So, I'm a guy. It takes me a few days to figure out what on earth I'm feeling.
Last Saturday, June 24th, the Anglican Diocese of Calgary elected its 8th bishop. I, along with seven others, was a candidate in that election; a great honour. In just two ballots, the Venerable Derek Hoskin (God bless him!) of Red Deer, our diocese's senior Archdeacon and Administrator of our diocese since the 7th bishop retired, was elected.
None of we other seven even came close. Derek was chosen and we seven Barsabbas's (see Acts 1:15-17, 21-26) were not.
I want to record some feelings and discoveries I made during the process.
This was a surprisingly difficult thing to do; way more difficult than I expected it to be.
The first difficult thing was deciding to let my name stand, or not. Quite a number of people thought it would be a good idea. If I'm honest I have to admit that on many days part of me would have liked to be a bishop even in these "interesting" times.
It was quite a job to pray it all out. Is God calling me to let my name stand in this election, was the question I had to answer. It required some effort to avoid letting that question be drowned out by others, such as, did I think I was electable or did I think I could do the job.
So I asked some trusted people, some in my parish, some not, some Anglican, some not, to pray asking that question and let me know the results. There were no "no's."
I also looked back in my journals for some prophetic things folk have said. Everything seemed to point to letting my name stand. I could find no reason not to.
The prospect of being elected frightened me, but even that could not, for me, be a reason to refuse. I've come to think that fear is not a good enough reason for not stepping out when it seems that God is calling me into something new.
So I did.
There then ensued an amazing time of emotional disturbance and ups and downs ranging from "Are you out of your mind? Who do you think you are? You've been far too out-spoken on what you stand for" to "This could happen! What an exciting prospect! I just might be able to make a difference."
This was intensified by the candidates "dog and pony show road-trip" when we spoke to delegates and did the dvd thing. A nerve-wracking experience but well done by the search committee and a much better way of preparing the diocese for an election.
The experience certainly cranked up the intensity of my prayer-life. I prayed fervently...not "O please let me be bishop," but "Glorify Your Name!" and "Your will be done" and "Jesus deliver me from the desire of being chosen."
And then came the big day. As I have already written, not even close. Thoughts on that:
All the "yes's," let your name stand obviously had nothing to do with actually becoming the bishop of Calgary. If we weren't all just plain wrong, the Lord must have had some other purpose in mind. No doubt there are many under-used spiritual muscles in me. This experience must have given many of them a weight-bearing work-out.
That it happens in public is hard. Perhaps it was just a lesson in humility.
In the end, I honestly don't see how, with integrity, I could have refused to let my name stand. If there was a "no" somewhere in the discernment process, I missed it.
Yogi Berra once said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it!" I tried.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
Showing posts with label Bishops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bishops. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 June 2006
Thursday, 9 February 2006
The Office of Bishop
As another episcopal election approaches, this would be a good time to reflect theologically on the office of bishop in the church.
Our primary text for reflecting on such a theologically important task must be the Bible. Two passages dealing specifically with the office of “overseer” or “bishop” (from the Greek espiskopos, from which also comes the word “Episcopal”) are 1Timothy 3: 1-7 and Titus 1: 7-9. I’m using The English Standard Version of the Bible.
Paul begins in Timothy by writing “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” Reading that brought on one of those moments when I wonder why I’ve never noticed a particular biblical passage or thought before. Not only is being a bishop a noble task, but Paul’s inference is that to aspire to such an office is not necessarily a bad thing. Paul gives permission to so aspire. There must be such a thing as a good and Godly ambition to be a bishop.
But if that is true, so also must be the opposite. Pray that we may we be delivered from not so good and Godly aspirations as we plan and pray and start our search.
In Titus, Paul also states that a bishop is God’s steward. His job is, therefore, to look after God’s stuff, the Church; to manage it; well, I presume.
Paul goes on then, in both passages, to list attributes for the job. It is interesting that they are more about an aspirer’s personal character and morality than about skills.
First, there are three attributes which appear in both lists (and which are, therefore, most important?). An overseer must be above reproach, self-controlled and hospitable.
In Timothy Paul also states that a bishop must be the husband of one wife (at a time, or ever, I wonder?), sober minded, respectable, gentle and well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil, or “Lest the position go to his head, “as Eugene Peterson translates it in The Message, “and the devil trip him up.” A bishop must also “manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his own children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” How, indeed?
The Titus list adds that a bishop must be a lover of good, upright, holy and disciplined.
