One minute, he’s a parish priest.
But as a dozen bishops placed their hands on the shoulders of a kneeling John Smylie, he became the new head of the Episcopal Church in Wyoming.
The national church’s presiding bishop, the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, conducted the two-hour consecration service attended by several hundred members of the Wyoming diocese at the Casper Events Center on Saturday.
“Therefore, Father, make John a bishop in your church,” Jefferts Schori prayed during the laying-on of hands. “Pour out upon him the power of your princely spirit, whom you bestowed upon your beloved son Jesus Christ, with whom he endowed the apostles, and by whom your church is built up in every place, to the glory and unceasing praise of your name.”
“But they lost paradise when they sinned, so God sent Jesus to show people how to live”, Curry said.
“In baptism, Jesus made us family,â€
??
So if I live like Jesus , then “it is finished”?
or is it when I get Baptized His work is complete
Wyoming came through the 2002 to 2008 years with Members down 15 percent, ASA down 14 percent, and Plate & Pledge (adjusted for inflation) down less than one percent. I ranked this record at 37 out of 95 considered. St. Mark in Casper did not do nearly as well with Members falling from 1100 tto 600, ASA falling from 220 to 170, and Plate & Pledge falling from $280K to $240K. The diocese does not look well positioned for the future. For Aging, there were 108 Infant Baptisms and 158 Burials in 2008. For church size, in 2008, 37 of its 45 churches had ASA of 70 or less with 19 of the 37 having ASA of 20 or less. And for Money, in 2008, 40 of its 45 churches had Plate & Pledge of less than $150K which means that each “rich” church had 8 “poor” churches to help support. Bishop Smylie has a bumpy road ahead. Statmann
How galling it must be to her to call God ‘Father’.