Article: The Very Rev. William A. Thompson on the Mission and Role of a Bishop
A la Stand Firm, where the comments have, appropriately, applauded Thompson's letter. If you don't know already, Fr. Bill Thompson is Dean of the Western Convocation, a regional district of the Anglican Communion Network. All of the churches represented on this site are supporters or members of the ACN.
Highly recommended reading, especially the "caution to us all" part toward the end where he underscores what is a very real question in my mind.... Will we allow ourselves to be under authority of such a bishop?
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Article: The Very Rev. William A. Thompson on the Mission and Role of a Bishop -
Western Convocation Newsletter
Supplemental Edition
July 28, 2007
... A major reason our Anglican heritage in North America is in the shape it is today is that when clergy and laity participated in electing bishops, they did not have in mind these five principles. The next time you have anything to say about who your bishop will be (whether you are in TEC or out of it), it is essential to use these criteria when making that selection. If we do our church will prosper, if not, it will fail.
1. A bishop must be evangelical and mission minded.
2. A bishop must be a servant.
3. A bishop must be a defender of the faith.
4. A bishop must have good character and morals.
5. A bishop must be willing to be accountable to those under his authority.
A caution to us all:
Even if we discern that a person has all of these qualities in abundance, and we endorse him to be our bishop, we all still run the risk of sabotaging his episcopate because of our behavior. Above I mentioned that most of us have been jaded and wounded by our unfortunate relationships with previous bishops. Consequently we have had a tendency to put physical and emotional distance between our bishop and ourselves, thereby becoming more and more congregational. Many of us, who are out of TEC, have gotten used to being separated from our bishop by four to nine thousand miles.
Will we be willing to come under the authority of a godly bishop? Will we be willing to admit that we need a godly bishop for our own protection and care? Will we commit to eschewing an inappropriate parochialism that is due to our being starved of godly authority?
