Bishop urges calm over Lawrence inquiry

From South Carolina-

Retired Episcopal Bishop Dorsey F. Henderson Jr. sought Wednesday to quell tensions among S.C. Lowcountry clergy, saying the national church is not attacking its bishop, the Right Rev. Mark Lawrence.

Henderson, who heads the national Episcopal Church’s Disciplinary Board for Bishops, told Lawrence Sept. 29 that the board is investigating allegations, made by churchgoers within Lawrence’s diocese, that he abandoned the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Episcopal Church.

But Wednesday Henderson made clear that the inquiry is in its earliest stages and in no way implies that Lawrence may have committed any wrong. Henderson said he notified Lawrence and shared all the information the board had received.

“I thought he needed to know,” said Henderson, who led the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina until his retirement in 2009. “I thought it was only fair for him to know that we had this information and that we were studying it.”

Lawrence has been at odds with the national Episcopal church over the ordination of gay bishops and its movement toward a more liberal view of homosexuality and same sex unions. But Lawrence has always insisted that he has no plans to leave the Diocese of South Carolina, which includes 75 parishes and about 28,000 members in the lower and eastern parts of the state, out of the national church.

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http://www.thestate.com/2011/10/12/2007530/bishop-urges-calm-over-lawrence.html#ixzz1af27mWY9