News for Week Ending 10/10/2011

Presiding Bishop visits Quincy

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori visited the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy October 1–2, 2011, Episcopal News Service reported October 3. The diocese’s annual synod (convention) was held October 1. In November 2008, the diocese experienced a split similar to that which occurred in the Pittsburgh diocese the month before. (Those who left the church have formed a new Diocese of Quincy in the Anglican Church in North America. That diocese claims parishes in Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, Tennessee, and Florida.) Details of the Presiding Bishop’s visit can be found in the ENS story, and transcripts of what she said in Peoria can be found on the diocese’s Web site.

Charges brought against S.C. bishop

Episcopal News Service reported October 5, 2011, that charges have been brought against Bishop of South Carolina Mark Lawrence for abandonment of the communion of The Episcopal Church. This comes on the heels of the news that Executive Council apparently believes that changes made to the governing documents of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina are null and void by virtue of their conflict with Episcopal Church canon law. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) The charges are now in the hands of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops, headed by retired Bishop of Upper South Carolina Dorsey Henderson and will be pursued under the newly adopted disciplinary canons of Title IV.

The charges were apparently brought forth by Episcopalians in Lawrence’s diocese. Mark Lawrence’s election in 2006 was controversial, and questions about his loyalty to The Episcopal Church led to his failure to achieve the necessary consents for his consecration. The Diocese of South Carolina elected him a second time—from a field of one—and, the second time around, he did receive the required consents.

A collection of links about the charges has been assembled by Thinking Anglicans.