The Standing Commission on Constitution and Canons met recently in San Diego, agreeing to review the current consent process for episcopal elections and to update an annotated commentary on national church bylaws. It was the second time the interim body had met since the 75th General Convention adjourned last June.<\/p>\n
During the meeting a commission member from the Diocese of Eau Claire reported that the diocese\u2019s consent to the election of the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence as Bishop of South Carolina had been ruled invalid.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us to do a full standing committee meeting requires a full day,\u201d\u009d said the Rev. Ward Simpson, rector of St. Andrew\u2019s Church, Ashland, Wis., and a member of the Eau Claire standing committee. \u201cFor us to be able to hold some meetings by telephone would be helpful.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
The language by which standing committees give notice of consent is spelled out in Title III, Canon 11. The language to be used in granting consent has remained essentially the same since it was adopted in 1904, according to the most recent edition of White and Dykman\u2019s annotated commentary on the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church. In recent years, the office of the canon to the Presiding Bishop has interpreted the consent language to require individual signatures from all of the standing committee members voting in the affirmative. Electronic reproductions of individual signatures have been ruled valid, but the language, which was adopted in the infancy of the telephone, does not specifically permit them.<\/p>\n