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LOUISIANA: Bishop Jenkins To Run For Presiding Bishop
From Bishop Jenkins:
3/18/2006
Christ says to the Church in Ephesus: "I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first." Revelation 2. 3-4
Our Presiding Bishop, who is at his absolute best in retreat settings with clergy, used the above cited Scripture this Sunday morning to address the Bishops of the Episcopal Church in the silent retreat portion of our House of Bishop's meeting. Many of us who heard Bishop Griswold have given decades of service in the ordained ministry and our "first love" in ministry is for many of us hard to even remember. I would count myself amongst that number who have matured to point of almost forgetting. My first love was and is to serve God.
I had to decide last Friday night whether or not I would agree to the request of twelve Bishops who asked me to allow them to nominate me from the floor for consideration as the next Presiding Bishop. As you may know, I had been previously dropped from the process by the Nominating Committee. These twelve Bishops who asked me were from across the specturm of the Church and included liberal and conservative, male and female and are of various colors. I am humbled by and conflicted by their request.
After a long night and day of struggle and wrestling with myself and with God, I decided to allow them to put my name in nomination, this time for consideration by the entire House of Bishops.
Many of you know that following the advice of a spiritual companion and guide, I have for years prayed for the spiritual gift of indifference. Such a spiritual gift should not be seen as a negative emotion, such as not caring about something or even an active dislike of something. Rather, the spiritual gift of indifference is described by Pierre Wolf in his wonderful little book "Discernment, the Art of Choosing Well" as "inner freedom." In saying yes to these Bishops I am not saying that I prefer something else over the work of "episcope" in Louisiana. I am saying that I want to be open to serve God as I might be called. Unless and untill called elsewhere, I believe I am called to serve God in Louisiana. The Church will discern where best I might serve God and use whatever gifts and talents God gives me at this juncture in my life. There is great freedom in that.
In the meantime, the work to which I am called in Louisiana will continue without distraction. That too is part of the ever unfolding gift of indifference. The work to which we are all called in our "new normal" is a holy work and a gift for the Church and our poor old region. The ministry we undertake in Louisiana is not just about us but is in a sense about hope for many around the world. Please pray for me. No day passes without my offering up to God our common life and ministry in Louisiana.
Yours in Christ,
The Rt. Rev. Charles E. Jenkins III
+ Bishop of Louisiana
