Monday, April 13, 2009

I'll have some in depth commentary on the South Dakota Bishop Candidates this week

Starting on Wednesday, God permitting and computers cooperating, I will post some in depth analysis of the four candidates for Bishop. I'll probably post on one candidate per day.

This might help delegates prepare questions for the "walkabout" interviews with the candidates. But be advised: the walkabouts will feature a process used to control discussion in other dioceses. Delegates can only write questions on cards and a "moderator" decides which ones get asked and ignored.

The good news is that the candidates all have positive features to note. As I've written before, the Nominating Committee did a good job seeking candidates with some of the qualities sought in the diocesan profile.

But nobody is perfect, so we need to ask some discerning questions and watch out for red flags.

And we all need to keep up the prayers. At Good Shepherd, Sioux Falls, we are offering this prayer at all of our services:

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds 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; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 818)

And a perspective from the biography of William Hobart Hare, First Missionary Bishop to South Dakota:

If he ever thought of preparing himself for any work in the world but that of the Christian ministry, the evidences of such uncertainty have disappeared. His nature and the influences with which he was surrounded pointed clearly in one direction, and—apparently without qualm or question—he prepared himself to walk in it.

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