Here is what he said: "I am somewhat nervous about the wider church trying to become more involved in the elections within dioceses. No doubt there a lot of folks that would like to see Albany move in a different direction," Love said, urging caution about whether theological diversity also becomes an issue in elections.

He should be worried. If and when he retires, the national church will do its best to make sure that no orthodox bishop in faith and morals will follow in his footsteps, regardless of what local parish priests and parishioners think...or vote.

Big Episcopal brother will be watching...and, if need be, interfering.

A recent case in point was the infamous election of Heather Cook, suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Maryland, who was force fed onto the diocese by then PB Jefferts Schori, even though Maryland Bishop Eugene Sutton warned the PB that Cook had a drinking problem.

No matter, she was a woman and that's all that mattered. Today, she is doing seven years in jail for killing a cyclist while texting and being drunk as a skunk. Picking bishops from the bottom of the barrel is now an Episcopal game of whack amole...just don't hit women or blacks. White males are fair game. For its sins, the diocese got the former Bishop of Maine, Chilton R. Knudsen, a recovering alcoholic, to replace her.

A resolution which first came to the bishops at their spring retreat on diversity in the bishop-election process to the General Convention Task Force on the Episcopacy would have had bishops reserve the option to withhold their consent after any episcopal election that did not include at least two qualified people of color and two qualified women. The bishops tabled the resolution then, but it re-emerged with a substitute, which stated that the HOB "regrets the extent to which we remain predominantly a body of white males" and commends those dioceses that have elected or included among their nominees women and people outside the dominant culture."

Bishop Suffragan Dena Harrison of Texas, opined that if the leadership of the diocese has not prepared the culture to accept women of color, men of color, women, then it will default to white males as bishops.

A WORD TO THE CHURCH FOR THE WORLD

Extending its hubris, the bishops offered what they called "A Word to the Church for the World", encouraging the church to journey further outward as part of its mission.

"Lament[ing] the stark joylessness that marks our present time" and what they called the widening fissures that are dividing society, the bishops said that it was time to "follow Jesus into our fractured neighborhoods, the nation and the world."

"Let prophets tell the truth in love. Let reconcilers move boldly into places of division and disagreement. Let evangelists inspire us to tell the story of Jesus in new and compelling ways. Let leaders lead with courage and joy," the bishops said.

"Well, let's see how that works," said a former TEC bishop. "With TEC's history of the lack of follow through that should work about as well as The Decade of Evangelism and TREC (a plan to reimagine the church) in the U.S. But it looks good on paper and these purple-shirts can go home and say, 'We're doing something significant!'"

This is a church in free fall, with half of all parishes without a priest, and they talk about going out into the community...most of the people are too indifferent to go out into the world or through a bad neighborhood with any kind of message except to lock their car doors.

Apparently, Detroit didn't sit well with all the HOB. Between 50-60 of the nearly 185 bishops, spouses/partners and staff members present fell ill with a stomach ailment, according to ENS. The city of Detroit's health department on Sept. 20, asked the meeting's participants to fill out a three-page form about their symptoms and what they ate on Sept. 15 and 16. No word if any of the water in Flint had floated down to Detroit, but clearly the delicate stomachs of well-heeled bishops had felt the inclusive pain of the marginalized, if only briefly.

The bishops did pass a resolution calling for the presiding bishop to have staff compile a spreadsheet of diocesan financial information for the bishops' spring 2017 meeting to aid them in their ongoing discussions about what the resolution's explanation calls "an appropriate percentage apportionment from each diocese." INTERPRETATION. If churches withhold (mandatory) monies from the national church, it will make a diocese ineligible for church wide grants through the UTO and then lose voting privileges at General Convention and, finally, to add insult to injury, a bishop's voice will not be heard in the HOB and executive committees! Oh dear.

*****

DETROIT: Episcopal Bishops Issue A Word to the Church for the World

September 20, 2016

The House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church has issued the following A Word to the Church for the World.

A Word to the Church for the World

Greetings from Detroit, a city determined to be revived. Greetings also from the city of Flint, where we are reminded that the gift of water has for many of our brothers and sisters become contaminated.

Here we have been exhorted to set our sights beyond ourselves and to minister to the several nations where we serve and the wider world.

We lament the stark joylessness that marks our present time. We decry angry political rhetoric which rages while fissures widen within society along racial, economic, educational, religious, cultural and generational lines. We refuse to look away as poverty, cruelty and war force families to become migrants enduring statelessness and demonization. We renounce the gun violence and drug addiction that steal lives and crush souls while others succumb to fear and cynicism, abandoning any sense of neighborliness.

Yet, in all this, "we do not despair" (2 Cor. 4:8.). We remember that God in Christ entered our earthly neighborhood during a time of political volatility and economic inequality. To this current crisis we bring our faith in Jesus. By God's grace, we choose to see in this moment an urgent opportunity to follow Jesus into our fractured neighborhoods, the nation and the world.

Every member of the church has been "called for a time such as this." (Esther 4:14) Let prophets tell the truth in love. Let reconcilers move boldly into places of division and disagreement. Let evangelists inspire us to tell the story of Jesus in new and compelling ways. Let leaders lead with courage and joy.

In the hope of the Resurrection let us all pray for God to work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish God's purposes on earth.

Writing Committee

Bishop Tom Breidenthal of Southern Ohio
Bishop Mariann Budde of Washington
Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce of Los Angeles
Bishop Victor Scantlebury of Ecuador Central
Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves of El Camino Real
Bishop Alan Gates of Massachusetts
Bishop Wendell Gibbs Jr. of Michigan
Dr. Scott Bader-Saye
Bishop Prince Singh of Rochester
Bishop Robert Wright of Atlanta
Bishop Rob Hirschfield of New Hampshire