Colorado chooses three to stand for bishop election

July 24, 2018

Episcopal News Service

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Colorado Standing Committee has nominated three priests for election as the 11th bishop of Colorado.

The election will take place Oct. 27 during the diocese’s 131st Annual Convention.

The slate includes:

The Rev. Kimberly (Kym) Lucas, rector, St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C.;

The Rev. Canon Michael Pipkin, missioner for missional management, Diocese of Minnesota; and

The Rev. Canon Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, canon to the ordinary, Diocese of Colorado.

Information about each of the nominees is available here.

The July 23 announcement began a period for additional nominations by petition.

The next bishop of Colorado will succeed the Rt. Rev. Robert O’Neill who announced late last yearthat he would retire in the spring of 2019. He was ordained a priest in the diocese in 1982 and became the 10th diocesan bishop in October 2003

After the bishop-elect receives the canonically required consent of a majority of the Episcopal Church’s diocesan standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will ordain and consecrate the new bishop May 18, 2019.

Ordination to the diaconate at Philadelphia Cathedral ~ 9 June 2007

Nine Years Ago:

Ordination to the diaconate at Philadelphia Cathedral ~ 9 June 2007

Bishop Curry becomes the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop

See his sermon HERE

Bishop Curry becomes the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop

See his sermon HERE

Child becomes bishop for a Month!

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from RNS Blog

An Anglican diocese in England is reviving the medieval custom of enthroning a child as bishop for the month of December, according to the BBC.

Nine-year-old Olivia Wells of Hampshire will look after St. John's Church, taking sermons and making new rules, such as allowing children to ring church bells and giving a free glass of wine to people who attend church two weeks in a row. I like her already.

Wells said: "It's going to be fun. Because I get to boss people around."

In the Middle Ages in England there was this tradition that on the feast of St Nicholas (Dec. 6), in all cathedrals and lots of the parish churches, a child, the smallest chorister of the choir, became the bishop.

In other news, Episcopal Presiding Bishops Katharine Jefferts Schori and Fort Worth (Texas) Bishop Jack Iker are arguing about whether he renounced his Episcopal vows when he led his diocese to secede from the Episcopal Church.

photo by the BBC

Congratulations to the Rev. J. Scott Mayer, next bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas!

My friend Jared Cramer has a wonderful posting today offering congratulations to one of his mentors, the Rev. J. Scott Mayer who was just elected as the next bishop of Northwest Texas. Do check out Jared's posting, I rejoice for the church!

~ The Rev. Peter M. Carey

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from Jared's blog, Scribere Orare Est today...

...after I was confirmed, he gave me the bread and though I had always known that Eucharist connected us regardless of my denomination, at that moment I gratefully felt an even closer connection to him. I know for a fact I would not be anywhere near the minister, preacher, or person that I am if I had not known him.

That’s why I smiled very very big when I got the news today…

From the Diocese of Northwest Texas’ press release:

NORTHWEST TEXAS: The Rev. J. Scott Mayer elected bishop

The Rev. J. Scott Mayer, rector of The Church of the Heavenly Rest, Abilene, Texas, has been elected as the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Northwest. Mayer was elected on the second ballot, with 90 of 141 registered laity and 38 of 47 registered clergy. The Electing Convention was held on Saturday, November 22, 2008, at place at St. Paul’s on the Plain Church in Lubbock, Texas.

Mayer was elected from a slate of four nominees, including the Rev. Ronald D. Pogue, Rector, Trinity Episcopal Church, Galveston, Texas; the Rev. J. Christopher Roberts, Rector, St. Martha’s Episcopal Church, Papillion, Nebraska; and, the Rev. Stephen F. Zimmerman, Rector, The Chapel of St. Andrew, Boca Raton, Florida. A fifth nominee, the Rev. C. Christopher Thompson, Rector, Eastern Shore Chapel Episcopal Church, Virginia Beach, Virginia, withdrew his name from consideration earlier in the week.
Mayer, a 1992 graduate of The Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, Austin, TX, was ordained in the Diocese of Dallas, where he served as Curate of St. James Episcopal Church in Texarkana. He has served at Heavenly Rest in Abilene, TX, first as Associate Rector then Rector, since 1994. Mayer, 53, and his wife, Kathy, have two grown children, Diane Stearns and Daniel Mayer, and one grandchild, James. The bishop-elect will succeed The Rt. Rev. C. Wallis Ohl, Jr., who will retire effective January 1, 2009. Consecration of the new Bishop is scheduled for Saturday, March 21, 2009, in Lubbock, Texas.

The Diocese of Northwest Texas, having emerged out of the Missionary District of North Texas in 1958, is celebrating its 50 year of ministry. Comprised of 80 out of Texas’ 254 counties, the diocese encompasses the entire panhandle plus a broad swath of North and West Texas, from Vernon in the Red River Valley to the Pecos River in far West Texas. There are 18 parishes, 16 missions, 5 preaching stations, four college chaplaincies, a Conference Center and Camp and the Hulsey Center in Lubbock which houses the Diocesan offices.

