In a colorful and joyous service, the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri today is consecrating and installing the Very Rev. Martin S. Field as its eighth bishop…
Field was rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Flint, Mich., from June 2003 to January 2011. An Ohio native, he served churches in Tennessee, Hawaii, Maryland and Ohio and was a chaplain in the United States Navy.
He succeeds the Rt. Rev. Barry Howe, who had led the diocese since 1998.
“An ordination service typically is one of the happiest occasions in the life of a diocese, and bishop-elect Field’s ordination is sure to be a colorful and joyous event,” said the Rev. Samuel A. Mason of Trinity Episcopal Church in Independence, chairman of the ordination committee.
I can readily understand that Bishop Field is excited to be in West Missouri and no longer in Eastern Michigan which had such a terrible experience during 2002 through 2009, that I ranked it at 93 of 95 dioceses considered. During this time period St. Paul in Flint lost 42 percent of Members, lost 45 percent of ASA and lost 33 percent of Plate & Pledge (inflation adjusted). West Missouri had a less harsh experience and I ranked it at 45 of 95 dioceses considered. As for Money, it had 15 of its 50 churches with Plate & Pledge of more than $150K in 2009. Its longer tem stats are not as promising with Marriages declining by 27 percent and Infant Baptisms by 41 percent. Statmann