Jubilate Deo front page — Dr. Allison to be coadjutor; Calvary Church to host convention

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Serving The Lord With Gladness

JUBILATE DEO

NEWS FOR AND ABOUT THE DIOCESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Lead article (top right, with photograph of Allison)

Dr. Allison To Be Coadjutor

by The Rev. Donald A. Fishburne

The Rev. Christopher FitzSimons Allison, D.D., was elected Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese at a special meeting of Diocesan Convention May 17 at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul.

Dr. Allison, 53, is a native of South Carolina and has been rector of Grace Church, Manhattan, since 1975. He accepted election about two weeks after the Convention.

Diocesan Bishop Gray Temple, in his call for the election of a Coadjutor at the 189th Meeting of Convention last fall, said he did not plan to retire before 1982, but that he wanted to begin the transition of leadership. Fitz Allison, after his consecration as Coadjutor Bishop, will serve as assistant bishop to Bishop Temple until the latter’s retirement. He then will become Diocesan Bishop.

As Coadjutor, Allison will be in charge of mission churches of the Diocese, seminarians, and the approval of clergy called to serve in the Diocese. He will also assume other duties as they are turned over to him by Bishop Temple.

Dr. Allison received the largest number of votes of any nominee on each ballot at Convention. Voting was by secret ballot and by orders. Dr. Allison received the majority of votes of lay deputies on the fourth ballot, and a concurrent majority of votes in both lay and clergy orders on the seventh ballot. There were 16 other names in nomination as balloting began.

Dr. Allison visited the Diocese in the week following his election. He met with Bishop Temple, the Standing Committee, the Commission on Ministry, and other lay and clergy leaders. He accepted election the following week, and informed his congregation of his decision to accept at services Trinity Sunday.

Bishop Temple said he was “really thrilled” that Dr. Allison had been elected and had accepted. “I think Fitz Allison has exactly the skills we need,” he said. Bishop Temple said he looks forward to more thorough “theological educating” on a broad scale in the Diocese in the future. The Diocese is also ready to move forward with more of a world vision and a greater sense of mission, Bishop Temple said, and he sees Dr. Allison as “very important to these two movements.”

The Coadjutor-elect, in a telephone interview, said he agreed that, “We as a whole church need to concentrate on the teaching ministry” established in Scripture. Outreach in evangelism and missions should provide the foundation of the church’s ministry.

“Our direction should be one that would be more open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, more open to teaching of and to, our culture, and a more complete manifestation of the total ministry of the church, lay and clerical,” Dr. Allison said in a statement before the election.

Dr. Allison was ordained priest in May, 1953. He has served as assistant rector at Trinity Church, Columbia, priest-in-charge of several missions, and he has taught at The University of the South and The Virginia Theological Seminary, as well as serving as visiting professor at The General Seminary, St. Mary’s Seminary, The University of Baltimore, Catholic University of America, and visiting lecturer at Salisbury Theological College, Salisbury, England.

He has served on the General Board of Examining Chaplains, the Professional Development Committee and the Bicentennial Committee of the Episcopal Church, the Board of the Episcopal Radio-TV Foundation and the Board of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry.

He has authored numerous newspaper, magazine and journal articles, and he is the author of four books — The Rise of Moralism, Guilt, Anger and God, Fear, Love and Worship, and Preaching for Clergy.

Dr. Allison plans to live in Charleston. He and his wife, the former Martha Allston Parker of Georgetown, have three sons and a daughter: Christopher, Jr., 27; James, 24; Allston, 21; and John, 14.

For More About Dr. Allison, see page C.

Article — Calvary Church to Host Convention

CALVARY CHURCH TO HOST CONVENTION

by The Rev. Alex Barron

Calvary Church, Charleston, under the leadership of the Rector, Cornelius White, will be the host parish for the 190th Convention of the Diocese of South Carolina on September 26th and 27th. Calvary Church will use the facilities of the Cathedral Parish of St. Luke and St. Paul. Registration will begin at 8:30 A.M. on the 26th. The Rt. Rev. Gray Temple will celebrate the opening Holy Eucharist at 10:00 A.M. with all of the clergy of the Diocese in procession.

The annual convention is the official governing body of the Diocese. It is responsible for passing the annual budget and electing members of the Standing Committee and The Diocesan Council, as well as other important positions. This will be the first year that convention will elect members of the Standing Committee on a rotating basis.

Convention will also face the second reading of a proposed change in the Constitution of the Diocese having to do with clergy membership in Convention. The proposed change will extend full privileges to clergy who are canonically resident and actively engaged in the work of the Church in the Diocese or at its affiliated institutions, whether or not they are employed by the Diocese.

Three congregations are expected to apply to come into union with the Convention: St. George’s, Summerville and The Church of the Holy Family, Moncks Corner, as missions, and Christ Church, Mt. Pleasant, as a parish.

Article — Bishop Temple On The Election of Dr. Allison

Bishop Temple On The Election of Dr. Allison

The Reverend Dr. Fitz Allison is a friend of twenty-five years. His contributions to the well-being of the Church are so well known as to need no recitation by me; but you might not know he has been chosen an honorary canon of the Cathedral in Aberdeen, Scotland. He is one of only two American churchmen so honored, which speaks of his communion-wide reputation.

The Holy Spirit gave our Convention wisdom in the choosing of Dr. Allison as our Coadjutor Bishop. His skills in education; his evangelistic zeal; and his deep commitment to the Lord, are just what the Diocese needs for the next several decades. On top of this he is a warm, loving human being with a good sense of humor. I am eagerly looking forward to our working together, and when the time comes can turn the Diocese over to him with confidence.

Lower full-width photograph caption

FORMER MINISTERS RETURN FOR VISIT

Several ministers who are former Rectors of St. David’s Episcopal Church, Cheraw returned for Homecoming Day held May 4. Shown above are the Rev. Bob Williams, present Rector, the Rev. Bob Long, Rector from 1964 to 1969, The Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal in the United States, who was the guest preacher for the service, the Rev. Bob Oliveros, Rector from 1948 to 1954, and the Rev. John Barr, Rector from 1954 to 1958. (Staff Photo)

A The Episcopalian/Jubilate Deo