Bishop of Oregon: Search Update

This is an email sent to and received by members of the Diocese of Oregon as an attempt--and a great one at that--to provide all of us in the diocese with a kind of progress report on the search for a duly elected Bishop of Oregon to take office in 2010. I share with you now that update email below...

Bishop Search Update

The Rev. Sara Fischer and the Rev. David Sweeney, Bishop Search Communications Sub-Committee

The February 27 meeting of the Bishop Search Committee began as many good gatherings begin: we shared stories with one another. Our task was to tell the group something about ourselves that group members might find surprising, and to talk about how that something informed our understanding of ministry. One person told of having been a drummer in a rock band. Another shared her experience growing up on a farm. Someone else had summered as a deck hand on a fishing trawler. Another talked about her pet snake. This sharing experience affirmed for each of us that the Bishop Search Committee is indeed representative of our diocese as a whole—a group of committed people with abundant talent, good humor, and love of our Church.

We met to review and approve each aspect of the search process: brochure, timeline (see below), application process, interview format, screening, communication, and education. We are excited about each stage of the process.

A tangible sign that the search process is truly under way will be the publication, later this month, of a brochure which is a succinct version of our diocesan profile. This brochure, detailing who we are, what we strive to do, and what kind of bishop we seek to lead us, will be mailed to every parish in the diocese, every bishop and diocesan deployment officer in the Episcopal Church, and anyone else who might come in contact with those who might be called as Bishop of Oregon. Everyone is encouraged to share this information with their neighbors and friends, and an electronic version of the brochure will be placed on our diocesan web site.

Shortly after the publication and dissemination of this brochure, a longer version of a diocesan profile will be available on a web page devoted to our search process. This longer profile will be directed toward those with an interest in detailed information about our diocese and about Oregon.

So what will happen to all those who read the brochure, the website, and express interest in being part of our journey? The screening sub-committee is still at work polishing the details of the screening process itself, to reflect the concerns and criteria offered in our Appreciative Inquiry sessions during the 2008 diocesan convention, the fall clergy conference, and the January retreat with the Transition and Standing Committees.

Once the initial screening process has been completed, the Search Committee will institute a background check for those still under consideration, and, if necessary, some may be interviewed by phone. By June, the Search Committee will identify eight semi-finalists for face-to-face visits.

An exciting by-product of the search process is the development of educational materials to be available for all parishes. Planning your fall education program? Seeking a new bishop is a great time to teach Episcopalians of all ages about how our church is organized and led. If you are interested in educational materials, contact The Rev. Deacon Nancy Crawford at nancyrcrawford@comcast.net or 541-343-9253. For the latest news about the search process, see www.diocese-oregon.org.

The Search Process at a Glance

March 25 Brochure distributed and placed on the web site, along with a in-depth profile of our diocese.

April 1-May 15 Application Period Open

June Visits with semi-finalists

July 24 Visits completed to semi-finalists

July 31 Final slate of four finalists forwarded to Standing Committee

August 31 Standing Committee announces final slate of four nominees

September Detailed biographical and other information available in diocesan newspaper and on web site.

October Walkabouts

November 19-21 Diocesan Convention and Election of the 10^th Bishop of Oregon

February–March Transition

April 10, 2010 Consecration and Installation of the 10^th Bishop of Oregon

Janice Lusk

Receptionist, Administrative Assistant & Events Registrar

Episcopal Diocese of Oregon

11800 SW Military Ln.

Portland, OR 97219

503-636-5613

Fax: 503-636-5616

janicel@diocese-oregon.org

www.diocese-oregon.org

Episcopal election methods due for revision: An ENS Report

A change that will impact the whole of the Episcopal Church is under study. The project knowns as the Episcopal Elections and Transitions Project is currently surveying nominees and search participants as part of the study group's latest efforts.

Mary Frances Schjonberg reports for the Episcopal News Service the following:

The way in which the Episcopal Church elects its bishops could change as the result of a survey being conducted now by the Episcopal Elections and Transitions Project.

The project, sponsored by the Episcopal Church's College for Bishops, the Presiding Bishop's Office of Pastoral Development and the CREDO Institute, is attempting "to obtain insights into the existing best practices of episcopal elections and to identify possible new directions for the best-practice models of the future," according to a news release.

The Episcopal Church has revised its recommended method for the election of bishops approximately every ten years. That method takes the form of a manual of best practices to follow during the course of a search and election process which the Presiding Bishop's Office for Pastoral Development offers dioceses. (General Convention is responsible for making constitutional and canonical changes governing election of bishops.)

Bishop Clay Matthews, who heads the Office of Pastoral Development in New York, told ENS December 5 that he or his designee meets with a diocesan standing committee prior to the public announcement of a call for an episcopal election to guide them through the manual and help the diocese create the process and its timetable. His office also offers a search consultant to work with the diocese as the process unfolds.

Read the rest of the article here.

Reef Dwelling, Decisions, Five Minutes of Prayer

I subscribe to the feed of Choralgirl who writes the blog "Choral Reef: music under the surface". Now, Choralgirl is a musician and choir director at her church. She writes a splendid blog and I read each feed as I get it. Well, that is what you are supposed to do when you subscribe to a blog's feed: read. Feed and read...catchy.

