If you have the time I highly recommend watching this as it captures well the tone set before the voting–KSH.

Before I conclude these remarks I must inform you of one further development that has happened this week. One of the tasks of leadership is to make available as best as one is able not only the opportunities but also the challenges, and with both, the risks involved. I have spoken of many of the opportunities we have seized in just the last six months. I turn now to a real challenge and a grievous risk. On Tuesday evening of this week as Allison and I were driving home from Sewanee I received a phone call from a fellow bishop. He said that he and five other bishops had received an email earlier that evening from the Presiding Bishop. She was encouraging each of them to speak with me as “the apparent focus of this diocesan gathering does not bode well for [Mark’s] status as a bishop who has sworn to uphold the doctrine, discipline, and worship of this Church.” Perhaps she has forgotten it has not boded well for my status as a bishop since the first election. But frankly for me it has never been about my status”” since that September morning in 2006 when Bishop Salmon called while I sat in a Board of Examining Chaplains meeting in Fresno, California to tell me I had been elected as the XIV Bishop of South Carolina it has been unswervingly about this diocese. It remains that to this day.

Well upon hearing of her email to these bishops I wrote directly to the Presiding Bishop on Wednesday morning addressing many of my concerns and reminding her of the concerns of this Convention; that she had been informed by certified mail of the resolution which expressed our expectation that she remove the attorney unconstitutionally retained within this diocese. I then wrote that after six months we had still not heard from her. While her email in response failed once again to address this concern, she did write of her fear about the havoc that she believes is likely to ensue if I keep on my present course. What she fails to address or I suppose to understand is the havoc that is likely to ensue if we depart from our present course. Thus while there is no absence of opportunities that come to us they come replete with a church filled with challenges. Several of those bishops who received the email have called me or sent me emails since that email was sent to them. More than a few of them said, “Mark, we need your voice in the house of bishops. We need the voice of South Carolina.” I said, “This is my voice. You need to understand. This is my voice.” So the question is, “Is there a place for a vigorously stated minority opinion in this church?” I believe it is also the voice of many of the people here in this Diocese of South Carolina. If you want our voice, then we’re giving it to you.

Thus, the opportunities come in a church filled with challenge. There is no risk free way forward for us. I leave you this morning with words of a preacher from another era, who wrote: “”¦if it be a man’s ambition to avoid the troubles of life the recipe is perfectly simple. Let him shed his ambitions in every direction, let him cut the wings of every soaring purpose, and let him assiduously cultivate a little life, with the fewest correspondences and relationships. By this means, a whole continent of afflictions will be escaped and remain unknown.” (J. H. Jowett)

And I might dare to add one final thought to this preacher’s words, that along with a whole continent of afflictions that will be escaped and remain unknown there will be an entire universe of opportunities that will be lost and will go unfulfilled. You must weigh, my brothers and sisters, you must weigh these opportunities and challenges along with their risks. You must weigh them on the scale of your heart.

It is indeed a great time to be alive. But it is also a time that tries men’s souls.

But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Read it all.

We are voting currently on resolution R-10. So far, all the resolutions have passed (with canonical changes on a vote by orders)–KSH.

Read it all.

Read it all.

He will serve as Visiting Bishop for Global Anglican Relations.

As its convention opens today, the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh is calm, planning for growth and launching the search for a permanent bishop.

“One of the things we are happy about is that it’s just a normal convention,” said Provisional Bishop Kenneth Price, who has been helping the diocese heal from a 2008 split in which the previous bishop and majority of parishes broke from the Episcopal Church over theological issues.

“I’ve been impressed with the way the people of the diocese have come together. The congregations at this point are intent on building up their churches, not on fighting,” he said.

Read it all.

We just finished the eucharist which included a marvelous sermon by Bishop FitzSimons Allison on the gospel and encouragement.

It is a very important week for the Bishop and the diocese; we appreciate your prayers.

You can read the proposed resolutions here.

There are three that I see:

Resolution Supporting Equal Opportunity for All Baptised Christians in Employment of Lay and Clergy Staff.

