Bishop Love Goes to Texas

Bishop William Love of the Diocese of Albany is off to resist the proud and do battle with the enemy at Camp Allen, Texas.  From the site of the Spring House of Bishops meeting, he sends his diocese this note:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I arrived at Camp Allen, Texas yesterday afternoon, in preparation for the Spring House of Bishops Meeting, which begins today.  I would ask you to please keep me and all the members of the House of Bishops in your prayers this coming week.  In my prayers this morning, the Lord brought the following passage from 1 Peter 5 to mind:

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.  Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith.

May the Holy Spirit manifest Himself in a mighty way during this gathering, touching and transforming the hearts, minds and souls of every bishop here, guiding and leading us in all that is said and done, that it will be in accordance with His will, and to His honor and glory and the benefit of His Church and people.  Come Holy Spirit!  Come now and come with power to cleanse and redeem your Church.  We need you Lord Jesus.  Amen

Faithfully Yours in Christ, +Bill

Don't expect more substantive details from our bishop.  He is a poor correspondent (not a slam, his own admission!) and of course he also doesn't want us to hear anything good about TEC.  That is why I love media coverage of The Episcopal Church!  It gives those of us in Albany a view of what is really happening in our Church.

According to Episcopal Life, a centerpiece of the meeting will be a reconciliation retreat, led by The Rev. Canon Brian Cox of Santa Barbara, California.  "The expectation is (to begin) thinking about how reconciliation can really become the culture of the Episcopal Church" according to The Rev. Cox.

Thanks to Susan Russell in her blog An Inch at a Time, who reports the hopes of Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori "that we go with a sacrificial attitude open to one another, expecting divine encounters."  the Presiding Bishop prays that "we are willing to embrace the pain of difference as a sign of hope," while "we avoid pre-judgments."

The theme throughout the meeting will be preparation for the upcoming Lambeth Conference of worldwide Anglican Bishops in Canterbury, England.  Ed Little of Northern Indiana, chair of the House of Bishop's Planning Committee, noted that "our agenda during this meeting will weave in and out of discussions about the Lambeth Conference."

The  bishops will also consider recommended disciplinary action against the former bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin, John-David Schofield.  Many of the parishes in his diocese joined him in realigning with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone last December.  Since then, however, former bishop Schofield has tendered his resignation from The Episcopal Church.  The House of Bishops must vote to accept that resignation.

There is much business before the House of Bishops this week, and many hopeful signs for The Episcopal Church.  Pray that Bishop Love will adopt the sacrificial attitude that Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori commends, and avoid the pre-judgments she warns against.  There will be plenty of opportunity for reconciliation and mutual understanding.  To Bishop Love we say:  There are no enemies among your fellow bishops, just sojourners and pilgrims along the Way, seeking to serve our Lord in this corner of His Church, the Episcopal Church, TEC. 

Comments

[Tom Pritchard]

What amazes me is how so many "righteous and proud" 'leaders' and laity profess their humility while contending that G-d does not make mistakes and yet simultaneously contend that other people's lifestyle "choices" are "mistakes" worthy of discrimination, exclusion, and abandonement. How can they dare to presume to suggest that G-d's love, as expressed by Jesus, could or would exclude or marginalize anyone?

[Robert Dodd]

What struck me most about +Love's announcement of his attendance at the HoB meeting was his quotation from 1 Peter. The passage praises the truly humble, whose mantra is "Of course, I could be wrong."
It does not apply to those of soft voice and closed mind who add,"But I'm not!"