Mark Joseph Lawrence (born March 19, 1950, in Bakersfield,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

) is an American bishop. He was the bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina (EDOSC), known as The Episcopal Church in South Carolina from January 2013 until September 2019, is a diocese of the Episcopal Church. The diocese covers an area of 24 counties in the eastern part of the ...

from 2008 to 2012, and of the diocese now known as the

Anglican Diocese of South Carolina The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina (ADOSC) is a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). The diocese covers an area of 24 counties in the eastern part of the state of South Carolina. In 2019, it had 20,195 baptized members an ...

from 2012 to 2022. In November 2012, under his leadership, a large portion of the old diocese withdrew from the national Episcopal Church to become an independent Anglican diocese. They continued to operate under the name "Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina", whose use was disputed by the national Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Church did not recognize this diocesan withdrawal, instead considering Lawrence to have abandoned the church and his position as diocesan bishop. Lawrence's diocese affiliated with the

Anglican Church in North America The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cuba ...

in 2017 and in 2019 began referring to itself as the "Anglican Diocese of South Carolina". According to the official website of the global

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

, the independent diocese under Lawrence's leadership is not a member of the communion. However, the steering committee of the Anglican Global South recognized Lawrence as bishop over a diocese "within the Anglican Communion" in December 2012 and recognized the diocese as part of the Anglican Global South in August 2014. Such disagreements over Anglican Communion membership have sometimes arisen in churches undergoing

Anglican realignment The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States ...

. The status of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina has been the subject of multiple state and federal lawsuits, some of which are still ongoing.

Personal life

Lawrence has been married to Allison Kathleen Taylor since 1973. They have five children, some of whom are themselves involved in the ministry. Son Chadwick is an Episcopal priest and headmaster in Beaufort, South Carolina. Daughter Adelia is married to Stephen Matson, who is serving as Family Ministries director in Grove City, PA. Son Joseph is a postualant for ordination attending Trinity School for Ministry. Daughter Chelsea is married to Jason Hamshaw, a youth minister at Prince George Winyah Parish Church in Georgetown, South Carolina.

Studies

Lawrence has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

in Bakersfield (1976) and a Master of Divinity degree from

Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry Trinity School for Ministry (TSM), formerly known as Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, is an Anglican seminary in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. It is generally associated with low church, evangelical Anglicanism. History In the mid 1970s, several ...

Ambridge, Pennsylvania Ambridge is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. Incorporated in 1905 as a company town by the American Bridge Company, Ambridge is located 16 miles (25 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, along the Ohio River. The population wa ...

(1980). He also has honorary degrees from

Nashotah House Nashotah House is an Anglican seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin. The seminary opened in 1842 and received its official charter in 1847. The institution is independent and generally regarded as one of the more theologically conservative seminaries i ...

(2008) and Sewanee (2009).

Ministry

Lawrence was born in Bakersfield, California, on March 19, 1950. A fifth generation Californian, he was educated at California State University, Bakersfield (BA, 1976) and Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry (M. Div. 1980). He has also received honorary degrees from Nashotah House (D.D. 2008) and Sewanee (D.D. 2009). He has ministered in a wide variety of parish settings from suburban church plant, rural mission, inner city church, to downtown parish in California and Pennsylvania. These include Holy Family, Fresno, California; Saint Mark’s, Shafter, California (1981-1984); Saint Stephen’s, McKeesport, Pennsylvania (1984-1997) where he also established on Mon Valley Tri-Church Ministry taking two smaller congregations under a multi-staff network; and Saint Paul’s, Bakersfield, California (1997-2007). Known for being a dedicated pastor-teacher, Lawrence also served, among many other capacities, the Commission on Ministry, the Standing Committee, the Board of Examining Chaplains, and rural dean. He also served as a deputy to the General Conventions of 2003 and 2006. He has published articles on devotional and ecclesial concerns in various periodicals. Lawrence was known as a theological conservative in the Episcopal Church. He was consecrated as the diocesan bishop of the

on January 26, 2008, after a second election. He had first been elected in 2006, but did not gain approval to take office. His second election was approved following his reassurances that he would keep the diocese within the Episcopal Church. As bishop, Lawrence opposed all liberal policies of the Episcopal Church until the final rupture took place on October 18, 2012, when the Episcopal Church found him guilty of abandoning the church and renouncing its order. On November 17, 2012, a special convention of his departing diocese took place. The convention affirmed disaffiliation from the Episcopal Church and amended the diocesan constitution and canons to remove all references to the Episcopal Church."Special Convention Approves Canonical and Constitutional Amendments Regarding Disassociation"
(November 17, 2012). Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. These actions were deemed ''

ultra vires ('beyond the powers') is a Latin phrase used in law to describe an act which requires legal authority but is done without it. Its opposite, an act done under proper authority, is ('within the powers'). Acts that are may equivalently be termed ...

'' by the Episcopal Church and are currently the subject of ongoing lawsuits. Lawrence attended the general assembly of the

in June 2013, where he was one of the speakers.Diocesan Delegation Observers at ACNA's Provincial Council, Diocese of South Carolina official website, 21 June 2013.
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References

External links

Anglican Diocese of South Carolina website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Mark 1950 births Living people Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America Episcopal bishops of South Carolina 21st-century Anglican bishops in the United States Christians from South Carolina Trinity School for Ministry alumni Anglican realignment people