Resolution Supporting Listening and Dialog on Blessing of Same Sex Marriages in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts.

Resolution Supporting Listening and Dialog on Matters Pertaining to Radical Inclusion of All Persons in the Life of Mission Focused Congregations in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts.

You can find more information on the convention here (on page 4).

“We wish to call to your attention the recent actions … which we believe are accelerating the process of alienation and disassociation of the Diocese of South Carolina from the Episcopal Church,” the [Episcopal] Forum [of South Carolina] wrote in a letter to the Executive Council and House of Bishops.

Diocese officials say the resolutions, if approved, would assert the authority of Scripture and be a step toward realizing a vision of “Making Biblical Anglicans for a Global Age.”

Bishop Mark Lawrence said the Forum was resorting to fear tactics.

“With this latest attack, the Episcopal Forum continues its weary institutional approach to God, as if you can keep people in a church by fear.” Lawrence said. “What we are seeking to do in the Diocese of South Carolina is to hold fast to the best of our Episcopal heritage while sharing Christ’s transforming freedom to the needs of people today.”

Read it all.

The Rev. Daniel H. Martins was chosen as the 11th bishop-elect of the Springfield Episcopal Diocese after the third ballot Saturday.

Martins received 38 clergy and 42 laity ballots in the third round of voting, needing 25 and 38 in each respective category to be bishop-elect. However, the process is far from finalized.

“There is a process, which is in our constitution and canon, that he now goes through the consent process,” said the Rev. Christopher Ashmore, rector of Trinity Church in Jacksonville.

Read it all.

Read it all.

Read it all.

Delegates to the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia’s annual convention voted this week to allow the church to bless same-gender relationships.

The resolution was submitted by the Rev. Ann Lovejoy Johnson, associate rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Charleston. It “urges our Bishop to honor same-gender relationships by supporting public rites for the blessing of same-gender relationships in congregations where such blessings are supported and so desired.”

The final decision rests with the diocese’s bishop, the Rt. Rev. W. Michie Klusmeyer, who responded with a prepared statement when contacted by the Gazette on Tuesday.

“Thank you for your interest, but I wonder where your interest was when wonderful things have happened in the past in the Episcopal Church? And try as you like to make us one, we are not a one issue church,” he said in the statement. He would not comment further, and calls to St. John’s were not returned Tuesday afternoon.

Read it all.

Read them all.

The Anglican Communion: As many of you know, there is this thing running around the Anglican Communion called the “Anglican Covenant.” It was a product (at least its concept) from the Windsor Group convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, several years ago. At Lambeth Conference it was discussed, and while I have to admit that we were told that no decisions were going to be made at Lambeth, it does appear that a decision was made that a Covenant would be presented to be adopted by all of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion.

We have people from the Episcopal Church who have been working on this group (among others) to help write a Covenant. Quite honestly, they seem to be rather supportive of such a document. As I stated last year and previously, I support the concept of a Covenant. It is what it is ”“ a Covenant, not a legal Contract. It is a way of living together, and in the larger scheme of God’s Salvific Creation, the Anglican Communion is still relatively young and is suffering from growing pains. Something that helps us is probably not a bad thing. Those who worked on it have suggested that it is broad enough, with enough “mays,” “ifs,” “possiblies” and the like, that there is much latitude for the Episcopal Church, and other Provinces to continue to move forward where the Holy Spirit appears to be leading, but at the same time, an opportunity to remind everyone that we are in relationship.

Read it all.

At the Clergy Conference held at St. Paul’s, Summerville, on September 2, Mr. Alan Runyan, legal counsel for the Diocese, presented a report detailing revisions to the Title IV Canons of the Episcopal Church, which were approved at the 2009 General Convention. These Canons deal directly with issues of clergy discipline, both for priests and bishops. The impact of these changes is profound. It is our assessment that these changes contradict the Constitution of The Episcopal Church and make unacceptable changes in our polity, elevating the role of bishops, particularly the Presiding Bishop, and removing the duly elected Standing Committee of a Diocese from its current role in most of the disciplinary process. The changes also result in the removal of much of the due process and legal safeguards for accused clergy that are provided under the current Canons. For a detailed explanation of these concerns, members of the diocese are encouraged to review the paper co-authored by Mr. Runyan and found on the Anglican Communion Institute (ACI) website.

