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2023 Clergy Conference and SYNOD

This year’s Clergy Conference and Synod was held at St. Paul’s Church in Greenville, SC. St. Paul’s recently moved into their beautiful, newly constructed sanctuary last summer. The Rev. T. Brown and his wife Libby led St. Paul’s in hosting over 200 people throughout the weekend. It was a fabulous time of learning, connecting and worship.

Clergy Conference - The Shape of the Christian Life is Congregational

Our time began with a clergy dinner served by the Project Hope Homeless Ministry. All proceeds of the dinner will go back into the ministry of Project Hope. The clergy and spouses were led by The Rev. Dr. Sam Ferguson, Rector of Falls Church, Falls Church, VA. The first of three teachings was “The Shape of Christian Witness Is Congregational”; Session Two was “The Shape of Christian Growth Is Congregational” and Session Three was “The Shape of Christian Identity Is Congregational”. The Clergy Wives in attendance also gathered for a time of sharing and prayer.

Wilmore Anglican in Wilmore, KY meets on Asbury University campus were asked to lead many of the components of the recent Asbury Revival. The shared a video and gave testimony to the powerful movement of God.

SYNOD

This year we added Pre-Synod Workshops and they were a great success. All workshops were packed. The topics covered were Hearing the Voice of God / The Rev. John Burley; Making Discipleship Real-A Practicum / The Rt. Rev. Thad Barnum; How Church Planting "Works"?/ Kardia Team; and Revitalizing the Local Church/ The Rev. Phil Ashey.

Opening Worship with Renewal of. Baptismal Vows and Renewal of Ordination Vows followed by a St. Paul’s hosted Dinner on the Grounds for Lay and Clergy Delegates. Saturday morning began with opening prayer and welcome by Bishop Steve Wood. Bishop Wood followed with the Bishop’s Address which included the introduction of new clergy and he noted that the diocese began in 2011 with 18 clergy and we now have 143. Two churches were welcomed into Congregation Status: The Gathering Church led by Rector Mike Meyers in Spartanburg, SC and Church of the Vines led by Rector Owen Fulghum in Waynesville, NC

The Rev. Dr. Sam Ferguson presented two talks ‘Does God Care About Gender Identity?’ - Part 1 - Deeper Understanding and Part 2 Compassionate Engagement. They can be found on our Ridley Institute page https://ridleyinstitute.thinkific.com/courses/gender-identity

Kardia and the Rev’d Seth Cain, Canon for Church Planting presented along with The Rev. Bev Mufflemann, ADOC’s Global Mission Initiative representative. Before closing in prayer, it was announced that our Clergy Retreat and Synod will be held next year at Church of the Apostles, Raleigh, NC, March14-16, 2024.

2023 STANDING COMMITTEE ELECTIONS

The Diocese of the Carolinas elected two new Standing Committee members. The clergy delegates elected were The Rev. Josh Fink, All Soul’s Church, Lexington, SC and The Rev. Hannah King, Village Church, Greenville, SC, The Lay Standing Committee delegates that were elected were Mrs. Shell Alexander, Redeemer Anglican, Asheville, NC, Mrs. Tal Magnum, Church of the Apostles, Raleigh, NC and Mr. Alex Marion, St. Paul's Church, Greenville, SC.

They will join the current members The Rev'd Rob Grafe, President, Pawleys Island, SC. Mr. Chris Judy, Apostles, Raleigh, NC Treasurer, The Rev’d Seth Cain, Village Church, Greenville, SC, The Rev’d Luke Rasmussen, Christ the Redeemer, Pendleton, SC, The Rev’d Eric Speece, Christ Church, Murrells Inlet, SC Mr. John Wood, Holy Trinity, Raleigh, NC, and Mr. Brian Pate, Regent Seminary, Vancouver, CA

2023 PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS

The following were nominated by Bishop Steve Wood, with the consent of Standing Committee and elected by the Synod. They were: Bishop David Bryan, Suffragan Bishop, Mrs. Willa Kane, Holy Trinity, Raleigh, NC, Ms. Caroline Lesesne, St. Andrews Church, Mt. Pleasant, SC and Bishop Terrell Glenn, Area Bishop NC, Clergy Alternate.