A Statement from the Diocese of South Carolina Regarding Renunciation
A Statement from the Diocese of South Carolina Regarding Renunciation
December 7, 2102
On Wednesday, December 5th, the Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence, the XIVth Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina, was informed by the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church that she has interpreted his address to the November 17th Diocesan Convention as a renunciation of ministry.
On that basis she has released a "Renunciation of Ordained Ministry and Declaration of Removal and Release" from ordained ministry for Bishop Lawrence. His response to this action, in a statement to his Diocese, follows below.
Because the Diocese of South Carolina has already left the Episcopal Church, the Presiding Bishop's declaration is of no effect other than for the purposes of their own record keeping. The November 17th Convention affirmed this legal and canonical reality.
This action by the Presiding Bishop will come as no surprise to most, though it should be a disappointment to all. It has been done before. Just as the Episcopal Church has been increasingly characterized by ignoring the plain meaning of biblical texts, that same behavior has now come to characterize the application of their own governing canons as well.
Those canons are quite explicit about the renunciation of ministry. It is to be a request, made in writing, to the Presiding Bishop, that the bishop in question wishes to be released from the ministry of the Episcopal Church. None of those qualifications have been complied with. Bishop Lawrence has never renounced his orders or expressed the desire to do so.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
December 7, 2102
On Wednesday, December 5th, the Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence, the XIVth Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina, was informed by the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church that she has interpreted his address to the November 17th Diocesan Convention as a renunciation of ministry.
On that basis she has released a "Renunciation of Ordained Ministry and Declaration of Removal and Release" from ordained ministry for Bishop Lawrence. His response to this action, in a statement to his Diocese, follows below.
Because the Diocese of South Carolina has already left the Episcopal Church, the Presiding Bishop's declaration is of no effect other than for the purposes of their own record keeping. The November 17th Convention affirmed this legal and canonical reality.
This action by the Presiding Bishop will come as no surprise to most, though it should be a disappointment to all. It has been done before. Just as the Episcopal Church has been increasingly characterized by ignoring the plain meaning of biblical texts, that same behavior has now come to characterize the application of their own governing canons as well.
Those canons are quite explicit about the renunciation of ministry. It is to be a request, made in writing, to the Presiding Bishop, that the bishop in question wishes to be released from the ministry of the Episcopal Church. None of those qualifications have been complied with. Bishop Lawrence has never renounced his orders or expressed the desire to do so.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
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