In response, the Standing Committee is offering five resolutions to address the concerns we have with these changes. View the resolutions. Each represents an essential element of how we protect the diocese from any attempt at un-Constitutional intrusions into our corporate life in South Carolina. In the coming weeks these resolutions, along with an explanation of the Title IV changes, will be discussed in the Deanery Convocations for delegates, as we prepare for Convention to reconvene on October 15th. By these resolutions, we will continue to stand for the Gospel in South Carolina and pursue our vision of “Making Biblical Anglicans for a Global Age.”

Please follow both links and read all the material carefully–KSH.

[Dan] Martins, in particular, may have difficulty getting consent if he sticks with his conservative views on same-sex unions and [partnered] gay clergy.

All three candidates were pressed on those issues and others, such as women’s ordination, at three question-and-answer sessions last week in Mount Vernon, Decatur and Alton.

But [Christopher “Kip”] Ashmore said he doesn’t think any of the candidates ”” though they follow different movements within the broader Anglican community ”” poses a threat to leading the diocese out of the Episcopal Church.

“All three are committed in their allegiance to the Episcopal Church,” he said.

Read it all.

Check it out, noting the diocesan profile and the survey.

Read it all.

An Amherst rector and three other Episcopal priests from out of state have been nominated to become the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Buffalo, diocesan officials announced Monday.

The Rev. Canon Barbara J. Price, rector of St. Peter’s Church on Longmeadow Road in Amherst since 2000, is among the nominees to succeed Bishop J. Michael Garrison, who is set to retire in 2011.

The other nominees are: the Rev. Michael N. Ambler Jr., rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Bath, Maine; the Rev. Canon Michael A. Bamberger, rector of Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Sierra Madre, Calif.; and the Rev. R. William Franklin, senior associate priest at St. Mark’s Church in Philadelphia.

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After nearly nine hours and eight rounds of casting ballots Saturday, a nominating synod charged with choosing four finalists for bishop of the Springfield Episcopal Diocese could decide on only three.

In the next round of voting in November, the bishop will be chosen from among the Rev. Matthew Gunter, 52, rector, St. Barnabas Church, Glen Ellyn; the Rev. Canon E. Mark Stevenson, 45, Canon to the Ordinary, Diocese of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, La.; and the Rev. Daniel Martins, 58, rector, St. Anne’s, Warsaw, Ind.

Clergy and lay delegates numbering 130 from around the diocese gathered at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 815 S. Second St., to pare down the 14 nominees for bishop.

Read it all and you can find more material via the diocese here (make sure to follow the link to the ballot results).

Update: You may also find a lengthy communication from the Standing Committee about the process here.

[Springfield Bishop Peter] Beckwith, disappointed by [Katharine] Jefferts Schori’s election, threatened to seek alternative oversight for the Springfield Diocese ”” possibly from a bishop in Africa, as other dioceses had done ”” rather than submit to her authority. He wrote in a pastoral letter that the Episcopal Church was “in meltdown,” and called the moment “the lowest ebb of our beloved but beleaguered Church since perhaps the Civil War if not the American Revolution.”

At the same time, some liberals in the diocese complained about Beckwith’s pastoral leadership and threatened to defect themselves from his authority to a more friendly bishop in another diocese.

In the end, no one in Springfield decamped for foreign shores, but in 2008, some conservatives in other parts of the country left the Episcopal Church and founded their own province, called the Anglican Church in North America.

“Not only our diocese but the whole Episcopal Church has been rocky and unsettling,” Holder said. “The diocese needs someone who can be a reconciler and a healer; someone who will be open to hearing the views of all people.”

