Quote of the day: "Canons are canons, forms are forms."

Canons are canons, forms are forms.
-The Rev. Mark Lawrence

He adds, "815 was only ruling as the canons require."

Yesterday his election as bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina was declared "null and void":

Canonically adequate ballots were received by South Carolina from 50 diocesan standing committees. Several other standing committees were reported to have consented, but no signatures were attached to their ballots, or the ballot itself was missing from South Carolina’s records, Jefferts Schori reported. Any committee that did not respond is considered to have voted no.

The President of the Standing Committee in South Carolina writes:

We hope that [the Lawrence's] will agree to continue to be a part of the Diocese of South Carolina’s pursuit of securing our next Diocesan. ... [W]e will convene both the Chancellor and acting Chancellor to discuss our options within the canons of TEC. The Standing Committee will then plot a course of action for the near future.

Here's one suggest course of action. UPDATE. It appears that South Carolina will follow that course of action:

Under the Constitution and Canons of the General Convention, the diocese has several options in addition to holding another election. However, holding another election seems to have the most support at the moment, Fr. McCormick said.“If anything this has galvanized the people of South Carolina and brought us closer together,” he said. “Our position all along has been that we will follow the canons. Perhaps holding a second election will reassure those who voted ‘no’ the first time because they were concerned that we might try to leave The Episcopal Church.”

Fr. McCormick and the entire diocese are showing a lot of class.