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.

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.

First, one major complexity is that the Communion has no clear definition of itself. The oldest and probably still most widely accepted understanding of the Communion is that offered by the 1930 Lambeth Conference and subsequently quoted in the preamble to TEC’s constitution. It defined the Communion as a “fellowship, within the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, of those duly constituted dioceses, provinces or regional Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury,” which have in common “the Catholic and Apostolic faith and order as they are generally set forth in the Book of Common Prayer”; that “they are particular [dioceses] or national Churches”; and that “they are bound together not by a central legislative and executive authority, but by mutual loyalty sustained through the common counsel of the bishops in conference.”

As we have noted before, this definition reflects the essence of catholic ecclesiology: the people of God are united in one local church by their communion with their recognized bishop, and through the communion of all the bishops in a college of bishops the people of God around the world are joined in one communion.

It is sometimes suggested that a better definition is the membership schedule attached to the constitution of the Anglican Consultative Council. But this definition is clearly inadequate and is not in fact accepted by any of the Instruments as defining the Communion as a whole for all purposes. Indeed, while it purports to be only a definition of ACC membership, the ACC itself does not accept the schedule as performing even that limited role.

Read it all.

This post is ‘Sticky’ and will remain at the head of the page, the first of six sticky posts. Please scroll down to below the CofE General Synod Post to find new posts
(Please first take the time to read the transcript there).

Bishop [Christopher] Hill said that “on Saturday, a Special Diocesan Convention endorsed the South Carolina withdrawal from the Episcopal Church. The Bishop has stated that their position would be to remain within the Anglican Communion as an extra-provincial Diocese. The Episcopal Church on the other hand maintains that General Convention consent is necessary for any withdrawal. So the legal and indeed theological and ecclesiological position is extremely complicated. And it is absolutely not certain.”

The bishop concluded “it has therefore not been possible to consider the consequences for our relationships at this immediate stage. And, in my view, any statement just at this point would be premature.”

Read it all.

“I think the Episcopal Church has really shot itself in the foot by doing this,” the IRD spokesman comments. “They’re losing one of their larger, more vibrant dioceses. Indeed this diocese is one of the few that’s posted growth in recent years, and there is just nothing that the liberal leadership of the Episcopal Church is really gaining by effectively forcing this diocese out the door.”

Walton does not believe the national office wants to tolerate the type of public dissent displayed by South Carolina.

Read it all.

Read it all.

During my career that included being president of two church-related liberal arts colleges, an insightful faculty member at one of the colleges called the relativist philosophy sweeping across campuses as a “diverse like me” mind-set. Diversity is great as long as it includes all those who agree with a certain postmodern worldview….

Where is diversity with fellowship and communion? Where is affirming the image of God in persons who disagree? Where is welcoming with abundant and radical hospitality? Where is the church broad enough to embrace within its communion every living soul? Where is the tiny space we worked so hard to find so that we could remain in TEC?

That tiny space to stand on principle and belief has become a razor’s edge of hypocrisy, severing a tie that should have remained. That tiny space has been eliminated by a “diverse like me” mind-set in a dysfunctional polity. And the Episcopal Church, the original and legitimate Diocese of South Carolina, the Anglican Communion and God’s kingdom on Earth will be the worse for it.

Read it all.

An unhappy convergence of theology, morality and church policy has led to a collision with the leadership of the Episcopal Church, [Mark Lawrence]…said.

“We move on. Those who are not with us, you may go in peace, your properties intact. Those who have yet to decide, we give you what time you need. Persuasion is almost always the preferable policy, not coercion.”

Delegates at the convention voted overwhelmingly to pass three resolutions, the first affirming that ties with the Episcopal Church are severed, the second and third amending the constitution and canons to reflect local autonomy.

Read it all.

Read it all.

Text from here where you can also download a pdf version

NOTE: Here is the thread with Kendall’s liveblog of the convention address (with a good discussion in the comments).

Video with many thanks to Kevin Kallsen at Anglican TV

Bishop’s Address””Special Convention November 17, 2012

The following address was given by the Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence, XIV Bishop of South Carolina, at St. Philip’s Church, Charleston on Saturday, November 17.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith”¦.” Hebrews 12:1””2a

When this Diocese last met in a convention at St. Philip’s, it was September 16h, 2006. I was one of three candidates for the XIV Bishop of South Carolina. In my opening address the week before, I spoke these words to the assembled clergy and laity:
“We meet this morning in this lovely city of Charleston. Inside the walls of this great old historic edifice””we can only hope the wisdom of the years might seep into our minds that we might rightly appreciate the present, and more importantly imagine an even greater future for tomorrow.” I purposely referenced the past, present and future in this opening sentence. So too we meet here today, our hands reaching back to bring the rich heritage of the past with us and with our feet firmly placed in the present””and with our hearts seeking God’s grace for an even greater future for tomorrow we are facing reality as it is, not as it was nor as we wish it were, but as it is. Before, however, turning our minds to consider the future, I need to say word about what in recent years we have come through. For since that day on September 16th this Diocese and I have passed through two consent processes for Bishop, and two Disciplinary Board procedures for Abandonment of the Communion of the Episcopal Church””the last without our even knowing it and while we were seeking a peaceable way through this crisis. I have not done the research but I suppose two consent processes and two disciplinary board procedures is and may well remain unique in the annuals of the Episcopal Church. You may remember that during that stormy first consent process I stated that: “I have lashed myself to the mast of Jesus Christ and will ride out this storm wherever the ship of faith will take me.” Well it brought me two years later here to the marshes and cypress swamps of the Low Country. Where many of your relatives landed centuries before””some searching for wealth and others herded like cattle in the hulls of ships. During these past years I have grown to love this land, set down roots in your history and, even more to our purpose, become one with you in a common allegiance to Jesus Christ, his Gospel, and his Church.

