The provisional bishop of the Episcopal Church in South Carolina has a difficult assignment in a diocese rent by schism. Above all, Bishop Charles vonRosenberg hopes for reconciliation, he stated in a recent interview. From the State:
“I’m trying to take the long view, and our goal is reconciliation,” he said. “We are open to the return of those folks who have left the Episcopal Church. That’s what I’m hoping and praying for. Is it going to happen quickly? No. But it’s important to have that in mind.”
The bishop added: “These aren’t enemies across the aisle. These are fellow Christians who have chosen to go a different way right now. We hope and pray that different way will not be long.”
The bishop is especially concerned for those who wish to remain Episcopalians though their parishes voted to leave the diocese. “We have had the Eucharist in a barbecue hut down in Edisto. That group has found another home in a chapel that isn’t being used by an African-American church,” vonRosenberg said. “Our group in Florence is an accumulation of remnant Episcopalians from I think eight or nine churches. Each situation is different in how they came to be and how they are gathering, but they all want to be Episcopalians.”
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