A disciplinary committee of the Episcopal Church has decided that Bishop Mark Lawrence has not abandoned his church.
The judgment came Monday after the Disciplinary Board of Bishops reviewed 63 pages of material submitted by individuals in the Diocese of South Carolina who asserted that recent actions taken under Lawrence’s leadership amounted to a withdrawal from the church.
But the board — led by the retired bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, the Rt. Rev. Dorsey Henderson — decided otherwise, citing Title IV, Canon 16 of the church’s constitution.
It seem to me that what Bishop Lawrence has done is assert the sovereignty of the Diocese and the primacy of the Ordinary in Church Polity, for which the other Bishops in the Episcopal Church should be genuinely thankful.
Stefano has hit the nail on the head.