Upper South Carolina Convention Passes Resolution Regarding Bishop Lawrence & Presiding Bishop
I have two brief comments on this resolution.
1) People in our diocese -- and other dioceses -- are very concerned and disturbed by the attempts to declare that Bishop Lawrence has "abandoned the Communion." The news of the "serious charges" against Bishop Lawrence is spreading far and wide. And in our diocese, since 2/3 or more vacation in the "lower diocese" and have numerous relatives and friends there, laypeople are more engaged than they might be if this were another diocese.
2) The resolution appears to demonstrate some degree of naivete about the nature of the differences between the Presiding Bishop [and other national church leaders] and Bishop Lawrence; those differences are over antithetical basic values, essential goals, foundational worldviews, and gospels. There will be no engaging "in healing conversation" ultimately between the two, because the two mutually opposing gospels are not compatible, and the holder of one of the foundational worldviews, Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, wishes to force Bishop Lawrence and the diocese of South Carolina to accept, or at least act as if they accept, her foundational worldview. My guess -- and it's only a guess, but an informed guess -- is that at least half of the vestry of Christ Church is not so naive.
1) People in our diocese -- and other dioceses -- are very concerned and disturbed by the attempts to declare that Bishop Lawrence has "abandoned the Communion." The news of the "serious charges" against Bishop Lawrence is spreading far and wide. And in our diocese, since 2/3 or more vacation in the "lower diocese" and have numerous relatives and friends there, laypeople are more engaged than they might be if this were another diocese.
2) The resolution appears to demonstrate some degree of naivete about the nature of the differences between the Presiding Bishop [and other national church leaders] and Bishop Lawrence; those differences are over antithetical basic values, essential goals, foundational worldviews, and gospels. There will be no engaging "in healing conversation" ultimately between the two, because the two mutually opposing gospels are not compatible, and the holder of one of the foundational worldviews, Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, wishes to force Bishop Lawrence and the diocese of South Carolina to accept, or at least act as if they accept, her foundational worldview. My guess -- and it's only a guess, but an informed guess -- is that at least half of the vestry of Christ Church is not so naive.
Resolution offered by The Vestry of Christ Church, Greenville
Christ Church City Greenville
An Invitation to Conversation
WHEREAS: God's very essence and nature is revealed to us in the community of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, "Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of persons;" and
WHEREAS: Jesus Christ himself entered into fully human community by calling faithful disciples and by promising he would be with us to the end of the ages, and
WHEREAS: we, as Episcopalians, affirm St. Paul's teaching in our Baptismal liturgy that "[t]here is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all," and
WHEREAS: any injury endured or experienced by a member of our community of the church as the Body of Christ affects the whole Body of Christ, and
WHEREAS: the Diocese of South Carolina formerly encompassed the territory and parishes that now comprise the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, such that the communicants of the two dioceses are significantly interrelated and bound by faith, fellowship and family, Therefore be it
RESOLVED: that we, the people of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, gathered together at the 89th Diocesan Convention in a spirit of unity and reconciliation, invite The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church and The Right Reverend Mark Lawrence, Bishop of South Carolina to come together in person at a mutually convenient time and place in order to strengthen the bonds of our community; and be it further
RESOLVED: that The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori and the Right Reverend Mark Lawrence engage in healing conversation regarding the ongoing tensions between The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of South Carolina; and be it further
RESOLVED: that The Right Reverend Andrew Waldo, Bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina hand deliver a copy of this resolution to The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori and The Right Reverend Mark Lawrence with our warm regards and collective prayers.
No comments:
Post a Comment