“Part of the sadness of this conflict is that a lot of people of different stripes felt themselves abused and weakened,” [Dorsey] McConnell said, adding that he will “strive less for grand theological consensus than for basic pastoral care.”

“I want people to know I love them and I pray for them and I don’t want anyone ostracized from any conversation.”

The new bishop is enthusiastic about the city that has called him as its first non-provisional bishop since Bishop Duncan helped found the ACNA.

“Pittsburgh has become a very young and cool place. There’s a wide open mission field,” he said. “Everybody out there is looking for two things: they’re looking for mercy and they’re looking for hope. I’m definitely a missionary bishop and this is a missionary diocese.”

Read it all.

The insurance company that represents Trinity Episcopal Cathedral will pay $75,000 to the wife of former Dean Philip C. Linder, to settle a civil lawsuit related to his ouster from the cathedral’s top post in July 2010.

Ellen Linder filed suit in Richland County in October 2011 against the cathedral and Bishop W. Andrew Waldo of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, claiming the church and bishop had inflicted emotional distress and defamed her during the Linders’ painful and public departure from the church.

The cathedral and the bishop had maintained there was no merit to the case.

Read it all.

The Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence, Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, received a letter of support, dated December 14, 2012, from the Steering Committee of the Primates of the Global South of the Anglican Communion. The show of support, signed by The Most Revd Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis, Primate of Jerusalem and the Middle East; The Most Revd Nicholas Okoh, Primate of All Nigeria; The Most Revd Ian Ernest, Primate of the Indian Ocean; The Most Revd Datuk Bolly Lapok, Primate of South East Asia; The Most Revd Stephen Than Myint Oo, Primate of Myanmar; The Most Revd Dr. Eluid Wabukala, Primate of Kenya and The Most Revd Hector “Tito” Zavala, Primate of the Southern Cone recognizes Bishop Lawrence’s Episcopal orders and his legitimate Episcopal oversight of the Diocese of South Carolina within the Anglican Communion.

Read it all.

Canonical legerdemain and unlawful usurpation of authority by the presiding bishop in the aim of a political agenda were a sad commentary on the moral state of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Lawrence observed.

The presiding bishop would go to any lengths to exterminate dissent and would twist words to achieve her purposes. “She and her advisers will say I have said what I have not said in ways that I have not said them even while they cite words from my Bishop’s Address” to the South Carolina special convention, he said.

But Bishop Lawrence reported that he was “heartened” by the support he had received by the “vast majority” within the diocese and from the “majority of Anglicans around the world” who have “expressed in so many ways that they consider me an Anglican Bishop in good standing and consider this Diocese of South Carolina to be part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. “

Read it all.

…events have moved on with ++Jefferts Schori declaring that she has accepted +Lawrence’s renunciation of his bishopness. Here truth gets a little strange as the renunciation wasn’t given but it has been declared to have been given by virtue of public utterances being deemed to be equivalent to formal, written renunciation.

Now events have moved a bit further: a renunciated bishop means a vacant bishopric, so a convention of the Diocese of South Carolina has been called by ++Jefferts Schori, even though it is not her canonical prerogative to do so, that being the privilege of the Standing Committee of the Diocese, which still exists. Naturally, fiction prevailing here, the Standing Committee is deemed not to exist because the entity which is the Diocese of South Carolina is deemed to have disappeared in a haze of smoke created by its decision to distance itself from TEC.

Read it all

“This first week of Advent George and Kevin discuss the latest news from the Diocese of South Carolina and the unlawful actions of the Presiding Bishop. Your two favorite commentators also tackle the final Advent letter from Archbishop Rowan Williams and they share some sage advice for Bishop Justin Welby.”
From here with thanks.

Some Lowcountry Episcopal congregations are still unsure if they will…[choose to reaffiliate] with the national Episcopal church or [stay with]… Episcopal Bishop Mark Lawrence….

Meanwhile, the presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, said she will come to Charleston on Jan. 25-26 to preside over a convention to elect a provisional bishop to replace Lawrence, who pulled out of the national church last month, taking a majority of the congregations of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina with him. Lawrence has been outspoken in his opposition to same sex blessings and contends the national church has lost its theological way.

Read it all.

Bishop Lawrence and his family are requesting prayer for the Bishop’s mother, Bertha Ann Lawrence, who is gravely ill. We are also asking for traveling mercies for the Lawrences as they travel to be with her.

