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Pastor named bishop after long struggle
Man to oversee 70 missions, parishes as well as 30,000 diocesan members
| Monday, Oct 29 2007 10:15 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Oct 29 2007 10:20 PM
It's official: the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence, pastor of St. Paul's Episcopal Parish, will be consecrated as the 14th bishop of South Carolina.
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The Very Rev. Mark Lawrence is the new bishop of South Carolina.
The Very Rev. Mark Lawrence, pastor of St. Paul’s Episcopal Parish, in his office last May.
The Rev. Canon Dr. Kendall Harmon, spokesman for the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, said he was notified late Sunday night that "a majority of bishops with jurisdiction and a majority of standing committees" -- 56 out of 111 -- have consented to the second election of Lawrence as bishop of South Carolina. The voting took place in August.
"We've been on a slow train to Charleston and it's finally got a head of steam and it's leaving the station," the 57-year-old Lawrence said.
"I was confident that the election would be confirmed and that the necessary votes would come in and be ratified by the weekend," he said. "The feeling afterward was just a relief that I could tell people, 'Yes, it was ratified.'"
But the news came too late for Lawrence to share with his flock during church on Sunday. He said he is sending out a letter to them this week.
The ratification put an end to a yearlong drama in which Lawrence was elected bishop of the South Carolina Diocese in September 2006, only to have his election declared "null and void" on a technicality in March by the Episcopal Church's U.S. presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori.
Jefferts Schori said the consents from three dioceses were improperly submitted at the time, gaining Lawrence only 54 votes -- not enough for a majority.
Lawrence opposes the ordination of gay priests and holds other traditional views that do not align with those of progressive leaders within the Episcopal Church, including Jefferts Schori.
"We're of course delighted and looking forward to Mark's leadership in our diocese and glad to be able to get on with our mission, which is very simply to spread the Gospel and make disciples," said the Rev. J. Haden McCormick, president of the standing committee of the Diocese of South Carolina. McCormick headed up the process of seeking and gathering consents from the standing committees.
McCormick described the 56 majority consent votes received so far as "solid" and "certified by the national chancellor," and said other consents were forthcoming. The validity of the standing committees' majority consent is unquestionable, he said.
"I think there's a sense of relief in the diocese because it's been a long, hard slog for a lot of faithful people," said Harmon, who added that "there's a sense of sobriety" around the complicated election process.
"It's a serious matter when someone as gifted and highly qualified as Mark takes this much work to confirm," he said. "It simply is one more manifestation of a church that is in a very serious state of struggle at this time."
Some have questioned recently the very standing of the progressive U.S. Episcopal Church within the traditional worldwide Anglican Communion -- of which it is a part -- because of differing opinions in such matters as the consecration of gay bishops, the blessing of same-sex unions and the oversight of traditional American dioceses that have asked to be under an authority other than Jefferts Schori's.
"I particularly want to extend my admiration to the parish of St. Paul's in Bakersfield for their graciousness and perseverance," Harmon said. "I think they're one of the unsung heroes in this whole story."
Lawrence agreed: "They have been spectacular in all of this."
Lawrence and his wife, Allison, plan to move right after the new year. A consecration ceremony is planned for Jan. 26 Harmon said, whereupon Lawrence's title will change from "very reverend" to "right reverend."
The task that awaits him, Lawrence said, is "a little scary": He will be responsible for overseeing some 70 missions and parishes and about 30,000 diocesan members.
"The first order of business," he said, "is to get to know the clergy and their families and as many of the parishes as possible. A bishop is to be the pastor to the pastors, so the first thing you need to do is to begin forming a relationship with the priests," he said, because "a bishop primarily leads through the clergy. I'll be in a different parish every Sunday."
Besides missing his native Bakersfield and his hikes in the Sierra Nevada, Lawrence said, "I will certainly miss the Sunday-by-Sunday, week-by-week, day-by-day relationship with parishioners."