 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri Friday, February 11 A Process – or Two, and two ways of living: Jeremiah and the Psalm for Sunday The Process towards Ordination As you know, Ryan Williams is in the process towards priestly ordination in the Episcopal Church. This weekend the Commission on Ministry is meeting with Bishop Diane to consider how he and others will move forward – and what the timeline will look like. Pray for him – and for all of them. The Process for electing a New Bishop You are aware that Father Jos Tharakan is in the process, along with two other men, for the bishop of Idaho. The candidates sent information to Idaho in early September. Since then they have had in-person and online meetings with various committees, individuals and groups. From the larger group, three were chosen to continue to the actual election which will take place at a special convention next Saturday, February 19. This week they have been meeting online with members of the four deaneries. This has been a fascinating process. I urge you to go onto the Facebook page for the Episcopal Diocese of Idaho and watch the gathering for last night. You’ll see the kind of questions they have to answer, the concerns Episcopalians in Idaho have, and what it means to reflect on the role of a bishop. I suggest this because in a couple of years our own diocese will be going through a similar process as we search for a bishop. The process isn’t easy on anybody. The three candidates are all decent fellows. But the election does matter. A bishop absolutely sets the tone for the diocese – and however collegial, also determines a great deal about the direction the diocese takes during his or her tenure. I have no idea who they will choose. But I do know this. If they elect Jos they will have not only a leader – but a servant!  Jeremiah 17:5-8 Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending its roots out by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit..  Psalm 1 Happy are they who have not walked in the council of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful. Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on his law day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall prosper. It is not so with the wicked; they are like chaff which the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes, nor the sinner in the council of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is doomed. |
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