Consequently, I trust you will understand that I have strived in these past five years, contrary to what some may believe or assert, to keep us from this day; from what I have referred to in numerous deanery and parish gatherings as the Valley of Decision. There is little need to rehearse the events that have brought us to this moment other than to say””it is a convergence of Theology, Morality, and Church Polity that has led to our collision with the leadership of the Episcopal Church. I hope most of our delegates and clergy who have heard me address these matters know in their hearts and minds that this is no attempt to build gated communities around our churches as some have piously suggested or to keep the hungry seeking hearts of a needy world from our doors. Rather, let the doors of our churches be open not only that seekers may come in but more importantly so we may go out to engage the unbelieving with the hope of the gospel and serve our communities, disdaining any tendency to stand daintily aloof in self-righteousness. Indeed, let us greet every visitor at our porch with Christ and while some of our members stand at open doors to welcome, still others will go out as our Lord has directed into the highways and byways of the world””across seas and across the street””with the Good News of a loving Father, a crucified-yet-living Savior and a community of wounded-healers learning, however falteringly, to walk in step with His Spirit. Let not God’s feast go unattended. This is our calling and our mission.

But I must say this again and again. This has never been about who is welcome or not welcome in our church. It’s about what we shall tell them about Jesus Christ, his mercy, his grace and his truth ”“ it is about what we shall tell them when they come and what we shall share when we go out.

We have spent far too many hours and days and years in a dubious and fruitless resistance to the relentless path of the Episcopal Church. And while some of us still struggle in grief at what has happened and where these extraordinary days have brought us, I believe it is time to turn the page. The leaders of the Episcopal Church have made their positions known””our theological and creedal commitments regarding the trustworthiness of Scripture, the uniqueness and universality of Jesus Christ, and other precious truths, while tolerated, are just opinions among others; our understanding of human nature, the given-ness of gender as male and female, woven by God into the natural and created order, is now declared by canon law to be unacceptable; our understanding of marriage as proclaimed in the Book of Common Prayer “established by God in creation” and espoused by Anglicans around the world hangs precariously in the life of the Episcopal Church by a thin and fraying thread; and our understanding of the church’s polity, which until the legal strategy of the present Presiding Bishop’s litigation team framed their legal arguments, was a widely held and respected position in this church . Now to hold it and express it is tantamount to misconduct or worse to act upon it ”“ is ruled as abandonment of this church. While one might wish the theological and moral concerns were on center stage, it is the Disciplinary Board for Bishops’ misuse of the church’s polity that has finally left us no place to stand within the Episcopal Church. So be it. They have spoken. We have acted. We have withdrawn from that Church that we along with six other dioceses help to organize centuries ago.

While I have strived to keep us from this Valley of Decision, having walked so long in its gloom myself””once forced to decide””my allegiances are firm. The doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this church has received them and the solemn declaration “that I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary for salvation” cannot be surrendered. Nor can we embrace the new revisions to the doctrine, discipline and worship so wrongly adopted. Whether we could or could not have stayed longer, or continued to resist in the face of these recent innovations need not detain us further. An unconstitutional process has weighed us in a faulty canonical balance and found us wanting. The Presiding Bishop’s legal team having entered with coy excuses and without canonical authority into this diocese some three or more years ago, now emerges from the shadows, stepping boldly into the light of day. We must of course address them and their actions; but should they look to reconciliation and not litigation, changing from their prior practice of speaking peace, peace while waging canonical and legal war, we shall meet with them in openness to seek new and creative solutions. Yet let this be known, they will not detract us from Christ’s mission. We move on. Those who are not with us, you may go in peace; your properties intact. Those who have yet to decide we give you what time you need. Persuasion is almost always the preferable policy, not coercion. By God’s grace we will bear you no ill. We have many friends among the bishops, priests and laity of the Episcopal Church, and we wish you well. Furthermore, I bear no ill toward the Episcopal Church. She has been the incubator for an Anglican Christianity where God placed me many years ago. Rich is her heritage and regal her beauty. When I have quarreled with her it has been a lover’s quarrel. For many of the precious gifts she has received from prior generations she has not maintained. And she has left no place for many of us to maintain them either. So I say free from malice and with abiding charity we must turn the page. And I say this as well: to all who will continue with us: “Let us rend our hearts and not our garments.” Let us be careful not to poison the waters of our communities with our differences with the Episcopal Church. Rarely have the spiritually hungry, the seeker, the unconverted or the unchurched been won for Jesus Christ through church conflicts, denominational discord, or ecclesiastical excesses. If we are to have the aroma of Christ we must live in his grace with faith, hope, and charity. The apostle has described it well the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness (long-suffering) and self control. Therefore, we cannot allow either personally or corporately any root of bitterness, resentment, un-forgiveness, anger or fear to take us like untied and forgotten buoys in an outgoing tide, burying our hearts and mission in some muddy marsh or to float adrift in some backwater slough. No, we shall turn the page with hearts wide open and love abounding for the chief of sinners ”“ which is always us. We shall move on. Actually, let me state it more accurately. We have moved on. With the Standing Committee’s resolution of disassociation the fact is accomplished: legally and canonically. The resolutions before you this day are affirmations of that fact. You have only to decide if that is your will and your emotions will follow.