Then come the thou-shalt-nots. In both lists, he must neither be a drunkard nor violent. The Timothy list adds: not quarrelsome, a lover of money, or “a recent convert for fear that he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.” The letter to Titus adds that the aspirer not be arrogant, quick-tempered, or greedy for gain.
The only job-related skills mentioned are: in Timothy, that he must be “able to teach;” and in Titus, “hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”
And there we have it; a typically challenging biblical job description; a portrait of what a bishop ought to be like.
Other questions and thoughts occur to me as I read Paul’s lists. For example, I wonder if the use of the male pronoun is merely a cultural way of expression in a particular context, or more?
Did Paul really think the personal character and faithfulness of an aspirer were more important than what he could do and how well he could do it? Were job-skills and academic qualifications in a different list somewhere? But if that were so, why mention teaching and sound doctrine here? To what extent ought we to apply the same criteria in our search?
According to Paul, the noble task is not without its risks. This is frontline work. The devil’s snares and condemnation are a real threat to a bishop’s well-being. Being above reproach, self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined will be vitally important.
How do we find out whether folks who aspire to the noble task of being the Bishop of Calgary show these attributes or not? I’m not sure that a resume or even an interview can be the most trustworthy source for this kind of information. Family members, neighbors, work-mates and parishioners would likely be a better source.
I read somewhere that God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Please use Paul’s list above and pray that our Lord will, indeed, qualify the one who aspires to the noble task in our diocese with all the above, and more.
Our primary text for reflecting on such a theologically important task must be the Bible. Two passages dealing specifically with the office of “overseer” or “bishop” (from the Greek espiskopos, from which also comes the word “Episcopal”) are 1Timothy 3: 1-7 and Titus 1: 7-9. I’m using The English Standard Version of the Bible.
Paul begins in Timothy by writing “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” Reading that brought on one of those moments when I wonder why I’ve never noticed a particular biblical passage or thought before. Not only is being a bishop a noble task, but Paul’s inference is that to aspire to such an office is not necessarily a bad thing. Paul gives permission to so aspire. There must be such a thing as a good and Godly ambition to be a bishop.
But if that is true, so also must be the opposite. Pray that we may we be delivered from not so good and Godly aspirations as we plan and pray and start our search.
In Titus, Paul also states that a bishop is God’s steward. His job is, therefore, to look after God’s stuff, the Church; to manage it; well, I presume.
Paul goes on then, in both passages, to list attributes for the job. It is interesting that they are more about an aspirer’s personal character and morality than about skills.
First, there are three attributes which appear in both lists (and which are, therefore, most important?). An overseer must be above reproach, self-controlled and hospitable.
In Timothy Paul also states that a bishop must be the husband of one wife (at a time, or ever, I wonder?), sober minded, respectable, gentle and well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil, or “Lest the position go to his head, “as Eugene Peterson translates it in The Message, “and the devil trip him up.” A bishop must also “manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his own children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” How, indeed?
The Titus list adds that a bishop must be a lover of good, upright, holy and disciplined.
Then come the thou-shalt-nots. In both lists, he must neither be a drunkard nor violent. The Timothy list adds: not quarrelsome, a lover of money, or “a recent convert for fear that he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.” The letter to Titus adds that the aspirer not be arrogant, quick-tempered, or greedy for gain.
The only job-related skills mentioned are: in Timothy, that he must be “able to teach;” and in Titus, “hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”
And there we have it; a typically challenging biblical job description; a portrait of what a bishop ought to be like.
Other questions and thoughts occur to me as I read Paul’s lists. For example, I wonder if the use of the male pronoun is merely a cultural way of expression in a particular context, or more?
Did Paul really think the personal character and faithfulness of an aspirer were more important than what he could do and how well he could do it? Were job-skills and academic qualifications in a different list somewhere? But if that were so, why mention teaching and sound doctrine here? To what extent ought we to apply the same criteria in our search?
According to Paul, the noble task is not without its risks. This is frontline work. The devil’s snares and condemnation are a real threat to a bishop’s well-being. Being above reproach, self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined will be vitally important.
How do we find out whether folks who aspire to the noble task of being the Bishop of Calgary show these attributes or not? I’m not sure that a resume or even an interview can be the most trustworthy source for this kind of information. Family members, neighbors, work-mates and parishioners would likely be a better source.
I read somewhere that God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Please use Paul’s list above and pray that our Lord will, indeed, qualify the one who aspires to the noble task in our diocese with all the above, and more.
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