Update For Standing Committee Consents to the Episcopal Election in the Diocese of South Carolina

The Standing Committee wanted to give everyone an update on the consent process. We are thankful to the majority of Bishops with jurisdiction who have given consent for the consecration of our Bishop-elect the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence. We must also receive consent from fifty-six (56), of The Episcopal Church Standing Committees postmarked by March 12, 2007. Some votes have been cast in the negative by some dioceses, but these votes may be reconsidered and changed. It is only the votes recorded by the deadline that count canonically. We are encouraged that some Standing Committees have decided to meet and reconsider their vote, and are praying that others will consider similar action. We also stand ready to answer any and all questions posted to us in as direct and clear a manner as possible. We have received with gratitude the consents for the consecration of Fr. Mark Lawrence from the following forty-six (46) Standing Committees:

Province I
Western Massachusetts

Province II
Albany
American Churches in Europe
Haiti
New Jersey

Province III
Central Pennsylvania
Northwestern Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh

Province IV
Alabama
AtlantaC
entral Florida
Central Gulf Coast
Florida
Louisiana
Mississippi
South Carolina
Southeast Florida
Southwest Florida
Tennessee
Upper South Carolina
West Tennessee

Province V
Fond Du Lac
Northern
Indiana
Quincy
Southern Ohio
Springfield Missouri

Province VI
Iowa
Colorado
Minnesota
North Dakota

Province VII
Dallas
Fort Worth
Oklahoma
Rio Grande
Texas
West Texas
Western Louisiana

Province VIII
Alaska
Hawaii
San Diego
San Joaquin

Province IX
Dominican Republic
Litoral (Equador)
Puerto Rico

We are grateful to Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and her fellow Primates for establishing the concept of the office of Primatial Vicar with its attendant oversight by the Primate’s Pastoral Council and that of the Presiding Bishop. We see this proposal as a way forward to give us all space as our Communion pursues the development of the Anglican Covenant.

--The Rev. J. Haden McCormick
President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina