Breaking news from ENS
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
[ENS] The Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina
(http://www.dioceseofsc.org) has sent a letter to other diocesan standing committees asking them reconsider their decision to withhold their consents to the consecration of the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence as South Carolina’s next bishop.
“This is an official request to those who have withheld consent to reconsider their initial action,” the letter on the diocesan website says. “We intend this letter to correct some of the misinformation surrounding our Bishop Elect.”
The letter, signed by the Rev. J. Haden McCormick, president of the South Carolina Standing Committee, addresses questions about the intentions of Lawrence and the diocese of remain in the Episcopal Church, the participation of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori in the consecration of the next bishop of South Carolina and concerns about the diocese’s request for “alternative primatial oversight.”
McCormick’s letter concludes by saying that “neither the Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina nor the Bishop-elect have any interest in a consecration that does not follow the canons of this diocese.”
The first section of the letter responds to questions that have been raised “regarding Mark’s willingness and that of the diocese of South Carolina, should it be under his leadership, to continue to serve our Lord as faithful members of the Episcopal Church.”
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_82537_ENG_HTM.htm