By The Rev. James Gibson, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Grahamville

In his address to the 224th Annual Convention of the Diocese of South Carolina, Bishop Mark Lawrence outlined a plan for advancing the church's mission through starting new congregations, renewing an emphasis on evangelism, and cultivating a missional approach to ministry and life. It was a bold vision indicative of a diocese determined to move forward after several years of legal battles following its disaffiliation from The Episcopal Church (TEC). Using the acronym CAMEL, Bishop Lawrence mapped out the current landscape of the diocese under the five categories of Consolidation, Affiliation, Missionalization, Education, and Litigation.

Although some local parishes decided to remain with TEC after the diocese disaffiliated in 2012, the losses are being made up through the addition of new congregations. At last year's convention, Lawrence noted, Grace Church, Pawleys Island and Grace Church, North Myrtle Beach were welcomed into the diocese. This year, two more new congregations--Resurrection, North Charleston and St. James, Blackville--were welcomed as missions.

"Let us pray that this trend continues in the coming years," Lawrence said. "In fact, it is a worthy goal for this diocese that we either welcome two new missions each year or celebrate two new campuses established by existing congregations each year, or a combination of the two."

Punctuating that challenge, the bishop added, "May this become the defining ethos of the Diocese of South Carolina--advancement as a method of consolidation. We shall know who we are by the fact that we are continuously adding new congregations to our number."

A further step in this direction is the reconstitution of the Diocesan Council's Evangelism Committee, sparked by a renewed interest in evangelism expressed by numerous clergy in response to Bishop Lawrence's sermon at last year's Renewal of Vows service. Under the leadership of chairman Hal Fenters and lay evangelist Langdon Stewart, the revived committee is planning a three-day "Train the Trainers" workshop at Resurrection, Surfside, April 30 - May 2.

Also being reconstituted, as a means of "consolidation through advancement," is the Liturgy and Worship Committee under the Rev. Ted Duvall of Christ Church, Mt. Pleasant and organist Chuck Wilson of Holy Comforter, Sumter. "They are working with several of the musicians throughout the diocese eager to raise the profile of traditional and contemporary music in our common life and will also take up a variety of liturgical concerns," Lawrence said.

Addressing the ongoing discernment process regarding affiliation, the bishop expressed gratitude to the Global South Primates Steering Committee (GSPC) for providing provisional primatial oversight until the diocese decides on a permanent provincial home. The Most Reverend Tito Zavala, Presiding Bishop of the Province of South America and Bishop of the Anglican Church in Chile, will visit the diocese in May as a representative of the Global South Primates.

Lawrence reported that the Task Force on Affiliation, established by resolution of the Convention last year, has determined three possible options for the diocese: continue with the provisional relationship with GSPC until a clearer picture of the future of global Anglicanism emerges, continue with GSPC but take a proactive role in shaping the future of global Anglicanism, or affiliate with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).

All three options offer realistic possibilities for the advancement of the diocese's mission but Lawrence cautioned against taking a one-dimensional view. "A decision on affiliation," he said, "should never be guided merely by what we might gain from such a relationship but also by what we might offer."

Missionalization, Lawrence admitted, "is a novel word I have tweaked to fit with the other suffixes in this address." It is not, however, a novel concept. "Indeed," the bishop said, "it may very well be the most important thrust of our diocesan life."

The "Attractional Church Model," Lawrence noted, is no longer sufficient in an increasingly secularized world. "As I often tell vestries or parishioners at Bishop Forums," he said, "Jesus never told the world to go to church. He did, however, tell the church to go into the world."

On a diocesan level, missionalization "also means to intentionally create a culture within the diocese that cultivates a missional approach to ministry and life," Lawrence said. "Missionalization is to have such an aroma of Christ that when we go into the world meeting others we graciously make the agnostic and religiously unaffiliated uncomfortable in their unbelief."

In the area of education, the bishop announced that the St. Augustine School for Anglican Leadership Development, an ambitious initiative which has long been a vision of his, now has sufficient support for a projected launch date of January 2016, in conjunction with the Mere Anglicanism Conference in Charleston.

Addressing the diocese's recent legal victory over TEC, Lawrence cautioned against the temptation to see Judge Diane S. Goodstein's decision as a sign of divine favor.

"We give thanks to God for this recent ruling, but to make it God's vindication would be to yield to a false security," the bishop said. "We need to remind ourselves, again and again, of those apostolic words of St. Paul, 'It is not ourselves we preach, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.'"

Concluding with several references to Paul's words in 2 Corinthians, Lawrence challenged diocesan leaders "to aim high and while recognizing our frailty, as mere jars of clay, to trust boldly in the God who judges and raises up as we seek with one heart and one mind to lay hold of the power of Christ's resurrection. May God grant us such grace in our day!"