Almighty God, look on this your servant, Bertha,
lying in great weakness and comfort her with the promise of life everlasting,
given in the resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

From here:

Following the announcement that the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church plans a trip to Charleston for a January 25-26 convention of those wishing to re-associate with the Episcopal Church, the Diocese of South Carolina released the following statements:

“They are certainly free to gather and meet, but they are not free to assume our identity. The Diocese of South Carolina has disassociated from the Episcopal Church, we’ve not ceased to exist. We continue to be the Diocese of South Carolina ”“ also known, legally as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina and as the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, of which I remain the Bishop. We are eager to get on with the ministry of Jesus Christ to a broken world! I suggest that the Steering Committee of this new group will want to do the same. A good first step for them would be to select a new name or choose another Diocese with which to associate.”

The Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence
XIV Bishop, Diocese of South Carolina
“I would like to make a point of clarification for those who think we became a new entity upon our disassociation. A brief history lesson seems in order. We were founded in 1785 (prior to the founding of the Episcopal Church). We were incorporated in 1973; adopted our current legal name, “The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina,” in 1987; and we disassociated from the Episcopal Church in October of 2012. We did not become a new entity upon our disassociation. A new entity will need to be created by those who choose to leave the Diocese and re-associate with the Episcopal Church.”
The Rev. Canon Jim Lewis
Canon to the Ordinary, Diocese of South Carolina

“They insist on what others must do yet there is no written standard to support them, and at the same time they run roughshod over their own constitution and canons. They have created a tails we win, heads you lose world where the rules are adjusted according to their desired outcomes–no wonder we dissociated from a community like that.”
The Rev. Dr. Kendall S. Harmon
Canon Theologian, Diocese of South Carolina

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori doesn’t play by the rules. Specifically, she and her Council of Advice decided that the Bishop of South Carolina had renounced his orders as a bishop without following the canons, or laws, of the church. For example, the church’s canons state that in order to renounce your orders, one must do so “in writing.” The Bishop of South Carolina never wrote the Presiding Bishop, or any one for that matter, claiming to renounce his orders. This is just one example of the current state of lawlessness in The Episcopal Church. Canon Phil Ashey reflects on these recent events in this week’s Anglican Perspective.

Watch it all.

I have been asked by our Vestry and a number of our members to publically state my position on recent events between the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and the national Episcopal Church. For the past four years I have attempted to teach and clarify issues as objectively as I could as they arose between the Worldwide Anglican Communion, The Episcopal Church and our Diocese. I will continue to do that in the two upcoming congregational meetings. So there will be no confusion however I will now make a summary of my own thoughts clear.

Read it all (page 6 of pdf).

Read it all.

Read it all and there is more here.

The Rev. Jim Lewis, Canon to the Ordinary for the diocese, told The Christian Post that the official report on the renunciation is inaccurate since Lawrence “never offered a renunciation of his orders.”

“The TEC canons are explicit that such a renunciation must be in writing, to the presiding bishop, expressing the desire to be removed,” said Lewis.

“None of those criteria have been met because it has never been the intention of Bishop Lawrence to renounce his orders. It is also not canonically possible to consider a request for renunciation while another disciplinary canon is in effect.”

Read it all.

Please note that it will be the pseudo-diocese and its so-called “provisional bishop” who will instigate any lawsuits that are to be brought. Neither Bishop Lawrence nor any part of his diocese will resort first to court to protect the diocese’s real and personal property: they have no need to sue, as existing law gives them the upper hand, and besides, as we have just seen, Scripture teaches that it is wrong for Christians to go to secular court against fellow Christians.

But sue ECUSA will, and so also its pseudo-diocese, in a case of the latter being the blind led by the halt and the lame. For during that entire time period that they are in court, they will be consumed by their object of recovering so-called “ECUSA” property, by arguing and seeking to apply the precedents from other States, while they ignore the binding precedent which in no way is favorable to them under existing South Carolina law.

So we are in for much more folly and wheel-spinning before the pseudo-diocese of South Carolina can ever get to first base, let alone score a run.

Read it all (at the bottom).

The Bishop of South Carolina has received the news of his removal from the ordained ministry with sorrow, and a little pity. On 5 Dec 2012 the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church announced that she had accepted the voluntary renunciation of the ministerial orders of the Bishop of South Carolina. However, Bishop Mark J. Lawrence reports the presiding bishop’s actions have no canonical significance.

On the fourth anniversary of her deposing Bishop Jack Iker by the same canonical maneuver, Bishop Jefferts Schori announced she had deposed Bishop Lawrence. The Episcopal News Service reported that pursuant to Title III, Canon 12, Section 7 the Presiding Bishop “has accepted the renunciation of the ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church of Mark Lawrence as made in his public address on November 17 and she has released him from his orders in this Church.”

Read it all.

Watch it all carefully.

This post remains ‘Sticky’ at the head of the page.

Quite simply I have not renounced my orders as a deacon, priest or bishop any more than I have abandoned the Church of Jesus Christ””But as I am sure you are aware, the Diocese of South Carolina has canonically and legally disassociated from The Episcopal Church. We took this action long before today’s attempt at renunciation of orders, therein making it superfluous.

