Gavin Dunbar on the Mark Lawrence Investigation—Southern Discomfort

from TitusOneNine by Kendall Harmon

In an ecclesiastical outlook that has recently offered little comfort, the very serious charge of abandonment made against Bishop Mark Lawrence of South Carolina is chilling indeed. The charge is striking, because under his leadership the Diocese of South Carolina has not ‘abandoned’ the Episcopal Church (as did the dioceses of Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, San Joaquin, and Quincy). What it has done, openly and publicly, is to insulate itself as much as possible from what Lawrence has called the "false gospel" of "indiscriminate inclusivity" advocated by the national church, through a reform of its diocesan laws and constitution. It is precisely this achievement - to remain within the Episcopal Church but not of the Episcopal Church - that has enraged its enemies and spurred these charges.