[Magdalen] Dio. Of Virginia

Mon Dec 10 04:18:17 UTC 2018

Ginga,I c

The idea of dividing the diocese has been floated from time to time, but I can’t imagine its ever happening. I think what would make the most sense from our perspective would be to move everything west of the Blue Ridge into SW Virginia, but that would make that diocese incredibly spread out. I’m sure there are ways it could be divided across the middle, but I don’t know where that would be.

It seems that the Bishop Provisional position might be a title in search of a job description, at least, they seem to serve in a variety of ways, depending on the situation. We were told at one point that there were plans to bring in a mediation group—Quaker or Mennonite, I think—to work with the diocesan staff. At the same time we were in search for a second Suffragan. That search was suspended, and the decision was made not to use the mediation group.  Somewhere in there our Canon  to the Ordinary left very suddenly and is now in Texas. So Bishop Gulick, who had recently retired as assistant hibishop came back on as Interim Canon to the Ordinary Then Bishop Shannon announced he was leaving at the end of Convention, and we were told we would be getting a Bishop Provisional for three years, and we would vote on that person at Convention.
Which didn’t happen, and that led us to where we are today. Oh, and we also have Bishop Ihloff part-time, and I’m not sure what his title is. I think he is scheduled to leave fairly soon. 

So we have one full-time Bishop Suffragan, who is the current Ecclesiastical Authority, one part-time bishop who is due to leave shortly, and another bishop who is serving as interim Canon to the Ordinary. And not a clue about starting a search for a new diocesan.

Good grief, laying it all out like that really points up the confusion, doesn’t it?! And that doesn’t even touch on all the personnel changes in the diocesan office over the last several years.

> On Dec 9, 2018, at 8:06 PM, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> South Carolina has had two provisional bishops since the schism in 2012.
> Rt. Rev. Charles vonRosenberg, retired of E.TN (known to Ann) and Rt. Rev.
> Gladstone "Skip" Adams, retired of CNY.  Bp vonRosenberg helped SC
> reorganize an Episcopal diocese in SC after Mark Lawrence took most of
> local TEC congregations out of the church.  (This is still being
> litigated.)  Bp Adams has continued to shepherd TECSC and has firmed up our
> organizational needs.  Both of these bishops work/ed parttime.  The
> Episcopal Church has rules of tenure for provisional bishops...like 2.5
> years with a possible one-time extension.  I do believe a provisional
> bishop must already be a bishop when called to a diocese.  The most notable
> difference with a provisional bishop is that s/he is a is hired by the
> diocese, thus can be discharged by the standing committee if things don't
> work out well.  I'm not sure this would work well in conflicted dioceses.
> 
> This is probably an itchy question, but is it possible for Dio of VA to be
> divided into two smaller dioceses?  The job seems so overwhelming and huge
> with the number of churches included in VA.  Yeah, I said itchy....I
> understand many would not want to consider this.
> 
> The other thing is I agree totally that the truth of what has gone on to
> create the present unpleasantness in the diocese needs to be told to
> Episcopalians there.  Perhaps the diocese would need to have certain skills
> in its next bishop?  But, if secrets are being kept from the general
> members, that is just playing the same stuff into the future and that ain't
> healthy!
> 
> Blessings all.
> Ginga
> 
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>> On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 6:21 PM Ann Markle <ann.markle at aya.yale.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> Western New York. Bishop provisional is nothing like interim or priest in
>> charge. It’s in contemplation of an entirely new form of Diocesan structure
>> (not yet fully known; to be discerned as we live into it), not some kind of
>> “special care for a troubled diocese.” Don’t know what you'd call that
>> other kind of bishop (maybe the same thing), but that’s not the model in
>> play here.
>> 
>> On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:12 AM Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> I’ve forgotten, Ann—what is your Diocese now? Five years seems like a
>> long
>>> time for a provisional. If we’d been able to find one, the term would
>> have
>>> been for three years.
>>> It almost sounds as if the role of bishop provisional is the equivalent
>> of
>>> priest-in-charge. We’re using that more and more in our diocese.
>>> 
>>>> On Dec 8, 2018, at 11:01 PM, Ann Markle <ann.markle at aya.yale.edu>
>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Yep. We’ve been talking bishop provisional for a couple of years, and
>>>> formalized it at diocesan convention last fall. +Sean Rowe of Western
>> PA
>>> is
>>>> our provisional bishop elect, to begin a 5 year term in April 2019.
>>>> 
>>>>> On Sat, Dec 8, 2018 at 10:46 AM Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> I saw an article earlier this week about the potential—or
>>> current—shortage
>>>>> of bishop candidates and what it might mean for the future
>> organization
>>> of
>>>>> the church. Your situation in Michigan sounds as if it might be a
>> trial
>>>>> case for that. It’s happened in other places as well.
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Dec 8, 2018, at 10:35 AM, Judy Fleener <fleenerj at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Our bishop, Western Michigan is now the provisional for Eastern Mich
>> as
>>>>> he
>>>>>> continues as our diocesan.  I'm a member of the Standing Committee.
>>> This
>>>>>> is seen as a step toward something where our bishop will become their
>>>>>> bishop also. Not sure that that means  our becoming one diocese.  Our
>>> See
>>>>>> city is now Grand Rapids.  We have hired the communications person
>> from
>>>>>> Eastern Michigan to to that job for us along side the job in Eastern
>>>>> Mich.
>>>>>> Part of the motivation is money..
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Sat, Dec 8, 2018 at 6:10 AM Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com
>>> 
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Well, in another change of plans, it seems we aren’t going to have a
>>>>>>> Bishop Provisional, after all. Instead, Susan Goff, our Suffragan
>> will
>>>>>>> continue to be the Ecclesiastical Authority until we have elected
>> and
>>>>>>> consecrated a Diocesan. Lord only knows how long that will take!
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I’m not sure what I think about this, but it doesn’t feel like a
>> good
>>>>>>> idea. OTOH, they’ve really been having a hard time finding a
>>>>> Provisional.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Judy Fleener, ObJN,SSH
>>>>>> Western Michigan
>>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Ann
>>>> 
>>>> The Rev. Ann Markle
>>>> Buffalo, NY
>>>> www.onewildandpreciouslife.typepad.com
>>> 
>> --
>> Ann
>> 
>> The Rev. Ann Markle
>> Buffalo, NY
>> www.onewildandpreciouslife.typepad.com
>> 