ENS: South Carolina Bishop-elect Mark Lawrence receives necessary consents
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
October 29, 2007

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori announced October 29 that the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence had received the consents needed for him to become the next bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.

The consecration will be held January 26, 2008 at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul in Charleston, South Carolina.

Jefferts Schori has been invited to visit the diocese February 25-26, 2008. "This will give us an opportunity to state with clarity and charity the theological position of this diocese in a manner similar to when we met with [the] Most. Rev. Frank T. Griswold shortly after his installation as presiding bishop," the diocese says in a statement on its website.

The Rev. J. Haden McCormick, president of South Carolina's diocesan Standing Committee, said the diocese has received the news with much appreciation. "We're delighted and blessed, and look forward to pressing on with the mission of the church," he said. "The diocese is so convinced that Bishop-elect Mark is the man God is calling. He has his own unique gifts that he will bring to the diocese, which will become clear as God leads us forward." the rest