Read it all.
_______________________________________

December 5, 2012

Dear Friends in Christ,

“For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5

The Presiding Bishop called me this afternoon to inform me that she and her council of advice have “accepted my renunciation of ordained ministry.” I listened quietly, asked a question or two and then told her it was good to hear her voice. I did not feel any need to argue or rebut. It is the Presiding Bishop’s crossing of the T’s and dotting of the I’s””for their paper work, not my life. I could point out the canonical problems with what they have done contrary to the canons of The Episcopal Church but to what avail? TEC will do what they will do regardless of canonical limitations. Those canonical problems are already well documented by others and hardly need further documentation by me. She and her advisers will say I have said what I have not said in ways that I have not said them even while they cite words from my Bishop’s Address of November 17, 2012.

Quite simply I have not renounced my orders as a deacon, priest or bishop any more than I have abandoned the Church of Jesus Christ. As I am sure you are aware, the Diocese of South Carolina has canonically and legally disassociated from The Episcopal Church. We took this action long before today’s attempt to claim a renunciation of my orders, thereby making it superfluous.

So we move on””onward and upward. As I write these words in the vesper light of this first Wednesday of Advent, the bells of the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul ring in the steeple beside the diocesan office, and I remain the Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina. We shall continue to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ in Word and Deed to a needy world, as well as ourselves. We need to experience afresh its power to set us free from sin, death, guilt, shame and judgment and to transform our lives to be like Christ’s from one degree of glory to another. As the Apostle has written: “The Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

I am heartened by the support of the vast majority of those within this Diocese as well as that of the majority of Anglicans around the world and that of many in North America who have expressed in so many ways that they consider me to be an Anglican Bishop in good standing and that this Diocese of South Carolina is part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

My prayers for a wakeful and watchful Advent,

The Right Reverend Mark Joseph Lawrence
XIV Bishop of South Carolina

For background see also:
A.S. Haley””The Presiding Bishop Flouts the Canons Again
Presiding Bishop Says Mark Lawrence Says what he did not Say, right out of George Orwell
South Carolina Links

[This post is ‘Sticky’ – new entries below]
Bishop Lawrence (a) did not address any writing to the Presiding Bishop; (b) did not renounce his ordained Ministry; and (c) did not request to be removed from that Ministry. The elaborately crafted press release from the Public Affairs Office is simply a poor attempt to cover over a huge, public lie.

That huge, public lie has been told simply for the sake of the Presiding Bishop’s and ECUSA’s own convenience. It is convenient for them to be rid of Bishop Lawrence now, rather than wait until next March’s meeting of the House of Bishops — that way, they avoid the necessity of taking another illegal vote of “deposition” by less than the full majority of bishops that the Abandonment Canon requires; and they are now free to reorganize those in South Carolina wishing to remain with ECUSA into a pseudo-diocese with a puppet bishop whose immediate and most important mission will not be the welfare of his parishioners, but instead the filing of a lawsuit against Bishop Lawrence and the real Diocese’s corporate trustees, in an attempt to force them to turn over all of the Diocese’s property and assets.

Read it all.

[This post is ‘Sticky’ – new entries below]
Read it all.

Our scriptures call us to righteousness, fullness of faith, to love for one another and just behavior toward the poor, the needy and the oppressed. They call us to watch for signs of the kingdom of God, keeping our hearts free from the weight of “dissipation, and drunkenness and the worries of this life” so that we will be alert and ready to stand before the Son of Man.

So we yearn for our lives to reflect the image of God implanted within us. And we strive to put on this “armor of light.”

This Advent finds South Carolina Episcopalians with an open wound, our armor pierced by our inability across diocesan boundaries to navigate the challenge of living and staying together in disagreement. The disassociation of the Diocese of South Carolina from The Episcopal Church has formalized a long-developing schism over matters of both theology and governance.

The questions about whether they can legally do what they have done are not ours to answer. The questions of who is the more to blame are not ours to answer. As I said earlier, temptations to choose those things which may do us or others harm are ever with us and these temptations have been freely engaged across the church from both sides in this tragic fracture. If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that not a single one of us is ever free from these temptations and guilt for succumbing to them.

Read it all.

‘This week Kevin and George talk about the Artificial Ecclesiastical Diocese of South Carolina (AEDOS) and some of the miscommunication between it’s leadership. They also talk about International stories from Canada and Egypt. And what episode won’t be complete without a story about Legal Violence in Zimbabwe?’

