According to the Rev. Canon Michael Wright of Grace Church in downtown Charleston, “We knew this weekend would be good.  We had no idea that it would be great.  No one could have foreseen the sheer joy and enthusiasm in what happened.”

The centerpiece of the weekend was Special Convention that culminated in the election of the Right Rev. Charles vonRosenberg as successor to ex-bishop Mark Lawrence, whose tumultuous and divisive episcopate ended last fall when he renounced his ministry in the Church. 

Since then Lawrence has managed to coax or otherwise pressure thirty of the Diocese’s 74 parishes and missions, along with one-third of its clergy, into following him even though there is no clear legal path for them to leave the Episcopal Church with their corporate identity and property in tact. 

Since then Lawrence has managed to coax or otherwise pressure thirty of the Diocese’s 74 parishes and missions, along with one-third of its clergy, into following him even though there is no clear legal path for them to leave the Episcopal Church with their corporate identity and property in tact. 

Lawrence and his followers have even gone so far as to file a massive lawsuit against the Episcopal Church, insisting that they are an Episcopal Diocese with an Episcopal Bishop, but not part of the Episcopal Church.

The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, presided over Saturday’s convention exactly five years to the hour that Lawrence had been consecrated Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina.  

The election of vonRosenberg during the convention was a foregone conclusion.  However, excitement among the delegates mounted as routine business was dispatched with the prospect of once again being led a bishop faithful to the Church began to take hold among the delegates.

Finally, Charleston businessman and civic leader Hillery Douglas, the chairman of the Diocese’s Steering Committee, was recognized by the Presiding Bishop and nominated vonRosenberg to be the new leader or the Diocese.  At that moment, there was an explosion of applause from delegates who leaped to their feet, and within a moment the Presiding Bishop declared that he had been elected. 

Many smiles, cheers, and tears greeted the announcement, along with the applause of the Bishop’s children and six proud grandchildren sitting in the front row with the Bishop’s wife, Annie vonRosenberg.

The convention then briskly moved to eliminate all changes to its Constitution and Canons made by Lawrence and his followers to eliminate key provisions required for membership in the Episcopal Church and therefore the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Jefferts Schori presided with a mix of humor, confidence, and humility.  She expressed her appreciation of the faithfulness and steadfastness of those who had endured so much hurt and alienation.  The previous evening she had delivered the same message to the leaders of the Steering Committee she commissioned to lead the Diocese after the departure of ex-bishop Mark Lawrence.

Saturday morning’s convention was preceded by a celebratory Eucharist with a congregation of nearly 750, many of whom arrived as many as two hours early to be sure to get a seat.  Anticipation was so high that even the introit by twenty-members of Grace’s young children’s choir earned sustained applause of the congregation.

However, it was the procession of the Presiding Bishop with bagpipes, organ, and trumpets that electrified the congregation, most of whom were seeing her for the first time.  Enthusiasm and emotion ran high throughout the service that culminated in a barnburner of a sermon by the Presiding Bishop and a standing ovation, one of many she would receive throughout the day.

In her sermon, the Presiding bishop urged an end to divisive actions in the Church that grieve the heart of God. “Our task is to heal the breach … The banquet table is spread with abundance for all, even though it’s hard to join the feast if you’re busy controlling the gate.  The Gate himself has already done that work, and the word is out, “y’all come!  Come to the feast!”  Read her entire sermon here

For the past five years, rightwing leaders of the Diocese of South Carolina relentlessly degraded Jefferts Schori’s character, integrity, and commitment to Jesus Christ. 

Often the Diocese’s communications team would butcher and twist her words before reportingthem to the Diocese, but mmostly they would simply block any communications from her as a way of preventing her from establishing any kind of pastoral relationship with the people of the Diocese.  Prior to trying to leave the Episcopal Church last November, Lawrence's lieutenants refused to even distribute and extraordinary plea for Jefferts Schori urging them to stay.

Lawrence's second in command was in attendence for Saturday's events, mostly texting even during the sermons and some prayers.

According to one woman at the convention, who said she no longer could endure the negativity and antigay attacks in her pro-Lawrence parish, “They told us she was a heretic and didn’t believe in God.  Until this morning, I had never heard sermon of such faith.”’

Just as the Presiding Bishop’s sermon was the high point of the early worship service, Bishop vonRosenberg’s comments following his election were equally as exceptional and inspiring.  

The new Bishop urged Episcopalians to go forward striving for unity and humility.  “Christian humility needs to have a place in the foundation on which we are rebuilding,” the new bishop proclaimed.  “There is no place for self righteousness here ... but there is much room for humility.  May we, therefore, claim the Christian virtue of humility as an important part of our foundation.”  Read Bishop vonRosenberg's entire remarks      
 
As she exited the worship service, one longtime communicant of the Diocese remarked, "I am sorry Gray Temple could not have lived to see this day!."  

Bishop Temple was the the bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina who held it together during the difficult days of racial integration.  He was the last truly loyal Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese, and died believing that all he had worked for had been lost at the hand of angry, radicals.