Bishop's Election: What's our next move?

Feast Day for the Consecration of Samuel Seabury

First American Bishop

November 14^th

Matthew’s Gospel tells us that “when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” During the colonial era of the church in the new world, there were no Anglican bishops. If the church needed more priests, they would ship candidates to England to ordain them. 

Once the war was over, it became clear that the Anglican Church in the new world needed to have its own bishops. Under the cover of darkness, a secret meeting of Connecticut clergy met in Woodbury on March 25, 1783 and chose Samuel Seabury to go to England to seek consecration as bishop. Thankfully, the church follows a different process of selecting bishops these days.

Predictably, Seabury had a difficult time convincing bishops in England to consecrate him bishop. In order to be consecrated bishop by an English bishop, one must swear allegiance to the crown. Obviously, Seabury would not do that because of the whole American Revolutionary war thing. 

After a year of failed attempts of trying to persuade English bishops, Seabury traveled to Scotland where the official church was Presbyterian. The Scottish Episcopal Church had broken ties with the monarch a century before. Therefore, there were non-juring (swearing) Anglican bishops who were willing to consecrate Seabury. The apostolic chain of succession connecting bishops all the way back to Peter would continue in the United States.

In Aberdeen, on November 14, 1784, Samuel Seabury was consecrated bishop. A part of the deal was for Seabury to convince the newly forming church in the United States to use the Scottish prayer of consecration (inherited from the Eastern Orthodox liturgy). In addition, the nine small crosses on the Episcopal Shield form a cross which represents St. Andrew – the patron of Scotland. Seabury was then chosen Bishop of Connecticut.

In his book, Welcome to the Episcopal Church, Christopher Webber says, “Americans had had a church without bishops for almost two centuries. Now that they had bishops, they would have to work out what they were for.” Were they Pastors? Administrators? Spiritual Directors? Liturgical Ornaments? Maybe a little bit of everything? These questions continue to be worked out in the life of the church to this day.

In a few weeks, the Bishop’s Search Committee will present a slate of candidates to the Standing Committee who will announce the slate to the diocese. Members of the committee are striving to present a slate of candidates that represents the diversity of the church. One member of the committee told me, “We want to give the diocese real choices.”

I hear the committee saying that they want to give the Diocese of Alabama the opportunity to choose a bishop who will best serve the diocese during this particular season of our life together. As Bishop Sloan suggested in his retirement announcement, God tends to call bishops to serve for a particular season in the life of the church. Bishop Sloan recognizes the rapidly changing culture and feels that a new bishop would be better suited to shepherd the church into the new era. 

While this is certainly a time to celebrate all the gifts that Bishop Sloan has offered the Episcopal Church in Alabama for this particular season, this is also a time to discern what gifts a new bishop might bring to the table for the next season. I am thankful for the Standing Committee and search committee for facilitating this process of discernment. As the diocese continues to discern what gifts a new bishop might need to bring to the table, I hope we are able to discern with the Holy Spirit what candidate is uniquely suited to respond to the opportunities and challenges that face the church today. 

What kind of leadership skills will be required to move us in the direction that the Holy Spirit is calling us toward? Do we need a pastor? An administrator? A visionary? A preacher? A liturgical ornament? Which gifts are most needed for the church in this particular season? What kind of shepherd do we need for this new season in our life together? In the end, it is my hope and prayer that we see how God is using this process to help the diocese become one flock under one shepherd – Jesus Christ our Lord.

Bibliography:

1. Brightest and Best: A Companion to the Lesser Feasts and Fasts by Sam Portaro 

2. Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints