Congratulations, Greg!

Dear Diocesan Family,

 

First, a hearty Thank You to everyone who participated in any way in the process leading up to last week’s election.  To the candidates themselves, who really had a work-out keeping up with all of the inquiries on the “Ask the Candidates” page of the Election Web Site, and who conducted themselves so very wonderfully.  To the Standing Committee, who did a superb job in overseeing and directing the entire process.  To all who worked on the various subcommittees.  And to those who even now are working very hard to make the transition a smooth one.

 

About a week before the election I commented that I had met one-on-one with each of the candidates, and I would enthusiastically serve under whichever of them was elected.  I think they were an outstanding slate!

 

But only one could be elected!  And so, my personal congratulations, and I know those of the entire Diocese, go to the Rev. Canon Gregory Orrin Brewer.  Greg and I were friends before I was elected Bishop back in 1988, and he had sent a team of folks from the Church of the New Covenant, where he was rector, to visit my parish in Virginia, to compare notes on how to do “Home Groups.”  

 

When I became Diocesan I began a “Prayer and Praise” worship service in the Great Hall of the Cathedral on Friday nights, and much of the time Greg was the principal accompanist for our worship music.

 

When he was rector of the Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, Pennsylvania he had me up for a teaching weekend, so there are layers and layers to our personal relationship, and I will be delighted to “pass the crosier” to him on March 24.  As I said in a letter to some of our people, he is rock solid theologically, he is wise, and he is deeply gifted by the Holy Spirit.  It will be wonderful to have him and Laura Lee back in Central Florida.

 

But what of the other six candidates?   I know from having stood for election three times previously to being elected here that being involved in this process is really quite overwhelming.  Even if one is not entirely certain he or she really wants to be elected there is a huge spiritual and psychological investment in being nominated, and an inevitable mixture of feelings if one is not.  I met with each of the other candidates after Convention, and I said three things to them:  1) By standing for election they have served this Diocese and the wider Church, and they have grown themselves from being in the process.  2) Very few people are elected the first time they stand for this kind of an election.  There may well be other opportunities for some of the candidates elsewhere, and having been in the Central Florida process will have helped prepare them for those other opportunities.  3) I truly believe they need to see the results of this election as a ringing reaffirmation that they are exactly where each of them needs to be for right now.

 

The process we developed here was unprecedented: the “virtual walkabout” and the “Ask the Candidates” web page allowed us to get to know the nominees and their positions better than is ever possible in the more traditional search process.  And, as we had hoped, the expenses involved were much less than those of a traditional approach.

 

When we recommend this process to other dioceses we will urge them to manage the “Ask the Candidates” dimension a good deal more vigorously than we did.  I think it ended up being very demanding on the candidates.  But I think that even that will stand them in good stead for the future.  It is very helpful to have to address the range of questions that they dealt with.

 

So, I believe it is with great joy and hope that we move forward.  A majority of the Bishops with jurisdiction and the Standing Committees of the dioceses need to consent to this election over the 120 days following the election.  And the Consecration is tentatively scheduled for the week following the closing of that 120 day window: March 24, 2012.

 

Lots of people have asked me what I will be doing after the Consecration, and the answer is: that depends in very large part on what Bishop-elect Greg Brewer wants!  We will be discussing that in detail next month.

 

I am writing this two days before Thanksgiving, and I believe with all my heart that this year the Episcopalians in Central Florida have much to be Thankful for!

 

My love to you in our Lord,