant Episcopal Church, Of The Parish Of Saint Philip, In Charleston, In The State Of South Carolina; The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Parish Of Saint Michael, In Charleston, In The State Of South Carolina and St. Michael's Church Declaration Of Trust; The Vestry and Church Wardens of St. Jude's Church of Walterboro; The Vestry And Church Wardens Of The Episcopal Church Of The Parish Of St. Helena and The Parish Church of St. Helena Trust; The Vestry and Church Wardens Of The Episcopal Church Of The Parish Of St. Matthew; The Vestry and Wardens Of St. Paul's Church, Summerville; Trinity Church of Myrtle Beach; Trinity Episcopal Church; Trinity Episcopal Church, Pinopolis; Vestry and Church Wardens Of The Episcopal Church Of The Parish Of Christ Church; Vestry and Church Wardens Of The Episcopal Church Of The Parish Of St. John's, Charleston County; The Vestries And Churchwardens Of The Parish Of St. Andrew, Respondents, v. The Episcopal Church (a/k/a, The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America); The Episcopal Church in South Carolina, Appellants. |
| Court | South Carolina Supreme Court |
Heard December 8, 2021
Filed August 17, 2022
Appeal from Dorchester County Edgar W. Dickson, Circuit Court Judge
Bert Glenn Utsey III, of Clawson Fargnoli Utsey, LLC, of Charleston; Kathleen Chewning Barnes, of Barnes Law Firm LLC, of Hampton; Kathleen Fowler Monoc, of Monoc Law, LLC, of Charleston; and Thomas S. Tisdale Jr., of Law Offices of Thomas S. Tisdale, LLC, of Charleston, all for Appellant The Episcopal Church in South Carolina.
Allan R. Holmes Sr., of Gibbs & Holmes, of Charleston; David Booth Beers, of Washington DC; and Mary E. Kostel, of Alexandria, VA, all for Appellant The Episcopal Church.
C Alan Runyan, of Runyan & Platte, LLC, of Beaufort, for Respondents Church of The Cross Declaration of Trust; Church of The Cross, Inc.; St. David's Church; The Church of Our Saviour of the Diocese of South Carolina; The Church of The Epiphany (Episcopal); The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina; The Protestant Episcopal Church of The Parish of Saint Philip, in Charleston, in the State of South Carolina; The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Parish of Saint Michael, in Charleston, in the State of South Carolina; The Vestry and Church Wardens of St. Jude's Church of Walterboro; The Vestry and Church Wardens of The Church of The Parish of St. Helena and The Parish Church of St. Helena Trust; and Vestry and Church Wardens of The Episcopal Church of the Parish of St. John's, Charleston County. William A. Bryan, of Bryan & Haar, of Surfside Beach, for Respondent The Church of The Resurrection Surfside. Thomas Christian Davis, of Harvey & Battey, PA, of Beaufort, for Respondent Christ St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Albert A. Lacour III, of Clawson & Staubes, LLC, of Charleston, for Respondent The Vestries and Churchwardens of The Parish of St. Andrews. Charles H. Williams, of Williams & Williams, of Orangeburg, for Respondents The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina and The Trustees of The Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina. Susan Pardue MacDonald, of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, of Myrtle Beach, for Respondent Trinity Church of Myrtle Beach. G. Mark Phillips, of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, of Charleston, for Respondent The Protestant Episcopal Church of The Parish of Saint Philip, in Charleston, in the State of South Carolina. Peter Brandt Shelbourne, of Shelbourne Law Firm, of Summerville, for Respondent The Vestry and Wardens of St. Paul's Church, Summerville and Trinity Episcopal Church, Pinopolis. C. Pierce Campbell, of Turner Padget Graham & Laney, PA, of Florence, for Respondents All Saints Protestant Episcopal Church, Inc.;