Following Christ the Pioneer and Perfecter of our Future

So turning the page let us take a brief look at this next chapter of the Diocese of South Carolina. We shall need, of course, the promises and exhortations of the apostolic word. I began this address with verses from the Letter to the Hebrews. After surveying in the 11th Chapter of his letter the luminaries of past generations who walked by faith and not by sight””Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, David and many lesser known men and women”” the writer turns the page for his readers to the present and the future. Surrounded by these witnesses or martyrs from the past these early Christians must take their place in this great narrative of salvation history. Shedding themselves of every hindrance and clinging sins and (may I suggest perhaps things they cannot take with them) they are to press on looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of their faith. And so must we.

Challenges and Opportunities within the Diocese: Much speculation has arisen now that we are out of the Episcopal Church as to where the Diocese of South Carolina is going? I have repeatedly said at gatherings around the diocese that this question has not been a topic of serious discussion among the changing members of the Standing Committee over the years, or for that matter among the deans, or within the Council. It needs to be stated again that our time has been taken up with keeping the diocese protected, while being intact and in the Episcopal Church. And knowing that should push come to shove we would need to be prepared for numerous contingencies, we put in place various protections. These are now profoundly helpful: we have a pension plan for clergy and laity; insurance possibilities for our congregations; a diocesan health insurance program. These do not allay every sacrifice or concern by any means, but they do at least fill a void that would otherwise be unnerving and almost unmanageable for many of our clergy and congregations. Yet work remains to be done in these areas, and will be done in a timely manner. Our challenges in this new landscape are many. Some rather small, and others quite enormous””but so are the advantages.

Having chosen to persuade rather than coerce we have a great meeting place””the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ! He is the one who opens the great doors or closes them. You may recall that the risen and glorified Christ spoke to the Philadelphian church in the Revelation of St. John the Divine: “Look, behold I set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.” I believe he has opened a door for us as well. We know how to do mission. We know how to preach the gospel; to make disciples; to share our faith with others; to do effective youth ministry; hold on to the essential doctrines of Christ while being innovative in reaching emerging generations; We know how to plant and grow congregations. Do we have much to learn? You bet. Will we learn it? We will. I ask you to imagine if this might be true that perhaps the greatest congregations in this Diocese of South Carolina have yet to be grown, Maybe they haven’t even been planted. Some of us are getting long in the tooth and need to learn from and make way for younger leaders. As for me I realize how quickly it has happened: those words of the Psalmist that once caused me to think of retired priests and elder statesmen I now apply to myself: “O God, you have taught me since I was young, /and to this day I tell of your wonderful works. /And now that I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me, /till I make known your strength to this generation and your power to all who are to come.” (Psalm 71:17-18) When did that come to be about me and not someone else? The LORD spoke to Servant-Israel regarding her witness to the world saying: “Behold, I do a new thing””before it breaks forth I tell you of it.” It is a time for the old to dream dreams and the young to see visions. If we can combine prudence and dynamism we can get somewhere. So even while we keep the richness of a residential seminary clergy track, we need to explore new ways of preparing young men and women and even middle-age ones for ministry; especially those who know how to travel light. It is a new day and new ways of proclaiming the old truths need to be adopted.

I stated at our recent Clergy Conference that I hoped we will maintain a comprehensive Anglicanism. Should we lose an African-American congregation we shall look at planting another. If we lose an Anglo-Catholic parish we will pray for what God will have us do; there are those from whom we can learn from here in this area. As for multi-racial congregations surely that is a gift whose time has come – or perhaps is past time. Imagine what this Diocese of South Carolina can accomplish for the Kingdom of God and the Gospel if so much of our common life is no longer siphoned off in a resistance movement. What can our diocesan and deanery gatherings become when our focus is first and foremost on our ministry at home and Christ’s mission in the world? If we can move beyond our parish silos and into relationships that foster mutual growth and mission a new day of possibilities awaits us. I will be calling together a task force to link stronger parishes with congregations and missions in the diocese that may suffer the loss of members due to this departure from the Episcopal Church. If a smaller parish has lost 10, 20 or 30 percent of its membership it may not be able to afford a full time priest. So while continuing to keep the door ajar for disaffected parishioners to return, we need to find ways to enable that congregation to continue to support their rector or vicar; and not merely in order to keep ply wood from the windows but in order to reach their community for Christ and to grow his Church. That is what it is about. Let’s get on with it. This will be one of our first priorities. We also need to re-configure some of our deaneries. Some are functioning well and others are almost defunct in offering little if any real support for clergy or for drafting cooperative work for ministry and mission. There is room for exciting developments and opportunities here.

Let me turn to the challenges and opportunities in North American Anglicanism for a minute: South Carolina has been and continues to be a microcosm of North American Anglicanism””with all that is good and vital, and all that is most troubling. In an address at the Mere Anglicanism Conference last January I noted that there were some six overlapping jurisdictions within the boundaries of our diocese all making claims one way or another to being Anglican. With the exception of this Diocese of South Carolina, the oldest of these Churches is the Reformed Episcopal Church. There are many REC congregations throughout South Carolina. They reach a good number of people with a vital faith and a strong Anglican tradition. They have a goodly heritage and a seminary just up the road in Summerville. Then three’s the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) which has until recently been the mother church of their movement at Pawleys Island. Recently the All Saints’ Pawleys Island congregation voted to associate with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). But AMiA has still other congregations scattered across the Low Country””some with bishops and some with rectors. Then, just this year ACNA ordained a former rector of this diocese, The Right Reverend Steve Wood, of St. Andrew’s Mt. Pleasant as the first bishop of their new Diocese of the Carolinas, which includes North and South Carolina. St. Andrew’s offers dynamic ministry and many within this diocese have kept bridges of relationships with these brothers and sisters in Christ and for this I give thanks. There are other Anglican bodies as well, some of whose bishops I know and some I do not. As I have stated before this is all rather un-Anglican! All these bishops overlapping one another – but to reflect on a more positive note we ought to at least to acknowledge that South Carolina may well be the most “Anglicanized” turf in North America! Everybody’s talking about Anglicans. You know what happens when everyone’s talking about Baptists? They grow churches. Everyone’s talking about Anglicans. It’s our moment!