Read it all HERE at Jared Cramer's Blog, Scribere Orare Est

Rowan Williams reflects on the upcoming Lambeth Conference

a bold vision and a daring charity

A prayer offered each day by the chaplains to the House of Bishops who just completed the House of Bishops meeting in Texas. I found the prayer on the "Arizona Bishop" blog, HERE.



Give to your Church, O God,
a bold vision and a daring charity,
a refreshed wisdom and a courteous understanding,
that the eternal message of your Son
may be acclaimed as the good news of the age;
through him who makes all things new,
even Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen

Why Elect a Young Bishop, by the Rev. Andy Doyle

From the Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Texas, the Rev. Canon Andy Doyle, who is seeking to be the next Bishop of the Diocese of Texas. He offers a wonderful argument for youthful and young leadership in the church:

Why Elect a Young Bishop?

Our vision of being one church in this diocese is going to continue to need energy, creativity and time. I have hope for this vision and the church it describes. I have energy for the work this vision requires. Whether you choose me to be your bishop or not, over the next fifteen years of my ministry I will continue to work to fulfill this vision. I believe in what we are doing and believe we are engaging in work that changes the world.

Some people worry about electing a long tenured bishop. They worry that the bishop will become entrenched or burned out. But it will take an energetic, long tenured bishop to nurture the promise of our diocese and hold the vision that promise brings to our future.

Thomas Friedman makes the case that the world is flat in the sense that globalization has leveled the competitive playing fields between industrial and emerging market countries. The same flat world dynamic gives us the opportunity to build real relationships with partners throughout the Anglican Communion where we can share our vision of the church and our ministry. Sharing vision across the Communion will take creativity and energy. With an energetic leader, a diocese in the 21st century can engage in this work now.

We will create a younger church together. Our flat world gives us new tools and technologies to create new and widening conversations with young people inside and outside the church. We will become the evangelical church of the Great Commission as we make our mission the real life experience of young people both locally and abroad. We will develop new ministries that relate real life to real vocation, going deeply into the lives of young people so that they can be guided by their own rules of life. Vocational discernment will not be for church professionals alone; it will be for anyone who wants to experience transformation in his or her life. In this way we will create a church that lives in the real world, sharing the Good News of Jesus and leading others in the miraculous transformation of life.

Read the rest HERE.

What really (should) happen at Bishops meetings

this cartoon from Dave at CartoonChurch.com

Interview with the Presiding Bishop

There is a short and wonderful video interview with the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori on KOCO TV in Oklahoma City. See it HERE.

Agreement to Disagree, a proposal by Paul Stanley

In light of all that is going on in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, this post by Paul Stanley (not the KISS performer, at least I think not) on "Fr. Jake Stops the World" blog has some very interesting proposals...and there have already been nearly 300 comments on the post ... it is worth a read if you have the time!

Peace, Peter

Here's a portion of the proposal:

In the comments of the previous post, Paul Stanley proposed "An Agreement to Disagree." I think it is worth further consideration. Here it is:

(Note that the ordering of the specific points has been amended from the original, with Paul's permission. The original order, to which the early comments refer, can be found here - J.)
__________________________

1) We agree to disagree. We accept that some Christians conscientiously believe that same sex relationships are legitimate and holy. We accept that some Christians consider them to be sinful. We do not regard the expression of either of these views as incompatible with full membership of the Church, and we specifically resolve that we remain in communion with those of both views.

(2) We agree, however, that where people choose to live in a same sex relationship, that relationship must be lived on the same principles as marriage between people of different sexes--with faithful and loving stability. We provide accordingly for the marriage of persons of the same sex.

(3) No minister will be compelled to marry people of the same sex. But if asked to do so, a minister whose conscience does not permit him or her to perform such a marriage must ensure that the couple are referred to a minister who is willing to do so, and must treat the request with pastoral sensitivity. Pastoral sensitivity is not necessarily inconsistent with making it clear that the minister's own view is that same sex marriage is wrong, but due restraint must be exercised, and the minister must always make it clear that this view is his own and one on which others disagree.

(4) No church will be required to have as its priest in charge or as an ordained minister a person who is married to a person of the same sex.

(5) No church will be required to have as its priest in charge or any ordained minister a person who is conscientiously unable to perform marriages for persons of the same sex.

(6) Where a diocese has a bishop who is married to a person of the same sex, arrangements will be made to delegate episcopal functions to a bishop who is not so married in relation to any parish that requests it.

(7) Where a diocese has a bishop who is conscientiously unable to perform marriages for persons of the same sex: (i) the bishop may not refuse to permit clergy in his or her diocese to perform such marriages and (ii) arrangements will be made to delegate episcopal functions to a bishop who does not have such conscientious objections in relation to any parish that requests it.

(8) But nobody may (i) refuse communion to a person on the grounds that he or she is married to a person of the same sex or (ii) deny the validity of the orders of any member of the clergy on the ground that he or she is married to a person of the same sex.

I don't think either side would or ought to be altogether happy with this. But I don't see why it couldn't be a modus vivendi.

For the entire text, check HERE.