ELEVEN YEARS

Eleven years ago today, on January 26, 2008, Mark Joseph Lawrence was consecrated and installed bishop of the Episcopal Church diocese of South Carolina at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul in Charleston. This was when he made a solemn oath before God and the world that he would respect the discipline of the Episcopal Church. Four years later, he abandoned that vow and the schism occurred. Has it been only eleven years? It seems a lifetime ago. My, what has happened since 2008!

There is far too much material to go over now in this blog piece about these eleven years. I will refer you to my book A History of the Episcopal Church Schism in South Carolina which will give you all the detail you could ever want. Incidentally, not one person has publicly refuted anything in this book of 300,000 words. It has been out a year and a half now. All of the criticisms have been about style (too long, too detailed, too many footnotes, not enough interpretation) rather than substance.

Today is an appropriate moment to look at Lawrence's legacy in South Carolina. What difference has Bishop Lawrence made to the life of the church in South Carolina?

It is too early to make a full assessment of Lawrence's years. There are still too many important events ahead. However, outlines have emerged that may well indicate future events and lead to a clear picture of his legacy in South Carolina. I predict that years from now Lawrence will be seen as a polar figure, very good or very bad. Those who love what he has done will hold him in high regard while those who do not love what he has done will see him in the opposite light. In the long run, I think history will look on this schism as a disastrous folly.

For now, we may use statistics to start to get a picture of what has happened in the Lawrence years. First, on membership. When Lawrence was consecrated, in 2008, the whole Diocese of South Carolina counted 27,670 communicants (people who attend church at least once a year). The last figures for DSC, in 2016 listed 14,694 communicants. This is a drop of 12,976 communicants, or 47% of the 2008 number. This means that today, the diocese that Lawrence heads has about one-half the membership it had when he took office.

In the schism, 50 of the 71 parishes and missions of the old diocese adhered to Lawrence. If one looks at just these 50, one sees that they held 19,338 communicants when Lawrence arrived in 2008, and counted 13,877 in the last listing, 2016. This means that the local churches loyal to Lawrence lost 5,461 communicants, or a decline of 28% in the first 8 years of his episcopacy (2008-2016). This belies the myth that the schism was highly popular in the diocese, or even in the local churches that went along with Lawrence.  

One should recall that the old diocese has split into four divisions, three of these under Lawrence. When he came in, the All Saints, Waccamaw, case was pending in the SC supreme court. The previous bishop, Ed Salmon, had doggedly pursued the diocesan claim against All Saints parish which had declared its independence and seized the property. In September of 2009, the SC supreme court ruled unanimously that All Saints parish had legally separated from the diocese and was entitled to the local property. Lawrence did nothing to contest this ruling which could have been appealed to the US Supreme Court. A local group of loyalists from All Saints did begin an appeal but the diocese refused to give any aid and the group settled out of court in early 2010. 

The three divisions under Lawrence were 1-St. Andrew's of Mt. Pleasant, 2-the majority of the diocese which declared its independence from the Episcopal Church, and 3-the minority of the diocese which remained loyal to the national church. As mentioned, the part he continues to lead, is about one-half of the diocese he inherited in 2008.

The diocesan budget has also seen a dramatic drop. In 2008, when Lawrence arrived, the budget was $2,995,289. The last diocesan published budget was for the year 2018, at $1,998,483. This is a fall of 33% in the decade after Lawrence's consecration. Accounting for inflation, the drop would be over 40%. 

Even though the budget has been published, there is still a great deal unknown. The legal costs are hidden even from the communicants. We do not know how much has been spent on lawyers and other costs of the six years of litigation (which DSC initiated in Jan. of 2013). A couple of years in, the diocese announced it had already spent $2m and expected to spend a great deal more. It is safe to say the DSC has already spent several millions of dollars on legal costs. This expensive legal war has been largely a disaster. As of the moment, DSC legally holds six parishes counting fewer than 3,000 communicants. 29 of the 36 parishes in question have been legally recognized by the high court of SC as Episcopal Church property. It is just a matter of time before the judges Dickson and Gergel wrap this up.

So, here is the broad picture so far of the Lawrence years: loss of half of about half of the diocesan membership, severe reduction in the diocesan budget, and millions of dollars spent on a futile effort to beat the Episcopal Church in court. In the near future, the "diocese" under Lawrence will lose possession of the vast majority of the local properties as well as the legal entity of the old diocese. The remnant "diocese" of Lawrence will be a handful of local churches. It will either reorganize from scratch or be absorbed into the ACNA Diocese of the Carolinas, under Bishop Steve Wood, ironically the breakaway rector of St. Andrew's of Mt. Pleasant.  

It is not difficult to begin to see where the legacy of Bishop Lawrence is going. Now, to be sure, his devoted followers will say this is all worth it because, they would say, he saved a chunk of the old diocese from the heretical Episcopal Church. The diocesan leadership has indeed redefined the diocese theologically to move it toward Anglican fundamentalism.  Obviously, a great deal of Lawrence's admirers will stick with him through thick and thin, as they revealed in the Last Hurrah tour of last summer. Lawrence remains popular in his diocese. Of course, it is their right to regard their bishop as they wish, but they do not have the right to pretend the raw statistics of the decline and fall of the pre-schism diocese are not real and to pretend that the state supreme court did not say what it said.

Whether the anniversary today is a happy one or a sad one depends on where one stands. However, I think everyone can agree the last eleven years have been enormously important in the life of the church in South Carolina. Whether this is good or bad depends on one's perspective. From mine, the last eleven years have been a disaster. The once grand old diocese of South Carolina lies broken and bleeding. It will survive but not in its former glory, at least not for years to come. The damage has been done. This catastrophe was entirely man-made and avoidable. So, I for one will not be celebrating today.