All this might be what lies behind the question often raised at the deanery and parish forums I’ve been addressing””“Bishop, with whom will we affiliate?” My answer has been quite simply, “For now””no one.” As any wise pastor will tell you, if you been in a troubling, painful or dysfunctional relationship for a long period of time and then the marriage or relationship ends, you would be wise not to jump right away into the first one that comes along and tie the knot. You’d be wise take your time. Nevertheless, I hope we can work with and for a greater unity among the Anglican Churches within our local region and also within North America. We have many friends and bonds of affection that unite us and along with this””a common mission, Christ’s Mission and unity will deeply assist it. A century ago a son of this diocese, William Porcher DuBose, wrote these helpful words: “The question, How to restore and conserve Unity must go back to a prior one,–What is the Unity in question? Let us recall and repeat in our Lord’s own words: ”˜I will not leave you orphans; yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but ye shall see me; because I live, ye shall live also.’”¦.If then, in all our differences we are thus able to concentrate and agree upon the one necessity of being in Christ and of being one in Him, we must not despair of some ultimate Way to it. If we will cultivate and prepare the disposition, the will, and the purpose””God will make the Way”¦.let us, I say, once begin on that line, and the differences that do not eliminate themselves will be turned into the higher service of deepening, broadening, and heightening the resultant Unity.” To this end I will appoint a task force to begin contacting, praying and working with these other Anglican bodies as they are willing and as God gives us the grace we will together seek a greater Anglican Unity within South Carolina or at least within our jurisdiction.

I recall some other challenging words from the past. Those sardonic and haunting words of William Reed Huntington, whose genius over a century ago shaped the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral: “If our whole ambition as Anglicans in America be to continue a small, but eminently respectable body of Christians, and to offer refuge to people of refinement and sensibility, who are shocked by the irreverences they are apt to encounter elsewhere; in a word, if we care to be only a countercheck and not a force in society then let us say as much in plain terms, and frankly renounce any claim to Catholicity. We have only, in such a case, to wrap the robe of our dignity about us, and walk quietly along in a seclusion no one will take much trouble to disturb. Thus may we be a Church in name and a sect in deed.” I mention these cutting words for two reasons. I believe we need to work in two directions at the same time. First we need to allow ourselves to draw near to the throbbing needs of the world around us. And while maintaining the four pillars of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, we need to creatively engage our culture not with the tired arguments of the past, answering questions no one is asking, but answering those questions in the sorrowing and aspiring heart of our society.

Some years ago actually after the General Convention 2009 I went with a group of conservative Bishops to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury. But not wanting to put all my eggs in one basket, I also made an appointment with the Bishop of London. His offices are near St. Paul’s Cathedral. And not wanting to be late for an appointment with the Bishop of London I got there a little early. Since it was raining as it often is in England, I took cover under the portico of the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral. If you’ve been there you know it is a conjunction of many streets coming in various directions. I watched the bustling crowd. I watched the people coming and going – cars and taxis and busses the heartbeat of a city. And I thought to myself, “How did it happen that I’m spending time all my time with these ecclesiastical problems and meetings when for most of my life my heart has been to engage the culture with the Good News of Jesus Christ?” We cannot let this happen. Christ said to go out into the hurting world. When Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail he didn’t mean the church would stand in Alamo-like fashion against the world beating down at the doors of the church, he meant his disciples would go out where people were shackled behind prison doors of pain and suffering, broken relationships, addictions, hopelessness and that these gates of hell will not stand against God’s people. That’s our call. Because it’s Christ’s call.

Finally, I turn to our place in The worldwide Anglican Communion. Our vision since 2009 has been to Make Biblical Anglicans for a Global Age: Helping by God’s grace to help shape emerging Anglicanism in the 21st Century. Just this week I mentioned in my recent Open Letter to the Diocese that we have heard from Archbishops, Presiding Bishops, and diocesan bishops from Kenya to Singapore, England to Egypt, Ireland to the Indian Ocean, Canada to Australia. They, represent the overwhelmingly vast majority of members of the Anglican Communion and they consider me as a faithful Anglican Bishop in good standing and they consider this diocese as part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Ah friends, this has got to comfort us as we await further guidance from God regarding future affiliation. And we need to continue conversation with the Provinces and Dioceses with whom we have missional relationships. Just yesterday I received emails from bishops in Egypt, North Africa and Ethiopia assuring us of their prayers. I thought my gosh if those in such hard pressed environments should take an interest and intercede on our behalf is humbling. I woke this morning to see an email from Ireland, from Bishop Clarke saying we are in his prayers. We are not alone. Greater are those with us than any who may be against us.

Nevertheless, this I assure you, there shall be lengthy and thorough conversation among the clergy of this diocese””our bishops, priests, and deacons””and our lay leaders before any decision will be presented before this Convention that would ask you to associate with any Province. I remind you of an historical fact””this diocese existed after the American Revolution for four years before it helped to fully form the Protestant Episcopal Church in these United States and before that organization was completed. It was a fifth year before this diocese ratified that relationship at our Diocesan Convention in 1790. So for now and the foreseeable future, having withdrawn from our association with TEC, we remain an extra-provincial Diocese within the larger Anglican Communion; buttressed by the knowledge we are recognized as a legitimate diocese by the vast majority of Anglicans around the world. Truly, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.

