*** +Mark Lawrence Charged Under Title IV Canons ***

Just received a text from Kendall Harmon, that “serious charges” have been filed against Bishop Lawrence under the Title IV Canons of TEC.

Here’s the gist: On Thursday, September 29, 2011, +Mark Lawrence received communication from the President of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops that “serious charges” have been made under Title IV of the Canons of The Episcopal Church. These are allegations that he has abandoned The Episcopal Church. Several of these allegations also include actions taken by the Convention of the Diocese of South Carolina.

Bishop Lawrence has been accused of abandonment of the Doctrine, Disciple, and Worship of The Episcopal Church both through action and inaction. The allegations include:

• Eliminating references to the Episcopal Church in the Diocesan Corporate Charter Purpose Statement
• Removing the accession clause in the Diocesan Constitution
• Taking no legal action against the leadership of St. Andrew’s when we left The Episcopal Church
• Pointing out to the Presiding Bishop that under the polity of The Episcopal Church that the PB has no authority in this diocese.
• The diocesan website has removed substantially all references to TEC.

Read them indepth on the Diocese of South Carolina’s website (PDF).

The Very Rev’d Paul Fuener, president of the Standing Committee, received a letter requesting documentation concerning the ordination of Chad Lawrence, Bishop Lawrence’s son, along with minutes of Standing Committee meetings and any and all documents concerning resolutions sponsored or submitted by the committee to the Diocesan Convention for the past three years.

Here’s Kendall’s post of +Lawrence’s & Fuener’s+ letter to the diocese.

Pathetic and predictable – TEC, not DSC.

UPDATE: Read TEC’s comments about the process.