On my first go at reading
Bishop Mark Lawrence's address to the Special Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, I only made it to page 4 of the 9 pages, before I had to stop because the words disturbed me so. I thought to myself, "What a self-aggrandizing, self-pitying, self-justifying, disloyal load of bombast!" How could anyone listen for 40 minutes? Grandpère saw the print-out on the counter and read a bit of it and asked me, "What is this?" When I told him, he asked, "Do people listen to this?" Apparently so. The address received a standing ovation at the convention.
I took up the speech again and went through to the end, and I watched
the video of the address. Nothing in the second reading or the video caused me to revise the words in my first paragraph.
"When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Ps 11:3)
After Bp. Lawrence quoted the verse for the
fifth time, I got it. Truly, I did. Bp. Lawrence and his cohorts are "the righteous". He made his point. I understood. Oh, the humility! The rest of us are what? I can't say, but I gather that we are not the righteous.
Aside from kudzu, squirrels, wives who sleep in separate bedrooms from their husbands, trains, babies, and angels what is this address about?
Bp. Lawrence's charges against the Episcopal Church are grave, indeed.
Surely most of you know that I believe the foundations of The Episcopal Church and this Anglican way of being a Christian are being bit by bit destroyed.
....
This false teaching, that I have called the Gospel of Indiscriminate Inclusivity, has challenged the doctrine of the Trinity, the Uniqueness and Universality of Christ, the Authority of Scripture, our understanding of Baptism, and now that last refuge of order, our Constitutions and Canons. (This is the kudzu.)
....
The General Convention has become the problem. It has replace a balanced piety in this Church with the politics of one-dimensional activism.
The bishop mentions the loss of membership since 1968, "a 44% decline one generation" (a generation as the Bible defines it).
He compares the Episcopal Church to a train that "is moving fast toward a station where many of us in this diocese do not want to go. We fear the track this train is on - this train ain't bound for glory, this train." He wonders "how long the average Episcopalian will just sit there and let this trainload of radical activism roll them along to a dead end station".
Bp. Lawrence apparently did not notice that much of this was happening, because he was busy being faithful to his tasks, which he details, (They were many!) and plowing his fields.
And yet, and yet, in 2007, when he was asked to submit his name as a candidate for bishop on the "train that ain't bound for glory", the present Bishop Lawrence said, "Yes"! Was he still unaware of the sorry condition of the church in which he was possibly to be a bishop? What did he know, and when did he know it?
After a second round of voting in the House of Bishops and the
House of Deputies diocesan Standing Committes, (the first round having resulted in a vote to withhold consent) consent was given to Bp. Lawrence, after he reaffirmed, with stronger emphasis than before the initial vote, his intention to remain loyal to TEC. He was ordained Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina on January 26, 2008.
From the Ordination Rite for a bishop in the
Book of Common Prayer:
The Examination
All now sit, except the bishop-elect, who stands facing the bishops. The Presiding Bishop addresses the bishop-elect
My brother, the people have chosen you and have affirmed their trust in you by acclaiming your election. A bishop in God’s holy Church is called to be one with the apostles in proclaiming Christ’s resurrection and interpreting the Gospel, and to testify to Christ’s sovereignty as Lord of lords and King of kings.
You are called to guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church; to celebrate and to provide for the administration of the sacraments of the New Covenant; to ordain priests and deacons and to join in ordaining bishops; and to be in all things a faithful pastor and wholesome example for the entire flock of Christ.
With your fellow bishops you will share in the leadership of the Church throughout the world. Your heritage is the faith of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and those of every generation who have looked to God in hope. Your joy will be to follow him who came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Are you persuaded that God has called you to the office of bishop?
Answer
I am so persuaded.
The following questions are then addressed to the bishop-elect by one or more of the other bishops
Bishop [Lawrence]
Will you accept this call and fulfill this trust in obedience to Christ?
Answer
I will obey Christ, and will serve in his name.
Bishop [Lawrence]
Will you be faithful in prayer, and in the study of Holy Scripture, that you may have the mind of Christ?
Answer
I will, for he is my help.
Bishop [Lawrence]
Will you boldly proclaim and interpret the Gospel of Christ, enlightening the minds and stirring up the conscience of your people?
Answer
I will, in the power of the Spirit.
Bishop [Lawrence]
As a chief priest and pastor, will you encourage and support all baptized people in their gifts and ministries, nourish them from the riches of God’s grace, pray for them without ceasing, and celebrate with them the sacraments of our redemption?
Answer
I will, in the name of Christ, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.
Bishop [Lawrence]
Will you guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church of God?
Answer
I will, for the love of God.
Bishop [Lawrence]
Will you share with your fellow bishops in the government of the whole Church; will you sustain your fellow presbyters and take counsel with them; will you guide and strengthen the deacons and all others who minister in the Church?
Answer
I will, by the grace given me.
Bishop [Lawrence]
Will you be merciful to all, show compassion to the poor and strangers, and defend those who have no helper?
Answer
I will, for the sake of Christ Jesus.
All stand. The Presiding Bishop then says
[Mark], through these promises you have committed yourself to God, to serve his Church in the office of bishop. We therefore call upon you, chosen to be a guardian of the Church’s faith, to lead us in confessing that faith.
As you read on, keep in mind that Bp. Lawrence freely chose to answer, "I am so persuaded" and "I will" to the questions included in the Ordination Rite.
Bp. Lawrence says:
I put forward what I believe ought to be four unswerving principles to guide us: The Lordship of Christ and the Sufficiency of Scripture; Godly Boundaries; Domestic Engagement for Missional Relationships; and Emerging 21st Century Anglicanism.
....
Then there is the question often posed to me - if your intention bishop is to more thoroughly engage the "national" church and the culture and the culture, how does withdrawing from certain bodies of the Church enable us to more fully engage? To that question I say three things - first, remember there are four principles.... Secondly, most of us at some point in our lives have found ourselves in a dysfunctional system or relationship. We eventually recognized the need for appropriate boundaries. It is the only way to remain engaged with the family or system that embodies the dysfunction. Thirdly, it is the very withdrawing that facilitates the engagement.
As to Bp. Lawrence's four guiding principles, what is his difficulty with the Episcopal Church and his first principle? I don't see a problem. The Episcopal Church affirms the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the Sufficiency of Scripture. The remaining three of his principles are mushy in meaning, although those like-minded to him may understand more than I what he's getting at. Maybe he uses code language.
Did Bp. Lawrence have in mind, from the beginning, when he assented to be a candidate for bishop in the Episcopal Church and when he made his ordination vows to "guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church of God" and to "share with your fellow bishops in the government of the whole Church" to engage by disengagement with the church in which he made those vows?
I'm curious to know if the diocese will disengage with the pension plan. It's surely tainted, because partnered gay and lesbian clergy and bishops participate in the plan. I'm also curious as to whether Bp. Lawrence's stance in keeping a toe in the door of the Episcopal Church has to do with property settlements which, in overwhelming numbers, are being decided by the courts in favor of the national church.
To claim to remain in a church, all the while undermining that same church on every possible occasion with accusations of false teaching and destruction of the foundations of the church, is a strange sort of loyalty. Their decision to disengage with much of the governance and many of the programs of the Episcopal Church, leaves the leadership of the diocese skating on thin ice, indeed.
