Rejected S.C. Bishop Candidate Re-Elected to Head Episcopal Diocese
The Very Rev. Mark Lawrence was re-elected to head the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, months after his first election was thrown out.
His election as bishop on Saturday must now receive consent from a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and the diocesan Standing Committees within 120 days of receiving notice of the election, according to the Episcopal News Service.
Lawrence, who is currently rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Bakersfield, Calif., was the only candidate in the election and was first elected in September 2006 to be South Carolina's 14th bishop. In March, however, Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori declared Lawrence's election "null and void," citing that some of the votes were electronically submitted and did not have the required signatures attached. It was the first time in over 70 years that consents for the consecration of a bishop were denied.
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The rejection outraged some conservative Anglicans who felt Lawrence clearly met the standards to lead the diocese and twice assured The Episcopal Church that he would keep his vows and not split from the U.S.-based church body over disputes on Scripture and homosexuality.
The Diocese of South Carolina is among several nationwide that have voted to reject the authority of the Episcopal Church's presiding bishop over the issues of ordaining gay clergy and blessing same-sex unions. The diocese last year asked for an alternative leader other than Jefferts Schori.
In a letter last December, Lawrence said he had no plans to take the local diocese out of The Episcopal Church. On March 8, Lawrence reiterated his position to the Standing Committees of the Episcopal Church to assure the diocese's continued membership in The Episcopal Church.
"I will heartily make the vows conforming '...to the doctrine, discipline, and worship' of the Episcopal Church, as well as the trustworthiness of the Holy Scriptures. So to put it as clearly as I can, my intention is to remain in The Episcopal Church," he wrote in the March letter.
The Very Rev. William McKeachie, dean of South Carolina, had called the decision to invalidate Lawrence's election "the latest outrage from the national church."
Clergy and lay delegates held a special electing convention in June for the purpose of re-electing Lawrence to lead the South Carolina diocese, which has been without a bishop since January 2006. The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr., has been serving as acting bishop since he turned 72 – the mandatory retirement age – in January.
Earlier this year, Salmon said the South Carolina Standing Committee will "implement an intensive effort to receive the consents during the 120 day period."
