Siding With Hope

Bishop Sloan addressing the 188th Convention of the Diocese of Alabama

This post is in response to the news from the Standing Committee announcing the Search and Transition Committees and Timeline for the 12th Bishop of Alabama

Back on February 9th of this year, the Rt. Rev. John McKee “Kee” Sloan called for the election of a Bishop Coadjutor in the Diocese of Alabama. During the bishop’s talk given to the 188th Convention of the Diocese of Alabama, Bishop Sloan in one fell swoop (in the form of a beautiful address) both announced his retirement (at the end of 2020) and put into motion the election of the 12th Bishop of the Diocese of Alabama. While some might have predicted this day was coming, any transition—and especially one of this importance in the Church—stirred up anxiety within the more times than not healthy Diocese of Alabama. So, recently I re-watched Bishop Kee’s speech chalked full of stories to this year’s convention...

Now, you might be wondering, “Why would you rewatch a bishop’s address? Are you a mindless numbskull? Are you bored? Don’t you have something better to do?” No, I’m not a knucklehead! No, I’m not bored! No, I don’t have too much time on my hands! I listened to Kee’s speech again for three reasons. First, I wanted to go back to the moment when we went from “this guy is going to be our bishop for forever,” to “Oh Lord, save us! Our bishop’s retiring!” Second, connected to this first reason, I wanted to see how the gathered body of the Diocese of Alabama immediately responded to such news. And third, I went back over this address because I have recently been called to serve on the Transition Committee for the Election of the 12th Bishop of Alabama. And, on top of reading through the canons (seemingly intentionally vague) and the Ordination of a Bishop, it felt good (meet for you Rite I Episcopalians) and right so to view the start of this transition once again. So, what did this review reveal? While there was no grand Epiphany or Easter egg within the speech that reassured me that this transition won’t challenge the Episcopal Church in Alabama, I did step away siding with hope. Why? Well, keep on reading...

In Kee’s almost forty-minute address (it’s a forty-one-minute video with a lengthy standing ovation at the end), an overarching theme emerged that it’s not my Church, your Church, or Kee’s Church, but God’s Church, and God's Church is going to be just fine—and throwing in my own two cents, the Church is especially fine when we trust and work with God and each other! Now, let me briefly review what the 11th Bishop of Alabama had to say in this address subtly about transition. After some beautiful stories about seeing our calling to be part of the Church as a privilege, Kee challenged his fellow Episcopalians to faithfully respond to the love of God by being good stewards of that which we have been given. There are a multitude of ways to do this, but at the core we are called to be grateful for our calling to serve God and each other in the Church and the world. Simple enough, right? But, what about this big, fat, scary transition from bishop #11 to #12?

Well, it was not until the 31:32 mark that Bishop Kee got around to calling for the election of a Bishop Coadjutor who will become the Bishop of Alabama at the end of 2020. While it took the bishop time to get to this announcement, throughout the address the forthcoming bishop transition was right beneath the surface the whole way (it's like rewatching The Sixth Sense or some other movie with a big plot twist). But, this was not the only thing hidden throughout the talk! Bishop Kee wove an even more important truth in this address, and it reverberated most profoundly at the end. When we feel like the Church is more a scared mystery than a sacred one, we must trust that it’s not our Church to begin with. In truth, we simply are the privileged ones who get to steward it into the next chapter. Using the lenses of Holy Scripture, reason, and tradition, I interpret our ministry as the placeholders, the ellipses in the history of the Church who bridge the gap between Jesus sending out his followers to make disciples of all people and the fulfillment of all things at Christ’s return. And, this truth really does make me hopeful, especially as the news becomes public about the timeline for electing our Bishop Coadjutor.

As the next few months’ work throughout the diocese comes into focus, I feel hopeful—not because I know something, nor because I have the perfect person in mind, nor because I hear everyone else being hopeful (because I’ve heard more than a little doubting). No, I feel hopeful because I trust that God’s Spirit indeed works among us, in us, through us, between us, and beyond us. I feel hopeful because this isn’t my diocese, your diocese, or Kee’s diocese, just like it’s not my Church, your Church, or Kee’s Church. This is a diocese of and the Church of Christ Jesus. Our founder, our leader, our head conquers brokenness, sin, and even death with unfettered, unending, unconditional love. I feel hopeful because, while the people who are on the Standing Committee, the Search Committee, and the Transition Committee are as flawed as anyone else in the world, they are faithful followers of Jesus. They are ones who trust in the truth that it’s not their Church, but God’s Church. And, I feel hopeful because the alternative—siding with fear—leads to bitterness, division, hatred, and nothingness, which runs antithetical to the Good News of Christ! Today and every day, I hope you will join Christ Jesus (and me) in siding with hope instead of fear, as we search for the 12th Bishop of Alabama.