Chuck Evans, moderator of the 50-member Concerned Laity of the Springfield Diocese, said the church in Springfield “is pretty fractured at this point.”

Read it all.

Received via email–KSH

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Much has happened these last two weeks in and around the Diocese. The 142nd Diocesan Convention (June 11-13th) went very well. Approximately 900 clergy, lay deputies, visitors and youth attended the Convention. We began Friday evening with Evensong, led by Dean Vang, followed by the Bishop’s Address and the Opening Business Session. A copy of the Bishop’s Address will be posted on the Diocesan Website. Very appreciative of all that so many people have done throughout the Diocese, I spent a great deal of time (as those who attended can attest) recognizing people and offering special thanks for their efforts and many contributions. While I firmly believe it is important to recognize and thank people for a job well done, it is hard to identify everyone in a timely manner in the context of the Bishop’s Address. As recommended by many of you in your evaluations, at next year’s Diocesan Convention the much deserved recognition and thank you’s will be offered in various ways other than during the Bishop’s Address.

Each of the five resolutions presented were approved overwhelmingly:

R1 – Trinity Church, Rensselaerville was assigned to the Metropolitan Deanery;

R2 – Endorsement of the Anglican Communion Covenant;

R3 – The diocesan recommended standard clergy stipend schedule was increased by 2.5% along with a $5 recommended increase to the standard supply clergy compensation amount;

R4 – Approval of the 2011 Diocesan Budget of $1,657,546;

R5 – Approval of the Reduced Standard Assessment Formula for Parish Assessments for 2011

The resolution most heavily debated was Resolution #2 which stated: “RESOLVED, that the Episcopal Diocese of Albany endorses the Anglican Communion Covenant (final text, approved for distribution December 18, 2009) and recommends its adoption by all the Provinces of the Anglican Communion.”

The resolution passed by a 4 to 1 margin: 314 (yes) to 76 (no). Each canonically resident clergy present and lay deputy was allowed to vote. As I have stated on earlier occasions, by endorsing the Anglican Communion Covenant, The Diocese of Albany is sending a strong message and signal to the rest of The Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion that we greatly value our Anglican heritage and relationships throughout the world, and that we intend by the grace of God to honor that which is asked of us in the Anglican Communion Covenant, worshipping and serving our Lord Jesus Christ, sharing the Gospel in cooperation and close relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Communion Covenant does not ask us (the Diocese of Albany) to do anything that we are not already doing, nor does it ask the Diocese of Albany to be anything other than who we are.

In other Convention related news, the following individuals were elected to their respective offices:

Deputies to General Convention (4 Priests / 4 Laity): The Very Rev. David Collum, The Rev. Scott Garno, The Rev. Canon Robert Haskell, The Very Rev. John Scott III, Richard Carroll, Deborah Fish, Sue Ellen Ruetsch, Elizabeth Strickland

Ecclesiastical Trial Court: The Rev. Laurie Garramone-Rohr, Sue Armstrong and Lawrence Norville. The Rev. Mark Michael is the clergy Alternate.

The Standing Committee: The Rev. Lynne Curtis, The Rev. Derik Roy, Jennifer Dean and Ray Rockwell.

I am very appreciative to everyone who allowed their names to be nominated and congratulate those who were elected. May the Lord bless you and the Diocese in your ministry.

In addition to the above elections, the Convention approved my nomination of The Very Rev. David Collum and the Very Rev. Christopher Brown as Archdeacons, assisting me in better ministering to the people of the Diocese of Albany and the wider community, particularly in the metropolitan area and the North Country.

The rest of the Convention Weekend was filled with a variety of wonderful workshops (approx. 67), Spirit-filled worship, fellowship, food, entertainment, Vacation Bible School and the Youth Rally. I am very appreciative to every one who attended and helped make this year’s Diocesan Convention such a success. I am also very appreciative to our guest speakers: Archbishop Drexel Gomez (Retired Archbishop and Primate of the West Indies), and the Rev. Michael Chapman (Bishop Suffragan-Elect of Peru). We were very blessed by their presence and the message the Lord gave them to share.