What then in conclusion? Having turned the page, having gazed however briefly at the next chapter, the path begins to open up before us, “”¦ let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the Founder and Perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
These resolutions you will soon have before you are first and foremost a way for you to affirm the action of disaffiliation which the Standing Committee has legally and canonically taken. Many of you have already decided in your heart and mind how you will vote. Others will need more time. But I invite you for just a moment to stand on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral at the heart of the bustling city with the needs of the world, or if you prefer stand at the corner of Meeting and Broad here in Charleston or outside the Walmart in Goose Creek or Moncks Corner, or sit in a vestry meeting after having been to a Rotary luncheon in Florence and lean yourself into a throbbing and hurting world. Ask yourself how long do I want to spend my time, my energy and my soul in a resistance movement that has proven so fruitless. Is it not time to get on with a ministry of Jesus Christ to a broken world? So in keeping with your understanding of God’s Word, the historic teachings of Christ’s Church, and the leading of the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ call to make Disciples, it is time to take stock of what you think, and in harmony with your heart and conscience to act. May God guide us all.

“Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and for ever. Amen.” Jude 24

Read it all

Please note these are fast notes and NOT to be taken verbatim quotes–KSH.

We just finished morning prayer and the bishop is now speaking.

The Bishop begins and quotes–

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith”¦.” Hebrews 12:1””2a

When last this Diocese met in a convention at St. Philip’s, it was September 9th, 2006. I was one of three candidates for the XIV Bishop of South Carolina. In my opening address to the assembled clergy and laity I spoke these words: We meet this morning in this lovely city of Charleston. Inside the walls of this great old historic edifice””we can only hope the wisdom of the years might seep into our minds that we might rightly appreciate the present, and more importantly imagine an even greater future for tomorrow. I purposely include the past, present and future in this opening sentence. So also today: It is with hands reaching backward to bring the best of past centuries with us, feet firmly placed in the present””facing reality as it is, not as it was but as it is””and with hearts seeking God’s grace for an even greater future for tomorrow that we meet here today. Before, however, turning our minds and hearts to consider the future, I need to say word about what in recent years we have come through. For since that day on September 9th this Diocese of South Carolina and I have passed through two consent processes for Bishop, and two Disciplinary Board procedures for Abandonment of the Communion of The Episcopal Church””the last without our even knowing it. I have not done the research but I suppose two consent processes and two disciplinary board procedures is and may well remain unique in the annuals of TEC.

You may remember that during a stormy first consent process I stated that: “I have lashed myself to the mast of Jesus Christ and will ride out this storm wherever the ship of faith will take me.” It brought me two years later here to the marshes and cypress swamps of the Low Country. Where many of your relatives landed centuries before””some searching for wealth and others herded like cattle in the hulls of ships. During these past years I have grown to love this land and seascape, spreading down roots in your history and, even more to our purpose this morning, becoming one with you in a common allegiance to Jesus Christ, his Gospel, and his Church.

Consequently, I trust you will understand that I have strived in these past years, contrary to what some may believe or assert, to keep us from this day; from what I have referred to in numerous parish and deanery gatherings as the Valley of Decision. There is little need to rehearse the events that have brought us to this moment other than to say””it is a convergence of Theology, Christian Morality, and Church Polity that has lead to our collision with the leadership of TEC. I hope most of our delegates and clergy who have heard me address these matters know in their hearts and minds that this is no attempt to build gated communities around our churches as some have suggested or to keep the hungry seeking hearts of a needy world from our doors. Rather let the doors of our churches be open not only that seekers may come in but more importantly so we may go forth to engage the unbelieving with the hope of the gospel and serve our communities, disdaining any tendency to stand daintily aloof in self-righteousness. Indeed, let us greet every visitor at our porch as Christ and while some of our members stand at open doors to welcome, still others will go out as our Lord has directed into the highways and byways of the world””across seas and across the street””with the Good News of a loving Father, a crucified-yet-living Savior and a community of wounded-healers learning, however falteringly, to walk in step with His Spirit. Let not God’s feast go unattended. This is our calling….

But I must say this again and again. This whole controversy is really about what we shall tell people about Jesus Christ when they come to our churches.

We have spent far too many hours, days and years in a dubious and fruitless resistance to the relentless path of TEC. And while some of us still struggle in grief at what has happened and where these extraordinary days have brought us, I believe it is time to turn the page. The leaders of TEC have made their positions known””our theological and creedal commitments regarding the trustworthiness of Scripture, the uniqueness and universality of Jesus Christ, and other precious truths, while tolerated are just opinions among others; our understanding of human nature, the given-ness of gender as male and female, woven by God into the natural and created order, is now declared by canon law to be unacceptable; our understanding of marriage as proclaimed in the Book of Common Prayer “established by God in creation” and espoused by Anglicans around the world hangs precariously in the life of the Episcopal Church by a thin and fraying thread; and our understanding of the church’s polity, which until the legal strategy of the present Presiding Bishop’s litigation team framed their legal arguments, was a widely held and respected position, evidently, is now tantamount to misconduct or worse””abandonment. While the first of these on this listed are by far the more essential and should be center stage, it is the latter that has finally left us no place to stand within TEC. So be it. They have spoken and we have acted. We have withdrawn from that Church which we along with six other dioceses help to found.

The Presiding Bishop and her legal team are now emerging from the shadows. Changing from their previous practice of seeking peace, peace, while waging canonical war.

Those who are not with us you may go in peace.

Rich in heritage is the Episcopal Church, and when I have quarrelled with her it has been a lover’s quarrel.

But we must turn the page. Let us tear our hearts and not our garments.

Therefore, we cannot allow either personally or corporately any root of bitterness, resentment, un-forgiveness, anger or fear to take us like untied and forgotten buoys in an outgoing tide, burying our hearts and mission in some muddy marsh or to float adrift in some backwater slough.

No, we shall turn the page. We shall move on. Actually let me state it more accurately. We have moved on. With the Standing Committee’s resolution of disassociation the fact is accomplished: legally and canonically. The resolutions before you this day are only affirmations of that fact. You have only to decide if that is your will.

So turning the page let us take an all too brief look at this next chapter of the Diocese of South Carolina. This chapter as I referenced in the scriptural text read at the beginning this address needs the promise and exhortations of the apostolic word. After surveying the luminaries of past generations who have walked by faith and not by sight””Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, David and many lesser known men and women”” the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews turns the page for his readers to the present and the future. Surrounded by these witnesses or martyrs from the past the early Christians must take their place in this great narrative of salvation history. Shedding themselves of every hindrance and clinging sins and (may I suggest perhaps things they cannot take with them) they are to press on looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of their faith. So must we.

Much speculation has arisen now that we are no longer in TEC where the Diocese of South Carolina is going? I have repeatedly said at gatherings around the diocese that this question has not been a topic of serious discussion among the changing members of the Standing Committee over the years, or for that matter among the deans, or my within our Council.

It needs to be state again that our time has been taken up with keeping the diocese protected, while being intact and in TEC. And knowing that should push come to shove we would need to be prepared for numerous contingencies we put in place various protections. These are now profoundly helpful: we have a pension plan for clergy and laity; insurance possibilities for our congregations; a diocesan health insurance program. These do not allay every sacrifice or concern by any means, but they do at least fill a void that would otherwise be unnerving and almost unmanageable for many of our clergy and congregations.

Having chosen to persuade rather than coerce we have a great meeting place””the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ! He is the one who opens the great doors and closes them. You may recall that the risen and glorified Christ spoke to the Philadelphian church in the Revelation of St. John the Divine: “Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.” I believe he has done so for us as well. We know how to do mission. We know how to preach the gospel; to make disciples.

We know how to do mission. We know how to preach the gospel; to make disciples; to share our faith with others; to hold on to the essential doctrines of Christ while being innovative for reaching emerging generations; to plant and grow congregations. Do we have much to learn? You bet. Will we learn it?

I ask you to imagine if perhaps the greatest congregations in this Diocese of South Carolina are yet to be grown. Some of us are getting long in the tooth and need to learn from and make way for younger leaders. As for me I realized how quickly it has happened: those words of the Psalmist that once caused me to think of retired priests and elder statesmen I now apply to myself…

“O God, you have taught me since I was young, /and to this day I tell of your wonderful works. /And now that I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me, /till I make known your strength to this generation and your power to all who are to come.” (Psalm 71:17-18) The LORD spoke to Servant-Israel regarding her witness to the world saying: “Behold, I do a new thing””before it breaks forth I tell you of it.” It is a time for the old to dream dreams and the young to see visions. If we can combine prudence with dynamism we can get somewhere.

As I stated at our recent Clergy Conference we need to maintain a comprehensive Anglicanism. Should we lose we lose an African-American congregation we shall look at planting another. If we lose an Anglo-Catholic parish will pray for what God will have us do; there are those from whom we can learn in this area. As for multi-racial congregations surely that is a gift whose time has come, perhaps past.

. Imagine what this Diocese of South Carolina can accomplish for the Kingdom of God and the Gospel if so much of our common life is no longer siphoned off in a resistance movement. What can our diocesan and deanery gatherings become when our focus is on our ministry at home and our mission in the world? If we can get out of our congregational silos and into relationships that foster mutual growth and mission a new day of possibilities awaits us. I will be calling together a task force to link stronger parishes with congregations and missions within the diocese that have suffered the loss of members due to this departure from TEC. If a smaller parish has lost 10, 20 or 30 percent of its membership in this break it may not be able to afford a full time priest. While continuing to keep the door ajar for any disaffected parishioners to return, we need to find ways to enable the congregation to continue to support their rector or vicar not merely in order to keep ply wood from the windows but in order to reach their community for Christ and to grow his Church. Let us get on with it. This will be our first priority.

South Carolina has been and continues to be a microcosm of North American Anglicanism””with all that is good and vital, and all that is most troubling. In an address at the Mere Anglicanism Conference last January I noted that there were some six overlapping jurisdictions within the boundaries of our diocese all making claims one way or another to being Anglican. With the exception of this Diocese of South Carolina, the oldest of these Churches is the Reformed Episcopal Church.

There are many REC congregations throughout South Carolina. They reach a good number of people with a vital faith and strong Anglican tradition. They have a goodly heritage and a seminary just up the road in Summerville. The Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) has had until recently the mother church of their movement at Pawleys Island. Recently the All Saints’ Pawleys Island congregation voted to associate with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). But AMiA has other congregations scattered across the Low Country””some with bishops and some with rectors. Then, just this year ACNA ordained a former rector of this diocese The Right Reverend Steve Wood, of St. Andrew’s Mt. Pleasant as the first bishop of their Diocese of the Carolinas, which includes North and South Carolina. There are others as well, some of whose bishops I know and some I do not.

As I have stated before this is all rather un-Anglican! But to the positive we ought to at least to acknowledge this possibility: But to end on a positive note, South Carolina may be the most “Anglicanized” turf in North America! (laughter)

This might be what lies behind the question that is often raised at the deanery and parish forums I’ve been addressing””with whom will we affiliate. My answer has been quite simply, “For now””no one.” As any wise pastor will tell you, if you been in a troubling or painful relationship for a long period of time and then the marriage or relationship ends, you would be wise not to jump right away into the first one that comes along and tie the knot. You’d be wise take your time.

Nevertheless, I hope we can work with and for a greater unity among the Anglican Churches within our local region and within North America. We have many friends and bonds of affection that unite us as well as a common mission. A century ago a son of this diocese, William Porcher DuBose, wrote these helpful words: “The question, How to restore and conserve Unity””must go back to a prior one,–What is the Unity in question? Let us recall and repeat it in our Lord’s own words: ”˜I will not leave you orphans; yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but ye shall see me; because I live, ye shall live also.’”¦.If then, in all our differences we are thus able to concentrate and agree upon the one necessity of being in Christ and of being one in Him, we must not despair of some ultimate Way to it. If we will cultivate and prepare the disposition, the will, and the purpose””God will make the Way”¦.let us, I say, once begin on that line, and the differences that do not eliminate themselves will be turned into the higher service of deepening, broadening, and heightening the resultant Unity.”

To this end I will also appoint a task force to begin contacting, praying and working with these other Anglican bodies as they are willing and able to seek a greater Anglican Unity within South Carolina or at least within our own jurisdiction.

I am taken with some other challenging words from our past heritage. We might also consider the words of William Reed Huntingdon, whose genius over a century ago shaped the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral

“If our whole ambition as Anglicans in America be to continue a small, but eminently respectable body of Christians, and to offer refuge to people of refinement and sensibility, who are shocked by the irreverences they are apt to encounter elsewhere; in a word, if we care to be only a countercheck and not a force in society then let us say as much in plain terms, and frankly renounce any claim to Catholicity. We have only, in such a case, to wrap the robe of our dignity about us, and walk quietly along in a seclusion no one will take much trouble to disturb. Thus may we be a Church in name and a sect in deed.”

I mention these challenges words for two reasons. I believe we need to work in two directions at the same time. First we need to allow ourselves to draw near to the throbbing needs of the world around us. And while maintaining the four pillars of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, we need to creatively engage our culture not with the tired arguments of the past, answering question no one is asking, but answering the questions of those in the sorrowing and aspiring heart of our society.

Mention meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury, and then the bishop of London. He got there early. As often in England it was raining. And so I went outside and looked at the roads where all these paths of cars were converging and I asked myself how did it happen that we have become some engulfed in meeting and not bringing the gospel to that world (where all the cars were). That’s our calling, because it is Christ’s calling.

Finally, I turn to our place in The worldwide Anglican Communion. Our vision since 2009 has been to Make Biblical Anglicans for a Global Age: Helping by God’s grace to help shape emerging Anglicanism in the 21st Century. I mentioned in my recent Open Letter to the Diocese that we have heard from Archbishops, Presiding Bishops, and diocesan bishops from the Kenya to Singapore, England to Egypt, Ireland to the Indian Ocean, Canada to Australia, representing the overwhelmingly vast majority of members of the Anglican Communion that they consider me as a faithful Anglican Bishop in good standing and this diocese as part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Ah,my friends this should comfort us as we await further guidance from God regarding future affiliation and in conversation with the Provinces and Dioceses with whom we have missional relationships. Just yesterday I received emails from bishops in Egypt, North Africa and Ethiopia assuring us of their prayers. and I thought my gosh,

We are not alone. Greater are those with us than any who may be against us.

Nevertheless, this I assure you, there shall also be lengthy and thorough conversation among the clergy of this diocese””our bishops, priests, lay leaders and deacons before any decision would be presented before this Convention that would ask you to associate with any province. I remind you of an historical fact””this diocese existed after the American Revolution for four years before it voted to accede to Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States and then for a fifth year…. So for now and the foreseeable future, having withdrawn from our association with TEC, we remain as an extra-provincial Diocese within the larger Anglican Communion; buttressed by the knowledge we are recognized as a legitimate diocese by the vast majority of Anglicans around the world. Truly, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.

What then in conclusion? Having turned the page, having gazed however briefly at the next chapter, the path ahead opens before us, “”¦ let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the Founder and Perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

These resolutions which you will soon have before you are first and foremost a way for you to affirm the action of withdrawal the Standing Committee has legally and canonically taken. Many of you have already decided in your heart and mind how you will vote. Others will need more time.

Go outside the Walmart in Goose Creek or Monck’s Corner, they lead into a broken and throbbing and hurting world, and ask yourself is it not time to devote ourselves to that hurting world.

…in keeping with your understanding of God’s Word, the historic teachings of Christ’s Church, and the leading of the Holy Spirit it is time to take stock of what you think, and in harmony with your heart and conscience to act. May God guide us all.

(Ends–and I am out of time and my hand hurts!)

Joy Hunter, director of communications for the South Carolina Diocese, told The Christian Post that the pastoral letter will not change the course the Diocese… [has taken].

“The Diocese of South Carolina has already disassociated from that organization,” said Hunter, adding that Schori’s authority holds no jurisdiction.

“We disagree with her statement that a diocese cannot leave TEC. It is in error historically, canonically and under the civil laws of this state.”

Read it all.

The Rev. David Thurlow of St. Matthias Church in Summerton said Friday he supports and endorses Lawrence’s pastoral letter to the Diocese of South Carolina….

He said the main and underlying issue in the whole matter stems from decisions made by majority of the dioceses in the country choosing to reject the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ. Thurlow added despite the changing circumstances nothing has changed with regards to the diocese’s identity.

“We are, always have been and shall remain the Diocese of South Carolina,” Thurlow said. “We existed and operated as the Diocese of the South Carolina prior to existence of the national church, which we together with a handful of other dioceses established. Whereas a majority of Episcopalians in this country are choosing to vote for these innovations, the Diocese of South Carolina together with the overwhelming majority of the rest of our denomination throughout the world cannot embrace. They not only represent a marked departure from the faith of the Christ, but chiefly because they stand in direct conflict with scriptures and biblical witness we are called to follow and obey.”

