A Letter from Bishop Love

Earlier this evening I sent a heartfelt email to the Bishop of Albany, William Love:

I, along with a great many members of the Diocese of Albany, are dismayed that there has been no official reaction to the devastation that has befallen so many communities within your episcopal care. Please read the posting on Openly Episcopal in Albany, including in particular the comments made in response. Please consider a pastoral letter to your flock, and to the larger community, even at this late date. It would go a long way to relieve the hurt felt by so many in our region.

Later this same evening, I found the following reply in my email Inbox, which I am happy to share with you:

Dear John,
     Thank you for your email and most especially your concern for all the victims of Irene.  You are justified in your criticism that I have not responded publicly to the devastation of Irene, much of which occurred in our own Diocese.  Right after the storm hit, I began calling the clergy in the areas that I was aware of that had been hit especially hard.  The report I kept getting from most of the parishes is that the parishes themselves escaped with little to any damage.  Some of the parishioners suffered flooded basements, etc.  Tragically I am aware of two people related to our parishes that died as a result of the storm.  Before sending out a statement, I was trying to get a better sense of the loss to our parishes and parish families.  I regret not first offering a public prayer or word of comfort immediately following the storm.  The damage assessment could come later.  That was a mistake on my part for which I apologize. 
     While no public statements were made, as mentioned, I was making private calls and have been in touch with Ms. Nelson at ERD.  Before making an official appeal to ERD, we have been trying to discern what was actually needed.  That is still underway.  One of the lessons learned in all of this is that our Diocese is not currently prepared to respond to large scale disasters such as Irene.  I have already met with some of the Diocesan staff to begin working on this so that we can be better prepared in the future.  I was in the process of working on a Diocesan Update mentioning Irene, when I received your email.  I hope to have that out tomorrow (Wednesday).

Yours in Christ,
+William H. Love

Comments

[Robert T Dodd]

Fair is fair: Although the DoA was very slow off the mark after recent disasters, its response has been generous. Points to Bishop Love for that!

Echoing what Ann Gaillard+ wrote, the Diocese needs to upgrade its website to provide timely news of important events. Not everyone receives Diocesan Updates.

[Robert Dodd]

Mixed feelings here. On one hand, I'm grateful for getting +Bill's attention, someting I've been unable to achieve. On the other, his response will mean nothing unless it is followed by concrete efforts to make the diocese more responsive to communal needs.

The cynic within me (eight years old and growing) suspects that Bishop Bill has simply written something to deflect criticism. As Washington's father said to George after he cut down his third cherry tree, "I know you admit it. You always admit it. What I want to know is when you'll stop doing it."

[Paula Sippel]

7:57 AM Sept 7. I am very pleased that the Bishop responded to you John. I did not hear back from him and I am wondering if anyone else has.

[Ann Gaillard]

I am grateful that Bishop Love wrote this letter, and even more grateful to know that he has been working behind the scenes to check on parishes and to enlist the help of ERD. He is a compassionate person, so I am not surprised that he has been reaching out to parishes potentially affected by Hurricane Irene. I am also grateful that he acknowledges that he should have issued some sort of public statement earlier; however, the bishop should not shoulder all the responsibility in that regard. A bishop does not work alone; he/she has a staff for advisory, administrative, and spiritual purposes. It seems to me that his staff did not serve him well in the past 10 days; even the tiniest statement on the diocesan website would have helped to communicate important information to the diocese. And for that matter, in the event of something like Hurricane Irene, deans of deaneries also need to step up to the plate and keep people informed.