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God's plan
Episcopal pastor extends pursuit of bishophood
| Tuesday, Jun 5 2007 6:05 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Jun 5 2007 8:14 PM
A visiting minister opened his mouth to sing and instead brought a personal revelation from God to the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence.
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The Very Rev. Mark Lawrence, pastor of St. Paul's Episcopal parish, sitting in his office on May 22, 2007.
"The journey begins. Pack your things. Give your children your blessing. You've been in one place long enough," recalled Lawrence.
No one else heard this same message, as the minister was singing in tongues.
Lawrence began to weep.
"A sense of God's presence came over me," he said.
Over the year that followed, the journey would take Lawrence -- and the entire U.S. Episcopal Church -- on an exhilarating yet disquieting, headline-making ride of faith and church politics.
Lawrence, pastor of Bakersfield's St. Paul's Episcopal Parish would be elected bishop of South Carolina by that diocese's clergy and laity but the election would be rejected at the national level.
The South Carolina Diocese now plans to reconvene Saturday in an effort to begin the election process again with Lawrence as the sole contender.
Who is Mark Lawrence?
Lawrence is a traditional Episcopal priest. He believes in the lordship of Jesus Christ. For him, God is a father. His interpretation of Scripture is more literal than some progressives within the Episcopal Church.
His 800-member congregation is under the conservative San Joaquin Diocese, whose bishop, the Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, does not recognize the ordination of women priests.
Although Lawrence himself says he would ordain women if he were bishop, he opposes the ordination of gays and says he could not take Communion from a gay priest.
"A person can be my brother in Christ and be my sister in Christ and be in error," he said recently.
Just how difficult fellowship among Episcopals has become was exemplified by conflict involving what Lawrence thought was to be the destination of his spiritual journey.
Lawrence was elected bishop by the Diocese of South Carolina in September of last year, only to be rejected at the national level. Three consenting votes were ruled to have been cast improperly: electronically and unsigned.
"While I can appreciate that it does seem like a technicality, these procedures have to be followed," said Canon Robert Williams, communication director for the Episcopal Church. "The canonical action is in no way a political statement on the election," he said.
However, the Rev. Elizabeth Kaeton, pastor of the Episcopal Church of St. Paul in Chatham, N.J. -- and the president of the standing committee of the Diocese of Newark, which voted not to consent to Lawrence's election -- said the following in an e-mail:
"The consent form is very, very clear. It asks that the members of the Standing Committee '... do, in the presence of Almighty God, testify that we know of NO IMPEDIMENT (emphasis, mine) on account of which the Reverend A.B. ought not to be ordained to that Holy Order.'[Canon III.11.4(b)].
"The deep concern and, indeed, conviction (not fear) that Mark Lawrence, as bishop, would lead the Diocese of So. Carolina away from the Episcopal Church, was seen as sufficient impediment on account of which he ought not be ordained to that Holy Order," she said.
Lawrence said he is not surprised to find himself in the center of the conflict and even finds a spiritual side to it.
"You cannot walk this path of God's leading without being blessed by it, even if it includes controversy, misrepresentation, rejection," said Lawrence, referring to his rejected election bid. "The pathway of suffering is the main road in the Kingdom of God because our Lord walked that way."
An influential woman
The U.S. Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, declared the election null and void in March.
"I am distressed by the recent failed election in the Diocese of South Carolina," Jefferts Schori wrote in an e-mail to the Charleston Post and Courier that was printed March 25.
"The Rev. Mark Lawrence and his family continue in my prayers, especially at a time that is undoubtedly filled with grief and uncertainty," she said. "I grieve as well for the people for the diocese as they seek to continue their transition into a new chapter of leadership."
Seemingly kind words from a leader whose authority Lawrence and others have questioned.
In June 2006, Jefferts Schori was elected the first woman presiding bishop in the Episcopal Church. She approves of the ordination of gays and allowed the blessing of same-sex unions in Nevada, where she was bishop before, Lawrence said.
Within three days of her election, the San Joaquin, South Carolina and other dioceses asked the spiritual leaders of the Anglican Communion, of which the U.S. Episcopal Church is a part, to be placed under the authority of someone other than Jefferts Schori.
Lawrence said it wasn't her gender but her stance on same-sex unions and gays in the ministry that caused concerns. He said neither he nor any other Episcopal priest or bishop is accountable directly to Jefferts Schori. She is accountable to the leadership of the worldwide Anglican Communion in a spiritual but not in a jurisdictional level, he said.
Lawrence's inspiration
Despite Lawrence's differences with progressive leaders in the church, his conviction that God spoke to him is why he accepted the nomination for bishop of South Carolina from the Rt. Rev. Alden Hathaway, retired bishop of the Pittsburgh Diocese, where Lawrence served for 13 years. (That diocese also asked to be placed under the leadership of someone other than Jefferts Schori.)
That same conviction has sustained Lawrence through his election tribulations.
