"Our contention is that we have kept the faith, we have stayed within the historic faith of the church and that our diocese, in the decision it has made to disaffiliate with the national church, is not 'leaving' the church," Gibson said. "We have not broken away, we have branched out and sought a greater unity with the worldwide church."

In Oct. 2012, the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina under the leadership of Bishop Mark Lawrence withdrew from the national Episcopal Church and each parish with the diocese had to decide what direction it wanted to go in.

On Nov. 17, 2012, the Diocese of South Carolina affirmed its disassociation from the national Episcopal Church.

Four other dioceses have also split from the national church, including California, Texas, Pennsylvania and Illinois. The dioceses have joined a new church governing body called the Anglican Church in North America, which was founded in 2009.

Rev. Gibson said the split was not a sudden shock. It was years in the making.

"In recent years, and when I say recent we're talking the past generation particularly, the national church has begun to allow some, what we would call, novel teachings to come into the fold that really depart from orthodoxy, that depart from scripture, that depart from Christian tradition," Gibson said. "The ones that get all the big spotlight are issues of sexuality and sanctity of life and things like that."
But Gibson said really the issue comes down to salvation and whether Jesus Christ is the only way revealed by God for salvation or if there are other ways.

"The national church has kind of moved in the direction of saying that Jesus Christ is a way, but not the way," he said. "And that has been a cause of some problems for a number of people in the diocese."
John Horry, a senior warden at Holy Trinity, said it was a time of confusion and concern.

"The main thing you heard is, a lot of people were worried that we might lose our property. That was a major concern,' Horry said. "I remember telling someone, 'Well you know, the other Christians worshipped in catacombs, they didn't have a building.' There are a lot of Christians that give up a lot more in this world than a building or an association with a national church. They give up their lives, so you know, that would've been a small sacrifice."

Holy Trinity held an annual meeting in January 2013 to decide whether or not to stay with the national church.

Horry said church members voted 43-23 with a paper ballot to disassociate from the national church and remain with the Diocese of South Carolina.

The diocese has not yet affiliated with the Anglican Church in North America, but is in conversation to join.

In August 2014, the diocese joined the Global South Primates Council, which serves 24 of the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion worldwide.

The communion includes churches in Africa, Asia, England and Europe.

After Holy Trinity's decision, some members left the church and started a new worshipping community called the Episcopal Church of Okatie. The church is now considered a mission church with 26 registered members and holds services in a small building located in the small Hazzard Creek Village strip mall along S.C. 170 in the Okatie area.

Community questions

With a current member size of 147, Holy Trinity says aside from losing members, not much has changed since the split.

"We still use the prayer book, we still use the same liturgy that we used prior, our food closet is still operating and still servicing close to 200 clientele each week," Rev. Gibson said. "We've restarted a Sunday School program, we were this summer able to have our first vacation bible school in years and it was just a wonderful success."

He said there are some misunderstandings in the community he hopes to dispel.
Senior Warden Horry agrees.

While the church and the Diocese of South Carolina have a firm opposition to same-sex marriages, Horry said the church accepts all people.

"I hate to keep coming back to the gay issue, but I furnished a home for a gay couple at no expense because they were having hard times. I reached out to them...whether they were gay or whatever," Horry said. "And it hurts my feelings to have people think that we somehow didn't accept everyone. We're all sinners."

And then there's the claims that the church and the diocese are no longer Episcopalian.
Gibson said that argument on its face makes no sense.

"The word 'episcopal' simply means under the authority of a bishop. That is a form of church government," Rev. Gibson said. "We are still under a bishop, our bishop is Mark Lawrence. He is the bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, he is recognized by two-thirds of the Anglican Communion through the Global South Primates Council. And in that regard, by the mere fact that we are a church under the authority of a bishop, we remain an episcopal church."

Future operations

Rev. Gibson said he expects to see more growth with more people visiting the church and the food closet bringing in more visitors to hear the gospel.

He and Horry said they are aware that the split has caused deep wounds between families and former members and hopefully those wounds will heal in time.

"But if any of our folks who, for whatever reason felt at that time that they needed to find another place to worship, whenever and if ever they decide that they want to return, then we simply have two words to say to them," Gibson said. "And that is welcome home."

END