Statement On South Carolina

In his recent address to his diocese, Bishop Mark Lawrence of South Carolina identified a challenge confronting both his diocese and the wider Episcopal Church: an entirely new challenge has surfaced:  A constitutional question about the ability of a diocese to govern its common life in a way that is obedient to the teaching of the Bible, the received heritage of The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America, and in accordance with The Constitution & Canons of The Episcopal Church.... It is a challenge to how for over two hundred years The Episcopal Church has carried out its mission and ministry.  It is one of the ironies of this time that we in a diocese like South Carolina, which has been one of the most vigorous critics of the "national" church, should be the ones that are called to defend the polity of TEC"”to defend the way Episcopalians have for so long carried out their mission.  But history is full of such paradoxes.  In standing up and protecting our autonomy or independence as a diocese in TEC, in protecting the diocesan bishop's authority to shepherd the parishes and missions of his diocese, and in defending the bishop and, in his absence, the Standing Committee as the Ecclesiastical Authority, we are in fact defending how TEC has carried out its ministry and mission for these many years.  Every Diocesan Bishop, every Standing Committee, indeed every Episcopalian ought to know that if this is allowed to stand, that if The Presiding Bishop and her chancellor are allowed to hire an attorney in a diocese of this Church, to look over the shoulder of any bishop or worse dictate to that Bishop or Standing Committee how they are to deal with the parishes and missions under their care, imposing upon them mandates or directives as to how they disburse or purchase property then we have entered into a new era of unprecedented hierarchy, and greater autocratic leadership from the Presiding Bishop's office and his or her chancellor. The Anglican Communion Institute has often called attention in recent years to the subversion of the fundamental polity of The Episcopal Church now afoot, and we stand fully behind Bishop Lawrence and the diocese of South Carolina in their defense of our constitutional governance. We wish to direct particular attention to three points stated so concisely by Bishop Lawrence. First, The Episcopal Church is and always has been an association of autonomous and independent dioceses. As Bishop Stanton of Dallas recently noted in an address to his diocese, Bishop Alexander Charles Garrett, the first bishop of Dallas and also Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, observed that: Every Diocese is an independent and sovereign state, held in the unity of the Catholic Church by its Episcopate, according to the rule of St. Cyprian"¦.The Diocese thus becomes the ecclesiastical unit, a full and perfect integer sufficient of itself for all purposes of growth and development. And Bishops Garrett, Stanton and Lawrence are only reflecting what has been the understanding of the structure of The Episcopal Church from its beginning. White & Dykman, the official commentary on our Constitution and Canons summarized the nature of our church as: "Before their adherence to the Constitution united the Churches in the several states into a national body, each was completely independent."  White & Dykman then describes the national body they created as "a federation of equal and independent Churches in the several states." Second, notwithstanding changes to the office of Presiding Bishop over the years, primarily making the office elective rather than one based on seniority among diocesan bishops, the Presiding Bishop is constitutionally prohibited from acting within the territory of a member diocese without the consent of the Ecclesiastical Authority of the diocese. Indeed, under the Constitution, the Presiding Bishop may only act at the "direction" of the House of Bishops even in "territory not yet organized." Neither she nor any other bishop may act within the territory of a member diocese without consent from the diocese. This is an absolute constitutional debarment that no precedent, no canon and no support from other bodies can override. Third, it is Bishop Lawrence, the diocese of South Carolina and the other bishops and dioceses that stand with them that are truly defending the Constitution and Canons, the discipline, of The Episcopal Church and are therefore upholding their consecration vows. Our bishops make no vow or oath of due obedience to an archbishop or metropolitical church or authority as do the bishops in the Church of England, who must "profess and promise all due reverence and obedience to the Archbishop and to the Metropolitical Church of N. and to their Successors : So help me God, through Jesus Christ." Our bishops instead answer an examination and offer vows that do not mention any metropolitical authority. Indeed, our bishops are presented for consecration as "bishop in the one, holy catholic, and apostolic Church" and later as "bishop of the Church of God to serve in the Diocese of N." The Examination of the candidate begins by emphasizing that "with your fellow bishops you will share in the leadership of the Church throughout the world."  There is no mention of General Convention.  There is no vow of obedience to the Presiding Bishop as there is to archbishops or metropolitical bodies in the oaths of other churches. In short, it is Bishop Lawrence, not his detractors, who is upholding this vow during a very difficult season. We conclude with these observations about the fundamental facts of our polity: The Presiding Bishop's office is regulated by the constitution and canons and exists historically for the good order of the church. It is not a metropolitical office. The title 'presiding Bishop' was chosen with care and inheres with the notion of good order when the wider church gathers. It is not an office with independent political authority. The existence of diocesan canons in The Episcopal Church is a departure from the model typically followed in the polity of other provinces of the Anglican Communion. The existence of these canons goes hand in hand with the history and sovereignty of the diocese in The Episcopal Church as the basic ecclesial unit of catholic Anglicanism. That no mandate exists that can be enforced by canon law for dioceses to pay assessments beyond the good operating of their own affairs is likewise evidence of the catholic and missionary integrity of the dioceses of this church. Diocesan Chancellors exist to assist the Bishop and Standing Committee of the Diocese in maintaining the legal good operating of the Diocese and the undertaking of its internal affairs. General Convention resolutions as such have no canonical force. They represent the mind of those gathered and are not legislative in character. As a province, The Episcopal Church has no single authoritative voice, but exists with a dispersed character at the provincial level, involving individual diocesan Bishops, diocesan conventions, a triennial General Convention, House of Bishops meetings, and the office of Presiding Bishop. We fully support Bishop Lawrence and the diocese of South Carolina in their defense of these principles. Anglican Communion Institute Advisors and Officers The Rt. Rev'd Anthony Burton (Rector, Church of the Incarnation, Dallas) The Rt. Rev'd William Frey (Diocese of Rio Grande) The Rt Rev'd John W. Howe (Diocese of Central Florida) The Rt. Rev'd Bruce MacPherson (Diocese of Western Louisiana) The Rt Rev'd Edward L. Salmon, Jr (Diocese of South Carolina, Retired) The Rt Rev'd James M. Stanton (Diocese of Dallas) The Rev'd Dr. Charles D. Alley (Rector, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia) The Rev'd Frank Fuller (Beaumont, Texas) The Rev'd Dr. Russell J. Levenson (Rector, St. Martins Episcopal Church, Houston) Mark McCall, Esq. (New York) Mrs Elizabeth Cooper (Charleston, SC) The Rev'd Professor Christopher Seitz, President The Very Rev'd Dr Philip W. Turner III, Vice-President The Rev'd Dr. Ephraim Radner, Senior Fellow Holy Saturday, 2010