‘The presiding bishop’s attorney told the 15 Nov 2012 meeting of TEC loyalists the national church had been preparing for the fight with Bishop Lawrence and the majority faction in the diocese for some time.’
Questions over the presiding bishop’s actions have arisen in light of statements made by Mr. Tom Tisdale, a lawyer for Bishop Jefferts Schori given at a 15 Nov 2012 “clergy day” held at St Mark’s Episcopal Church in Charleston. An open letter to the bishops of the Episcopal Church detailing her alleged violations of the canons prepared by the Anglican Communion Institute has also prompted questions.

The presiding bishop’s office has not responded to queries concerning the ACI’s open letter, nor is it known if Bishop Jefferts Schori has complied with Canon Iv.4(f), which requires her to self-report to “the Intake Officer all matters which may constitute an Offense as defined” in the canons.

Mr. Tisdale told Anglican Ink he too was unable to comment. My “inability to answer your questions is that I have consistently held to a long standing practice and policy of not engaging in press interviews on matters in which I am representing a client. The only exception to this practice would be when I am specifically requested to do so by the client.”

In his address to the approximately 40 clergy and lay members of the diocese present, Mr. Tisdale stated that in light of the suspension of Bishop Lawrence on 15 Oct 2012 by the presiding bishop and the vote by the standing committee to withdraw from the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, there was no functioning ecclesiastical authority in South Carolina.

He stated he was legal counsel for the presiding bishop in South Carolina and a “few months ago” had been asked to organize a transition group by the national church in preparation for such an event.

Read it all

So ECUSA, through its hopelessly conflicted Disciplinary Board for Bishops, blames the Bishop for the actions of the Diocese — even though he had no vote on them to begin with, and no Constitutional power to set aside the acts of the diocesan convention.

And then the Presiding Bishop, while trying with one hand to lure Bishop Lawrence into further mediation talks, uses her other hand to sign a certificate restricting his ministry — and then still wants to continue talks as scheduled while keeping his restriction “confidential.” (Oh, yes, that would certainly work.)

To top it off, she then claims that “her hands were tied,” and that once she received the certification that he personally had “abandoned” ECUSA by the actions the diocesan convention took, she had “no choice” but to restrict him.

Read it all

With all of the recent news about the Diocese of South Carolina and the Episcopal Church in the newspaper, there has been a growing misunderstanding about the nature of the crisis. As our bishop has put it so eloquently on several occasions, our profound disagreement with the Episcopal Church is over theology, morality, and polity (how the church is organized and governed). Yet what continues to be printed in the newspaper is that this whole separation is over homosexuality and the narrow view of the Diocese in contrast to the welcoming and inclusive view of the national church. This is a gross mischaracterization of the truth and represents a lie that Satan would like to sow in the minds of faithful members of our church to cause them to abandon their biblical faith and their current affiliation….

Read it all.

An official with a diocese that recently voted to leave The Episcopal Church has explained that congregations opposed to the decision are free to remain with the mainline protestant denomination.
The Rev. Jim Lewis, Canon to the Ordinary for the Diocese of South Carolina, told The Christian Post that “Continuing Episcopalians” are free to “re-associate” with the denomination.
“Churches wishing to leave the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and re-associate with the Episcopal Church are free to do so, in accordance with their own bylaws and articles of incorporation,” said Lewis.

Read it all but please note the diocese did NOT opt to leave November 17th, we withdrew upon notification of the action taken against Mark Lawrence, based on earlier resolutions passed by the diocesan Standing Committee. The vote on November 17th was to support the decision of the leadership in making just those resolutions which TEC triggered by their actions–KSH.

When the Rev. Harold T. Lewis became rector of the mostly white and wealthy Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside in 1996, the city was reeling from racial turmoil, and Father Lewis, who is African-American, was expected to be a leader in addressing social injustice.
But circumstances have led him to retire as a renowned advocate for Episcopal canon law.
Five years before the 2008 schism in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, he filed a lawsuit to stop anyone from taking property out of the Episcopal Church.
“If you had asked me when I was ordained … if I would ever sue my bishop, I would have said you were crazy,” said Father Lewis, 65, who retired Sunday.

Read it all.

Read it all.

Meanwhile, two bishop advisers are in Charleston to address pastoral concerns of the rectors and the congregations, Waldo said.

“They are not provisional bishops. They are just advisers,” Waldo said. “Right now with Mark’s restriction on ministry and the lack of recognition of the (diocesan) standing committee, there is a vacuum in ecclesiastical authority from the perspective of the Episcopal Church. I think pastoral care is being provided as best they can as they try to discern what’s next.”

In the Upper Diocese, Waldo said, “We have been calling to prayer over this for some time and will continue to do so.”

“I recognized there are many in our congregations who have relatives or friends or who attend affected churches in the lower diocese at various times of the year who are deeply concerned and in quite a bit of spiritual pain over what has happened and the brokenness.”

Read it all.

Read it all.