No sooner had the 142nd Diocesan Convention come to an end, then we began planning for next year’s 143rd Diocesan Convention. I want to thank those of you who filled out the evaluation forms from Convention. Your thoughts and recommendations are greatly appreciated and help us as we continue to try to make the Diocesan Convention the best that it can be.

On Saturday, June 19th, The Venerable David Collum was installed as the 20th Dean of the Cathedral of All Saints. The Service was well attended with members from the Cathedral and the wider diocese. Incorporating much of the installation service designed by Bishop Doane (1st Bishop of Albany), the service was very moving and quite beautiful, (despite a few occasions when I could not get my eyes and mouth to cooperate with the page in front of me). I am very excited for Dean Collum and the Cathedral of All Saints as they begin their new ministry together worshipping and serving God, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and ministering to the people in the metropolitan area as well as throughout the Diocese.

This past Monday, June 21st, I traveled to Philadelphia to ordain the Rev. Kyle Tomlin to the priesthood. Fr. Tomlin was sponsored by the Diocese of Albany for ordination and has been called as rector of St. Alban’s, Philadelphia. May the Lord bless him in his new ministry.

In between everything else going on, we have had a number of confirmation services and parish visitations the past two weeks to include: St. Stephen’s, Delmar; Christ Church, Duanesburg; St. Hubert’s, Lake Pleasant, each of which was very enjoyable and a blessing to be a part of.

Today, I am off to Troy to attend the final team meeting and planning session for the upcoming mission trip to Peru (July 19-31). Later this evening I will be heading up to the North Country in preparation for parish visitations and confirmations tomorrow at Grace Church, Canton and St. Philip’s, Norwood.

I pray that the Lord blesses each of you richly this week in your worship together and as you go forth boldly into the world in His name.

Faithfully Yours in Christ,

–(The Rt. Rev.) Bill Love is Bishop of Albany

You may find them here beginning on page 15.

After they elected their next bishop Saturday morning, Episcopalians in the Diocese of Kentucky had a short delay in contacting him with the good news.

That was because the Rev. Terry Allen White was busy at the cathedral that he pastors in Kansas City, Mo., serving as master of ceremonies for a ceremony of ordinations of new clergy.

“He’s having a very rich day,” Bishop Ted Gulick, who is retiring later this year, said after delegates elected White on the second ballot from among four nominees.

Read the whole article.

The Rev. Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool, a priest of the Diocese of Maryland and a partnered gay woman, was elected to serve as a bishop suffragan in the Diocese of Los Angeles in December 2009. The consent process, a 120-day period, requires the receipt of consents from majorities of the Standing Committees throughout the Episcopal Church and from the Church’s bishops with jurisdiction. On March 17, just before the opening of the House of Bishops meeting at Camp Allen, Texas, the presiding bishop’s office announced that Canon Glasspool had received the number of consents required to proceed with her ordination and consecration as a bishop.

Along with several other bishops, I had been delaying my vote until the House of Bishops meeting so that we might confer with one another as to the implications of this episcopal election. As consent is a responsibility upon all diocesan bishops, I then sent in my ballot even though the process had already been decided. Understandably, the diocesan offices have received numerous inquiries as to how I voted. I write this to announce my decision for this particular process and to say something about what this means (and doesn’t mean) for my leadership in the Diocese of Virginia.

Bishop-elect Glasspool’s election has been both a source of celebration and of alarm for many in our diocese, just as in the Episcopal Church and our wider Anglican Communion. In my judgment, both “sides” make compelling arguments and have quite legitimate concerns. Personally, I am more torn by this decision than by any other decision I’ve yet faced, whether as priest or bishop. After deep prayer and thought, I voted to decline consent to the ordination of Bishop-elect Glasspool. This is not to reflect on Bishop-elect Glasspool herself (who, by all accounts, is indeed highly qualified and well suited for the ministry of bishop) but rather is about the circumstances of this case.

Read it all.