Offer this prayer, I bid you, but also join with me in praying for the nominees by name, every day. Pray for Whitney, José, Stephanie, Elaine, and Kristin. I have prayed for them every day since learning their names. We exhausted them through the arduous but necessary schedule of their week with us, toting them from place to place to present themselves to us in person and via YouTube. We have already asked a lot of them, and the four not elected will have served God’s purpose in bringing a measure clarity to our diocese’s sense of the sort of bishop whom we need. Pray for them all.
I have noticed something over the years of engaging in many venues of discernment, which happen whenever God meddles in human life. God meddles most of the time, truth be told, but we become acutely alert whenever ordained, or any other ministry, ministry is at stake; whenever a parish seeks a new rector; or when a diocese elects a bishop. What I have noticed is that every person under scrutiny brings clarity otherwise unspoken, through their words and by their very presence. Which is to say that the four ultimately not chosen among our nominees did not waste our time, or theirs. Nothing is wasted in God’s economy of grace. By God’s grace we will have learned something through the faithful availability that discernment requires from all the nominees. They too may benefit from clarity available only through such a process of being with us. We will learn something valuable, and so will they. Disappointment may abound, both for nominees and electors, a sometimes-hard reality. A friend of mine says about discernment that for every No there is a Yes; for every Yes there is a No. Puzzle upon that saying of his; I think that he is onto something.
Wherever two or three gather together, there will be politics among them, a hard fact of reality. Jesus says that whenever two or three gather together in his name, he will be there also, a saving truth of grace. When a Diocesan Convention meets to elect a bishop, this fact and this grace crash together. From my experience in electing bishops (and having been elected), I have learned the value of leaning into the second part of this equation, the side of God’s grace.
So, dear friends, I leave you with this: Say your prayers. Breathe, and clear your mind. Trust in the nascent wisdom of God’s people gathered. Trust the electing convention. Trust the Spirit. Pray for generosity of heart. Trust in God. Do not be afraid.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:4-7 NRSVue)