St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church; and The Church of The Holy Cross. James Kent Lehman, of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, of Columbia, for Respondent Trinity Church of Myrtle Beach. C. Mitchell Brown, of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, of Columbia, for Respondents The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina and The Trustees of The Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina. Ivon Keith McCarty, of McCarty Law Firm, PC, of Charleston, for Respondent Christ St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Timothy O'Neill Lewis, of Gibbs & Holmes, of Charleston, for Respondent Trinity Episcopal Church. Henry E. Grimball, of Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP, of Charleston, for Respondent The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Parish of Saint Michael, in Charleston, in the State of South Carolina. Robert R. Horger, of Horger, Barnwell & McCurry, LLP, of Orangeburg, for Respondent Church of the Redeemer. Allan Poe Sloan III, of Pierce, Sloan, Wilson, Kennedy & Early, LLC, of Charleston, for Respondent Vestry and Church Wardens of the Episcopal Church of The Parish of Christ Church. Andrew Spencer Platte, of Runyan & Platte, LLC, of Beaufort, for Respondents Church of The Cross Declaration of Trust; Church of The Cross, Inc.; St. David's Church; The Church of Our Saviour of the Diocese of South Carolina; The Church of The Epiphany (Episcopal); Vestry and Church Wardens of The Episcopal Church of the Parish of St. John's, Charleston County; The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina; The Protestant Episcopal Church of The Parish of Saint Philip, in Charleston, in the State of South Carolina; The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Parish of Saint Michael, in Charleston, in the State of South Carolina; The Trustees of The Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina; The Vestry and Church Wardens of St. Jude's Church of Walterboro; and The Vestry and Church Wardens of The Church of The Parish of St. Helena and The Parish Church of St. Helena Trust.
Thornwell F. Sowell III and Bess Jones DuRant, of Sowell & DuRant, LLC, of Columbia, for Respondent Church of the Holy Comforter. William Foster Gaillard, of Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP, of Charleston, for Respondent The Protestant Episcopal Church of The Parish of Saint Philip, in Charleston, in the State of South Carolina. Joseph C. Wilson IV, of Joseph C. Wilson Law Firm LLC, of Folly Beach, for Respondent Vestry and Church Wardens of the Episcopal Church of The Parish of Christ Church. William A. Scott, of Pedersen & Scott, PC, of Johns Island, for Respondent Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Harry Roberson Easterling Jr., of Easterling Law Firm, PC, of Bennettsville, for Respondents St. David's Church and St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Bennettsville, Inc. Mark V. Evans, of Charleston, for Respondent St. James' Church, James Island, SC Edward P. Guerard Jr., of Mt. Pleasant, for Respondent Vestry and Church Wardens of the Episcopal Church of The Parish of Christ Church. Francis Marion Mack, of Saint Matthews, for Respondent The Vestry and Church Wardens of The Parish of St. Matthew. David B. Marvel, of Charleston; and David L. DeVane, of Summerville, both for Respondent The Church of St. Luke and St. Paul, Radcliffeboro. Henrietta U. Golding, of Burr & Forman LLP, of Myrtle Beach, for Respondents Saint Luke's Church, Hilton Head; The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina; and The Trustees of The Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina. John Furman Wall III, of Mount Pleasant, for Respondent The Church of the Good Shepherd, Charleston, S.C.
The Court received eight separate petitions for rehearing. On June 7, we denied one petition in its entirety and denied three petitions in part. We requested briefing on two arguments: (1) revocation based on subsection 62-7-602(a) of the South Carolina Code (2022), and (2) no trust was created because the language purporting to constitute accession existed in the bylaws or constitutions before 1979. After careful consideration of these two arguments in the remaining petitions for rehearing, we grant the following petitions for rehearing:
We dispense with further briefing and substitute the attached opinion.
Donald W. Beatty C.J. John W. Kittredge J. John Cannon Few J. George C. James, Jr. J. James E. Lockemy A.J.
The dispute before the Court in this case is which church entity became the legal or beneficial owner of certain real and personal property after The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina (Disassociated Diocese) and thirty-six individual Episcopal Parishes (Parishes) disassociated from The Episcopal Church in the United States of America (National Church). The dispute...
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