The Episcopal

Diocese of Lexington

Bishop's Personal Statement to the Presiding Bishop Nominating Committee

    1.  Why are you willing to enter this discernment process?

Today, a beautiful Sunday in Eastertide and the still early Appalachian spring, I went about as far up into the mountains as you can go.  I did what bishops do.  I visited with God’s people.  I preached and taught.  And I baptized.  The candidate was a man who might not fit outdated stereotypes of what Episcopalians look and sound like.  He made his promises with conviction in a clear, steady voice and without the need for prompting.  His priest told me that his decision came at a moment of transformation in his life.  It gave me more joy than I can describe for my ministry to be part of knitting this new child of God irreversibly into the body of Christ.

It was a typical Sunday in my life, which I love.  I have no more desire for a change now than I did when I first entered a discernment process to assess my vocation to priesthood.  Then, as now, I had some sense of having the gifts necessary.  Then, as now, I had been told that I should listen carefully for God’s call enough times to get my attention.  I have some questions about what this process could mean for the people I love, the ones I serve as bishop as well as my family.  At the same time, I have sought to live and teach a faith that is about answering God’s challenges.  To do less myself now would not do justice to my love for anyone, my pastoral care of God’s people, or my leadership of this diocese.