Sometime next week, I will write a reflection regarding the Orientation Retreat that the Standing Committee of Alabama organized for the Search Committee and the Transition Committee who will oversee the transition from the 11th Bishop of Alabama to the 12th Bishop of Alabama. For now though, I commend to your prayers this search, our diocese, and specifically these courageous fools for Christ (see below) who are siding with hope and trusting that God’s Church is going to be just fine! Also, please read the announcement with more details of the timeline of the search. 

The Search Committee: 
Ms. Ellen Brooks – Ascension, Montgomery (Chair)
The Rev. Bill Blackerby – Retired, Birmingham (Co-chair)
Mr. Harrison Black – Holy Comforter, Montgomery
Mr. Bob Boylan – St. Luke’s, Birmingham
The Rev. Dr. Catherine Collier – Christ Church, Tuscaloosa
Mrs. Isabel Evans – St. Stephen’s, Huntsville
The Rev. Katherine Harper – St. Thomas, Huntsville
The Rev. Thomas Joyner – Chaplain, Trinity Commons, Birmingham
Mr. Frierson Mitchener – Trinity, Florence
Mrs. Maibeth J. Porter – Advent, Birmingham
The Rev. Pearl Slay, Deacon – St. Wilfrid’s, Marion
The Rev. Worth Stuart – Nativity, Huntsville
Ms. Shelton Griffith – Holy Trinity, Auburn (Youth Liaison)

The Search Committee will help develop a profile of the Diocese of Alabama as well as hopes we have for the next bishop, will accept names of potential candidates, will along with the Episcopal Church vet potential candidates, will conduct interviews with potential candidates, and eventually develop a slate of three to five candidates for the election.

The Transition Committee:
The Rev. Mollie Roberts – St. Simon Peter, Pell City (Chair)
Mr. Ralph Hobbs – St. Paul’s – Selma (Co-chair)
Mr. Jason Whatley – Holy Apostles, Hoover
Mrs. Susan McDowell – St. Stephen’s, Birmingham
Mr. Ray Peacock – St. James, Alex City
Mrs. Sonja Smith – St. Mark’s, Birmingham
The Rev. Malcolm Marler – UAB Chaplain, Birmingham
The Rev. Seth Olson – All Saints, Birmingham
Ms. Virginia Hillhouse – St. Stephen’s, Birmingham
Mr. Bingham Edwards – St. John’s, Decatur
The Rev. Bill Winters – Retired, Part-time Rector – St. Joseph’s-On-the-Mountain, Mentone

The Transition Committee, as the diocesan communication put it, will conduct "the logistics work of the Walkabout, election, and consecration pieces of the process as well as the logistics for travel for the nominees. [Additionally] certain members of the committee will serve as shepherds for the bishop-nominees—taking care of them during their stay in our diocese, through the election, and following up with them after as well." 

The Standing Committee:
The Rev. Candice Frazer – President
The Rev. Jayne Pool
The Rev. Andy Keys
The Rev. Tommie Watkins
Heyward Gould
Katie White
Julia Sanford
Anne Cook Burruss

The Standing Committee helped to put these committee members in place and now goes back to their very important role of  being "the Bishop’s Council of Advice."

Additionally the Search and Transition Committees are supported by The Rev. Marc Burnette who serves as Chaplain and the Rev. Rick Callaway (trained by the Episcopal Church and from the Diocese of Atlanta) who serves as Consultant.

Please pray the following prayer in your congregational and individual life of prayer:
God of wisdom and peace, you have gathered your faithful people, men and women of every nation, age, and color, in this diocese to humbly serve you: Look graciously on your Church and so guide the holy imagination of those who shall choose a bishop for this diocese, that we may receive a faithful pastor,  who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries by igniting in us creative compassion and inspiring us to a relentless proclamation of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.