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GRISWOLD BEMOANS ABSENTEE BISHOPS. RETURNS HOME WEARY
For all bishops
September 30, 2004
Dear brothers and sisters:
Please know how grateful I am for the 132 of you who were at our meeting in Spokane. I cannot thank you enough for the profound and careful way in which you dealt with the concerns of the present moment in relationship to our continuing call to be ministers of reconciliation in this very troubled and divided world.
I much regretted that some of you could not be present because of the hurricanes and other emergencies. I am sorry too that some of you chose to stay away, and believe our community was diminished by your absence. Please know that we held all of our absent members in our prayers.
I note that the perfected Mind of the House resolution regarding the transfer of clergy is attached.
The decision to hold a Winter Meeting in order to reflect together on the report of the Lambeth Commission on Communion is I believe a wise one. It is also a clear expression of our commitment, as we said in our Word to the Church, to "a gracious reception of the report in a spirit of humility and to a willingness to learn how we might best be faithful and responsible partners in the Anglican Communion."
Our meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 12 with Morning Prayer and conclude at noon on Thursday, January 13. Lunch and dinner on January 12 will be meals in common. The location with be Salt Lake City, Utah. Specific hotel information will be forthcoming; meanwhile I wanted you to have these dates as soon as possible.
I returned home a bit weary but greatly strengthened and encouraged by our time together. You are to me, in all the fullness of your singularities and otherness, an unmistakable expression of the body of Christ.
Yours ever,
Frank
Interim Meeting of the House of Bishops
Davenport Hotel
Spokane, Washington
September 23rd - 28th, 2004
Mind of the House Resolution
Resolved: That the transfer of a canonical residence to a diocese in another Province of the Anglican Communion shall meet the following guidelines:
(a) The bishop is satisfied that the ministry of the person requesting transfer is to be exercised within the geographic boundaries of the diocese or the Province of the Anglican Communion to which the transfer is to be made.
(b) The bishop is satisfied that there are no pending disciplinary proceedings or related matters regarding the individual requesting the transfer.
(Expanation: The House of Bishops rejects the practice of transfer of canonical residence to allow a priest or bishop to exercise ordained ministry outside of the geographical boundaries of his or her canonical license.)
MOTION SECONDED AND AFTER DISCUSSION PASSED.
September 27th, 2004