Read it all.

The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina is holding a convention to chart a future course after its split with the National Episcopal Church over [theological] issues including [the] ordination of [non-celibate] gays.

Read it all.

From here:

Date of Special Convention: Saturday, November 17, 2012
Location: Saint Philip’s Church, 142 Church Street, Charleston
Registration: 8:30 am ”“ 9:45 am in the Parish Hall
Call to Convention: 10:00 am

I mean this–we NEED your prayers. Thank you–KSH.

Read it all.

As the Special Convention called for the Diocese of South Carolina nears, both the leader of the Diocese and the leader of the national Church have issued pastoral letters. They attempt, on the surface, to calm the waters, but underneath each are stiff messages which show the resolve with which each side of this dispute is facing the coming confrontation.

boilerplate for 815, and comes straight from Chancellor David Booth Beers. The mantra about dioceses needing the “consent” of General Convention to disaffiliate is based on no language in the Church’s Constitution or Canons whatsoever. During the Civil War, seven dioceses left the Church without asking or seeking any permission from the national Church to do so. Since then, a proposal to make General Convention the supreme authority in the Church failed to pass General Convention in 1895, and the subject has not been touched upon since.

Bishop Jefferts Schori’s letter also takes the occasion to discuss the charges brought against the Fort Worth Seven and the Quincy Three, but again it adds nothing new (except to express the extraordinary opinion that “all involved see [the process] as a positive endeavor”!!). It reiterates that the matter is going through the new procedures under the amended Title IV of the Canons, but it fails to acknowledge her own improper role in that process — improper, in that she is acting as a judge in her own cause. (The “offense” with which those bishops have been charged is, at bottom, their act of disagreeing with the Presiding Bishop — and she gets to direct and control the disciplinary process.)

But she also makes a false appeal to parishioners’ fear and misunderstanding about what is happening…

Read it all.

Read it all.

Lowcountry citizens of all spiritual stripes have been observing the drama related to the conflict between The Episcopal Church (TEC) and Bishop Mark Lawrence. To set the stage, we have seen TEC behaving in ways unimaginable to the faithful a decade ago and earlier. The way they have treated the Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina the last several years parallels the worst of power politics in the U.S. Congress. As all know TEC is using lawsuits around the country to grab the church properties of dioceses, even individual parishes.

The Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina has tried to negotiate a compromise by which the diocese can remain within TEC and yet continue its received communion with the gospel of Jesus Christ as the foundation. TEC not only opposes such a resolution, but it also undermined the most recent attempt at compromise by concluding against such a compromise weeks before the final discussion took place, as written evidence shows. The result is that the Diocese of South Carolina is disassociated with TEC and it continues to operate as it has since its founding and does so as The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina.

Read it all.

Dear Parish Family,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In these extraordinary days in the life of the Church, I continue to bid you to avail yourselves of helpful information from reliable sources. In today’s Post and Courier there is a Pastoral Letter to the Diocese from Bishop Lawrence. Recognizing that all of our diocesan households do not read the paper, the Bishop has asked that each congregation forward this Letter to our electronic mailing list. I am glad to do so.

Rectors of the Diocese were invited to add their names to the letter if they chose, and many did. Some could not be reached in time for publication, others declined. I was one who declined, and I want you to know why.

I have tried to make at least two things clear here at Christ Church.
First and foremost, my own deep convictions on a broad range of issues that I believe concern the very nature of God, Jesus Christ, humanity, and the Sacraments and theology and life of the Church. In short, I believe the Gospel as we have received it is at stake in all of these matters. For this, I am willing to stand, come what may. I believe that places me clearly and unequivocally with Bishop Lawrence, other diocesan leadership, and the majority of the diocese and of this parish church.

Second, my own heart’s ‘strange peace,’ as it were: I find in myself no desire to fight anyone, and so have worked hard to practice and encourage within the parish as non-partisan a tone as possible.

And so, my friends, we’re doing this – the Resolution of the Rector and Vestry presented at last Sunday’s parish meeting makes that clear; and here’s how we’re doing this – everyone go stand where they believe they are called, and there seek and serve Christ. In that, there is no call for fighting.

The Bishop, whom I love and pray for regularly, by virtue of his office, bears the brunt of others’ actions in a way that the rest of us do not. And so the burden uniquely falls to him to decide what corporate, public stands – and in what forums and in what words – the Diocese must take. It is his determination that others’ actions required a public answer by way of a letter in the newspaper. He is probably right in that choice! But it was just enough different from what I would have done, that just this once, on just this one matter of strategy, I declined to add my name. That’s all – no more, no less.

At this Saturday’s Special Diocesan Convention, my name will be on a Resolution that, in a fashion similar to our Vestry’s Resolution, makes clear the reality of our disaffiliation from TEC, and my continuing support of the Bishop, the Diocese of SC, and our call to follow the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as we have received them, and to share that with others.

I am always available to you for discussion and prayer, no matter where you are in your journey. May God bless you.

Faithfully,

(The Rev.) Ted Duvall is rector, Christ Church, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

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On Thursday, November 15, 2012, the following message to the people of the Diocese of South Carolina from Bishop Mark Lawrence was placed in the Charleston Post and Courier. The Bishop’s message reminds us that we are still here, where we always have been: a historic diocese remaining faithful to the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ and recognized as such by the vast majority of the Anglican Communion in spite of recent attempts to assume our identity by the new TEC Steering Committee.

(Along with the bishop’s message a list of some of the many Rectors who endorse his message and stand with him appeared. Originally only rectors were being listed, but as additional clergy have asked that their names be added to the list, the diocese is updating the page.)

Read it all.

Read it all.