Yet at the same time we have this fixation on bishops: who they are, what they do, what they say. We develop fancy ways of referring to them. We struggle to call them by their first names. We surround their visits with a kind of aura. The result of all this is that we are developing this unstated assumption that the only things that matter in the church are what bishops say.
One bishop without a home, and one bishop with two Read More »
The Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania on Saturday elected Canon Audrey Scanlan their next diocesan bishop. Well done them! Her election made me start looking into statistics about episcopal elections. Here’s what I found. Canon Scanlan is the first woman elected a diocesan bishop in the Episcopal Church since 2011. In those four years, there
A rare event in the life of the church Read More »
English bishop Nick Baines has posted about the differences between the Episcopal Church in the U.S. and the Church of England. After a year in the C of E, I thought I’d do the same from the perspective of an American in England, with the proviso that I am writing in broad generalities and, of
On Monday, I did something I rarely do: I read The Daily Mail, one of England’s leading newspapers (by sales). It’s a tabloid that makes it money by plastering screaming (and arguably distorting) headlines across its pages. I read the paper because a) it was in a waiting-room I was in and b) the front-page headline
The Power of Establishment Read More »
One of the things I noticed about Archbishop of Canterbury-select Justin Welby is that in his announcement tour on Friday, he talked about Jesus a lot. There were multiple references in the press conference and various interviews to “the good news of Jesus Christ.” Now, to point out that a bishop talks about Jesus might
Gasp! He talks about Jesus! Read More »
Here’s a picture of the Rt. Rev. Stephen Conway, the bishop of Ely in the Church of England. By chance, I’ve been to two services in the past week at which he’s presided: one, a re-dedication of a refurbished church, the other, the installation of a new rector. What was interesting to me is that
The curious case of the bishop who didn’t celebrate the Eucharist Read More »
The meeting was notable for the number of contributions from members with a common message: “The Church cannot go on doing the same things in the same way; some things need to change and we are open to – and indeed encourage – that possibility. Sound like a familiar sentiment? But rather than being from the just-concluded General
Lessons from the Church in Wales Read More »
The General Convention of the Episcopal Church will vote in the next day or two to confirm several new bishops who have been elected in the last four months. No doubt, these bishops will take office full of plans for their tenure and ready to implement them. As they do, I— presumptuously—have a thought for them. The
Memo to bishops-elect Read More »
Four dioceses in the Episcopal Church today elected new bishops—a kind of Episcopalooza. While I am sure the Holy Spirit was at work in each election, it’s striking to me that in not one election did a woman win. In fact, of the 18 candidates in the four elections, only five were women, one of
The Diocese of Western Massachusetts will elect a new bishop tomorrow. Prayers ascending for all of candidates and delegates! Any election is noteworthy in the life of a diocese. One of the reasons this election is noteworthy is that no candidate from within the diocese is among the nominees. That means that by December, when
Punching above its weight Read More »
