Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Bishop and Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina postpones Diocesan Convention

The Bishop of South Carolina has released an important pastoral letter which outlines reasons why he had to take action to postpone the annual Diocesan Convention. From the vantage point of Virginia, it shine fascinating light on why, after the Virginia churches voted to separate, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia suddenly left the negotiating table to pursue litigation. As Kendall says, read it carefully, and read it all.

The Bishop of South Carolina's "important pastoral letter" is here.

Rowan Williams was not kidding when he rhetorically inquired of the Church of England Synod yesterday regarding the actions of litigious divisions in the Episcopal Church, "What are the vehicles for sharing perspectives, communicating protest, yes, even, negotiating distance or separation, that might spare us a worsening of the situation and the further reduction of Christian relationship to vicious polemic and stony-faced litigation?"

It seems clear that Bishop Mark Lawrence has been pursuing, as Bishop Peter Lee did briefly before him, another "vehicle" and The Episcopal Church is taking steps to intervene with litigation. Now is the time to pray for our brothers and sisters in the Diocese of South Carolina.

7 comments:

Northwest Bob said...

Amen to that BB. Prayers ascending. This looks really vicious.

In Hoc Signo Vinces,
Northwest Bob

Anonymous said...

"sovereign diocese"? I realize that he is writing to a South Carolina audience where for some the War between the States is unfinished business, but I thought we settled all this in the civil sphere in 1865.

Steven in Falls Church said...

Given the thorough trashing of the Dennis Canon by South Carolina's supreme court, +Mark would in fact be doing the fiducial thing by letting parishes depart and maybe getting a settlement from them, instead of wasting money by suing them . . . which of course is what TEC did here in Virginia. (Uh oh, did I just repeat the BIG LIE?)

Wilf said...

here's the link to the pastoral letter:
http://www.diosc.com/sys/images/documents/02_09_10_bishop_m_lawrence_letter.pdf

Droopy Dog said...

Really anonymous? You have to go there? Focus, please. There are bigger things going on here.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Droopy Dog, but when I see history getting rewritten so that Bishop Lawrence can justify violating his ordination vows, then I will call it out.
Anon from 2:23

Droopy Dog said...

Thanks for the reply, Anon. Sorry I haven't been quicker. Lots going on.

Just out of curiosity, exactly what history is being rewritten and what part (specifically) of Bp. Lawrence's ordination vows are being broken?