Anglican Bishops Recognize Authority of Bishop Mark Lawrence

Amidst allegations that Anglicans worldwide do not recognize the Diocese of South Carolina and its bishop, Anglican Bishops from East Africa strongly announced their support for the diocese’s dissociation from The Episcopal Church Tuesday during comments at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul in Charleston.

The Bishops from Sudan, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania proclaimed unqualified endorsement of Bishop Mark Lawrence and the diocese. Their comments seemed to dispute the claims of Bishop Charles vonRosenberg, the newly elected bishop of the recently formed diocese - The Episcopal Church in South Carolina. In January, vonRosenberg announced that the Anglican Communion has not acknowledged Lawrence’s diocese, even though it represents the vast majority of local Anglicans. However the four bishops, all members of the Anglican Communion in good standing, specifically recognized the diocese during the gathering.

The four were guests of the diocese following their participation in the New Wineskins Conference in Ridgecrest, North Carolina, the largest Anglican missions conference in the world.

“We came to encourage Bishop Mark Lawrence to stand firm in the faith,” said the Rt. Rev. Abraham Yel Nhial, Bishop of the Diocese of Aweil in the Episcopal Church of Sudan. Bishop Nhial was one of the Lost Boys of Sudan whose story aired recently on 60 minutes.