South Carolina: The Church Needs Transparency

Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
byThe Reverend Dr. Philip Turner
Mark McCall, Esq.

We have considered carefully the available information related to the allegations against Bishop Mark Lawrence that are currently under review by the Disciplinary Board for Bishops. That information discloses an extended and troubling sequence of events that raises serious questions about transparency in the church.

We note the following:

1. In January 2010, Thomas Tisdale sent nine letters to the Diocese of South Carolina requesting voluminous documents from the diocese and its parishes. He advised the diocese that he had been retained to act “as South Carolina counsel for The Episcopal Church” by the chancellor to the Presiding Bishop. This caused the diocese to conclude that “perhaps the Presiding Bishop’s Chancellor, if not the Presiding Bishop herself, is seeking to build a case against the Ecclesiastical Authorities of the Diocese (Bishop and Standing Committee) and some of our parishes.” The Presiding Bishop subsequently told the Executive Council that “I think it’s important that people who want to stay Episcopalians there have some representation on behalf of the larger church.”
2. In August/September 2010 the directors of the Episcopal Forum of South Carolina, a group that describes its mission as “primarily to promote The Episcopal Church, its vision and polity, within the Diocese,” wrote to the Executive Council and each member of the House of Bishops requesting an investigation by TEC “leadership” into allegations of “abandonment” by Bishop Lawrence that they attached to their letter. The attached allegations included matters previously raised by Tisdale on behalf of the Presiding Bishop’s office and allegations that were subsequently included, verbatim at points, in the “Addendum” of allegations filed with the Disciplinary Board for Bishops.  

  the rest