The Rt. Rev. Robert Moody points to various pictures adorning the hallways and rooms of the Episcopal Conference Center with a voice registering pride and a certain wistfulness.
The items serve to highlight the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma and Moody’s career as its bishop: A charming handmade map of the state showing a smattering of Episcopal churches ”” some still viable and others no longer in existence. A picture of a smiling Moody posing with priests during one of the diocesan conventions. A photograph of Moody with other colorfully robed bishops, taken at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, one of the periodic assemblies of bishops of the Anglican Communion.
Surrounded by the pictures and memorabilia, Moody is preparing to retire after 20 years as bishop. Elected by a majority of Episcopal clergy and laity on the first ballot in 1988, Moody came to Oklahoma with his wife, Lance, from Virginia, where he had been rector of Grace Church in Alexandria.
Moody spoke recently to The Oklahoman about retirement, the challenges and rewards of being Oklahoma’s Episcopal bishop and his thoughts about the future of the diocese.
[blockquote]A charming handmade map of the state showing a smattering of Episcopal churches — some still viable and others no longer in existence.
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“When I became bishop in 1988-89, we numbered close to 20,000 people and []now we’re at about 17,500.”
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When Bishop Cox turned over the leadership to Moody, it was a growing, thriving denomination.
Bishop Cox was never the diocesan. He was an assisting under +McAllister.
Thank you for the clarification — I guess when I lived in Tulsa, he was the only Bishop I ever saw. I know he took a lot of interest in the little fledgling mission church we attended, the Church of the Holy Spirit.