Today's feed from the Reef is particularly moving and rang the gong deep in my soul. It only rang once but then that is all it had to do as it resonated in my spirit and nudged me to think more deeply about who I am and what is my purpose in this life. Here's part of what she said:

"I was reading at Search the Sea yesterday, and amid the stark riches there, I found three nuggets that capture the thinking of three very wise guys (thanks, Gannet Girl, for your honesty; peace to you!). They became the basis last night’s choir devotion.

Know yourself.
Socrates

Be yourself.
Cicero

Give yourself.
Jesus

The life of a person of faith demands that we try to live into all those ideas, and each is a pilgrimage of its own.

The first, the way of self-knowledge, is the beginning. It happens in the context of community and in the presence of God. It requires as much honesty as we can bear; in learning to truly know ourselves, we have to get quiet. We have to be strong enough to strip away all that is not real or true, like peeling away a bitter orange rind to get to the sweet fruit underneath. The context of loving community keeps us honest; the presence of God grants perspective; both are a comfort and a continual challenge, pushing us on to the second path: self-actualization.

If we think about that in terms of Maslow’s Hierarchy, it’s about getting our basic needs met so that we can to move on to greater things. I think that’s certainly a piece of the puzzle, but if we are to get to the third path, there needs to be one more element included. We become fully ourselves in large part by striving and failing and learning and striving again. It makes me think of one more chunk of wisdom from Wise Guy #4:

It's not that easy, being green.
Kermit the Frog

New growth is tender and vulnerable and fresh. It takes courage to keep on becoming the people we are. But the risk in that process also means brings us to the understanding that we have something to offer…and perhaps also the courage to do so, which is what Jesus asks..."

Go to Choral Reef: music under the surface to feast on the rest of her post. It will be worth the dive and swim.

On October 16th, Barbi Click, another blogger extraordinaire, reflected on the lesson of Micah and how it can and does relate to this election season.

Ok, some of you are going to ask: What has this piece to do with the previous piece on knowing oneself spiritually? Plenty. If you know or are getting to know yourself spiritually, that nugget of wisdom helps you think with clarity, and when we think with clarity, we think more logically and metaphysically at the same time [at least I do...]. So, in my view this clarity leads to a knowing degree of rightness and wrongness. Being able to distinguish one from the other leads us to making decisions. Voting in this election is an important decision with ramifications for this entire country and indeed for the world [yes, we are a superpower and people do, despite rumors to the contrary, watch America].

Now here is some of Barbi's explication of Micah in the context of The Now:

"In a Day of False Prophets [originally written October 9th]

What is a politician but a prophet? He or she stands there before the crowds, shouting out oracles of doom and gloom if the people continue on in their wicked ways but glorifying his/her own natural abilities to lead the people into a shining new future. Each one claims to offer the “right” way. Too often, both are false prophets.

The lectionary’s reading today from Micah 3:1-8 speaks to that very thing. In this particular instance, he is calling the religious leaders of Israel false prophets. Micah calls them to justice and compares them to cannibals, for by the very fact that these leaders live off the hopes and need of the people of Israel, they consume the people as they lead them astray. Their time is coming, Micah says, when the leaders will realize how wrong they are and finally turn to God but it will be too late. The sins that they have committed are those of injustice and greed. Micah has no compassion for those who plunder and pillage that which the Lord has declared Holy.

I love these violent, gory scriptures. It is a heck of a way to get a reader’s attention. Rather than be turned off by the images of skin being torn “off my people, and the flesh off their bones” and those who would “eat the flesh of my people, flay their skin off them, break their bones in pieces, and chop them up like meat in a kettle, like flesh in a cauldron,” I feel a great need to get past the violence and into the message that Micah was attempting to convey. It seems that the more gruesome and violent the image, the bigger the message.

We have to say that Micah was passionate if nothing else. His major concern was justice. He saw these religious leaders, these people who held great influence over the people of Israel and he knew that these same leaders were feeding off of the need of the people. The people were oppressed and the leaders justified it through the “Law”.

We have much the same thing going on today. Sarah Palin makes wild and outrageous insinuations that Barack Obama is a terrorist, enough so that one of the spectators in the crowd yells out, “Kill him!” John McCain asks “Who is the real Barack Obama?” and a member of the audience loudly answers, “A terrorist!” Neither of these candidates shush either person. McCain at least has the grace to grimace. Regardless, both are inciting people to react with mob mentality. Both are feeding off the ignorance, fear and bigotry of their audiences..."

Go to Feathers and Faith, Barbi's blog, to read the rest of her piece on this modern take of the Micah passage.

{My aside: The behavior of the Palin crowd reminded me of the point in the Gospel where the rabble are wanting Barabas spared and are urging Pilate to crucify Him, the Christ. And no, I am not comparing Barack Obama with Jesus, but if the sandal fits...}

Lastly I leave you with this quote...

"Life may be brimming over with experiences, but somewhere, deep inside, all of us carry a vast and fruitful loneliness wherever we go. And sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, or the turning inward in prayer for five short minutes."

- Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life, p.93 -

Fodder for rumination.