First, Lawrence said, there was the grueling questioning by the bishops and the standing committee of the 111 dioceses in the Episcopal Church who voted to consent or not to the South Carolina election. Lawrence has called the process "abuse" and "harassment."
"What would I do to keep the Diocese of South Carolina from leaving the Episcopal Church?" he said he was asked.
"That diocese has made no statement regarding leaving the Episcopal Church," he said. "It's analogous to asking a man who is about to be married to his fiancee what he's going to do to keep her faithful to her vows," he said, "as if she's shown any signs of being unfaithful. It's insulting to him. It's insulting to her.
"I answered that I will work at least as hard at keeping the Diocese of South Carolina in the Episcopal Church as my sister and brother bishops work at keeping the Episcopal Church in covenant relationship with the Anglican Communion."
That was seen by some as evasive, Lawrence said, but what he was trying to highlight was the need for greater mutual accountability, cooperation and respect.
"There's no question that South Carolina wanted him," said the Rev. Van McCalister, spokesman for the local San Joaquin Diocese. "He was elected overwhelmingly on a first ballot. He is an outstanding priest. I have not talked to anybody who doesn't think he is bishop material."
A house divided
A longtime friend of Lawrence's, the Rev. Kevin Higgins, pastor of Bakersfield's Quest Church, faced his own issues with the Episcopal Church.
His 40-member congregation split from the church in January 2006. He said it was a decision preceded by an entire year of consideration, prayer and meetings with the local bishop.
"I knew it would probably be interpreted by many as us leaving because of the issue of sexuality in the church," Higgins said, referring to the 2003 appointment of Rev. Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, as bishop of New Hampshire.
"The issue has been the gradual slow move away from basic Christianity in the Episcopal Church," Higgins said. "We have an environment in which many of our bishops, who are supposed to be the defenders of the faith, question whether Jesus rose from the dead and whether he was completely divine.
"Integrity would call that if you come to those views, that you would give up the collar. It'd be as if a member of Congress felt that the Constitution was not a valid document or obsolete."
Higgins said he has kept a good relationship with others, like Lawrence, who have stayed in the Episcopal Church in spite of disagreeing with some of its progressive practices.
Lawrence's journey
The South Carolina Diocese's standing committee intends to present a resolution at its convention Saturday to "suspend the canons" so that a new search for a bishop does not have to start from scratch and Lawrence can be nominated. The resolution has to be approved by a two-thirds majority and the election has to be submitted for approval at the national level all over again.
"My position is that it would be wrong for me to remove myself from a process that is a continuation of what began in September," Lawrence said. "(The South Carolina Diocese) believe the Holy Spirit spoke when I was elected," he said.
"I'm enjoying the ministry at St. Paul's as much as I ever have," Lawrence said, but "God has knit my and my wife's hearts together with the people of South Carolina throughout these past eight months and I'm not going to withdraw or bail out on that."
A timeline of recent event in the U.S. Episcopal Church
June 2003 The Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, who is divorced and openly gay, is elected bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. His election pits conservative against progressive within the Episcopal Church. Recently, the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence of St. Paul’s Episcopal Parish in Bakersfield said electing a gay bishop was like electing a priest who was living with a woman out of wedlock.
January 2006 Quest Church, a conservative congregation in Bakersfield, breaks away from the mainstream Episcopal Church. It places itself under the leadership of an overseas Anglican fellowship.
March 2006 During a healing conference at St. Paul’s, Lawrence receives what he believes is a personal revelation from God that he is to embark on a journey.
May 2006 The Rt. Rev. Alden Hathaway, retired bishop of the Pittsburgh Diocese where Lawrence served for 13 years, asks Lawrence about submitting his name as a candidate for bishop of the South Carolina Diocese.
June 2006 The church’s General Convention elects the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori as U.S. presiding bishop, making her the first woman primate (or archbishop) in the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the U.S. Episcopal Church is a part. Some dioceses, including the local San Joaquin Diocese, oppose the ordination of women priests.
Spring and summer 2006 Lawrence is accepted as candidate for bishop and submits to a vote by diocesan clergy and lay delegates.
September 2006 Lawrence is elected bishop of South Carolina over two other candidates.
September 2006 to March 2007 Lawrence submits to the scrutiny of bishops and the standing committee of the 111 Episcopal dioceses, who must consent to his election.
March 2007 Jefferts Schori declares Lawrence’s election “null and void” because the consents from three dioceses were improperly submitted. Without these consents, Lawrence had only 54 votes — not enough for a majority.
March 2007 to the present The South Carolina Diocese accepts the presiding bishop’s decision. The diocese’s retired bishop, the Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon Jr., continues to serve as acting bishop.
Saturday The South Carolina Diocese plans to reconvene its diocesan convention. The diocese’s standing committee plans to present a resolution so that a new search for nominees does not have to start from scratch and the well-liked Lawrence can be nominated as sole candidate for another election.
August 2007 If the resolution is approved, the diocese will vote again. If Lawrence wins, the consent process at the national level will begin again