[Magdalen] Dio. Of Virginia

Mon Dec 10 11:35:23 UTC 2018

Thanks for the concise history.  I have followed your posts about the
bishop situation in DoVA, and this one puts it altogether in helpful ways.
A certain 'mystery' abound in all this with the resignations and early
retirements (wasn't Bp Shannon supposed to go another year?).  I wish the
greater diocese could see the whole 'why' picture.

BUT, remember where I come from...SC took years - at least 25 to come to
schism.  I am not saying that is happening in VA, just that my experience
is so particular regarding diocesan leadership leading down the wrong
path.  And, again, the schism was not such a terrible thing for those of us
who remained with TEC.

Ginga Wilder

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On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 11:18 PM Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
> >>
>

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