wfn.org | Committee announces slate of four c

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org]

April 18, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-1740

Committee announces slate of four candidates for presiding bishop

by James Solheim and James H. Thrall
       (ENS) The Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of a
Presiding Bishop announced a slate of four nominees April 14 for
election as the next presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.
       The four bishops nominated are: Frank Griswold III of Chicago,
Robert Rowley, Jr., of Northwestern Pennsylvania, Richard Shimpfky of
El Camino Real (California), and Don Wimberly of Lexington
(Kentucky).
       The election will take place in the House of Bishops July 21
during the church's General Convention in Philadelphia and must be
confirmed by the House of Deputies.
       In commenting on the work of the committee, completed during
its final meeting April 10-13 in Delray Beach, Florida, co-chairs
Katherine Tyler Scott of Indianapolis and Bishop Calvin Schofield of
Southeast Florida said in a joint statement, "We are grateful for all of
the prayers of the church as we have engaged in our work and for those who
submitted to this process of discernment. We are offering the names of
four individuals whom we believe possess the necessary qualities and
abilities for this uniquely important calling."
       During a two-year process that was marked by its confidentiality,
the 29-member committee developed broad criteria for the office,
underscoring the canonical requirement that the presiding bishop "shall
be the chief pastor and primate of the church." The committee also
emphasized the presiding bishop's "responsibility for leadership in
initiating and developing the policy and strategy of the church and, as
chair of the Executive Council of General Convention," with
implementation.
       Schofield said after an earlier meeting of the committee that the
nominating process differs from the past because all those whose names
are offered as nominees now undergo the background checks required of
all active clergy and others in leadership roles in the church. The General
Convention also reduced the term from 12 years to nine.
       It is still possible that other candidates could be nominated "from
the floor" but they would be subject to the same background check
before their names could be offered to the House of Bishops.

Nominees reflect broad experience
       The four nominees for the office are marked by broad experience
in the church and the world.

Bishop Frank Griswold

       Griswold is a graduate of Harvard and Oxford Universities and
attended the General Theological Seminary. Following his ordination in
1963, he served parishes in the Diocese of Pennsylvania. He was elected
bishop coadjutor in the Diocese of Chicago in 1984 and assumed office
as diocesan bishop in 1987. He serves as chair of the Standing Liturgical
Commission and as co-chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue in
the United States.
       In a letter to diocesan clergy and laity, April 15, Griswold said he
felt "deeply honored" by the committee's choice, but gave credit to the
examples of "dynamic leadership" being exercised by the diocese's clergy
and lay leaders. He noted that the diocese's life and ministry made "a
very deep and positive impression" on the team from the nominating
committee that visited the diocese in February.
       "The one thing that is certain is that I am the bishop of Chicago,"
he said. "The rest is possibility and speculation which should not distract
us from what we are called to do and be now."

Bishop Robert Rowley

       Rowley is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, George
Washington University and Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest.
Admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1965, he served in the U.S. Navy in
the Pacific but resigned his commission to attend seminary. Following his
ordination, he served parishes in Hawaii before accepting a call to the
staff in the Diocese of Bethlehem. He was elected bishop coadjutor in the
Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania in 1989 and became diocesan
bishop in 1991.
       "I feel very honored and at the same time I feel humbled to be
one of the ones chosen," Rowley said.
       In an interview with the Erie Daily Times, Rowley said that he is
not sure exactly what qualities he has that led the committee to nominate
him. Perhaps, he suggested, it was "some of the leadership that I've
given in the House of Bishops in dealing with very delicate issues--issues
on which there is disagreement still today--such as the ordination of
women." Rowley chaired the committee for dialogue on the canon on
women in the priesthood.
       Rowley told the newspaper, "I think that in my ministry I allow
all viewpoints to be heard and attempt to support those who do not
prevail and still include them in the life of the church." Rowley added
that he learned the value of teamwork in the Navy, and believes it has
applications in the church, too. "I think in all denominations we are
seeing more and more that the ministry is shared and that the ordained
person is just one of many on the team. I've always been a team player."

Bishop Richard Shimpfky

       Shimpfky is a graduate of the University of Colorado and Virginia
Theological Seminary. He served parishes in the Dioceses of Virginia
and Newark before election as diocesan bishop for El Camino Real
(California) in 1990. As president of Province VIII, he is a member of
the Presiding Bishop's Council of Advice, served on the committee to
study human sexuality, and is convener of the General Convention's
Standing Commission on Stewardship and Development.
       "I am very pleased and grateful for the opportunity to speak to the
church as a nominee," Shimpfky said. "Also, I'm honored to be among
such distinguished bishops. I've spoken to each of them to congratulate
them and to say that, together, we can model good will to the church,
and maybe help the church by our conversation along the way."
       In speaking to the church, Shimpfky said in a column in the
diocesan newspaper that he hoped to be able to call the church to be
"light in the dark." To be light is "seeing ourselves for what God made
us: every single Episcopalian with a vital part in a church for all the
people," he said.
       "This wonderful old church of ours has many problems, great and
important issues to debate, but our mission is greater than the sum of
them," he said. "Common light, Common mission. Common prayer. It is
enough, enough to light even the darkest corner."

Bishop Don Wimberly

       Wimberly is a graduate of Louisiana State University and attended
its law school. He graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary and
was ordained in 1971, served a parish in the Diocese of Kansas and was
called to be dean of St. John's Cathedral in Jacksonville, Florida. He was
elected bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Lexington in 1985. He has
served on the Executive Council and chaired its Administration and
Finance Committee. He has also served on the Program, Budget and
Finance Committee for General Convention.
       In an interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper,
Wimberly called the nomination "the greatest compliment ever paid to
me in my professional life." His selection as a nominee is "a call, and
we pray for God's will in it."
       Recognizing that the prospect of serving as presiding bishop is
"both an awesome responsibility and frightening," Wimberly said, "I
would look forward to the challenge and think I bring certain gifts to the
position that could be helpful to the church." He referred in particular to
his role as chair for the past three years of the Executive Council's
Committee on Administration and Finance.
       Bishop Roger White of Milwaukee and Bishop Peter James Lee of
Virginia were candidates, but withdrew from the process in the final
weeks.

Remembering his own nomination
       While calling the role of presiding bishop "the best job in the
church," Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning also observed in a column
for Episcopal Life, the national newspaper of the Episcopal Church, that
the ministry "is not all tea and cakes." Whoever is called to this office,
"whatever his abilities, must be deeply grounded in the life of faith or he
will simply be buried under a mountain of irrelevant paper, or drown in
a sea of care and worry," he said.
       At the same time, as presiding bishop, "I have been given an
opportunity to witness the goodness of people, their grace-filled
ministries, their sacrificial offerings," Browning said. "Because I am
privileged to be the church's chief pastor, I have learned from people of
their struggles and accomplishments, their grief and their joys."
       The time between nomination and election, he recalled, is "a kind
of limbo, a holding time, for the nominees, their families, and their
dioceses. It is a time when it is difficult to make plans in any area of
your life."
       The church owes "a great deal to the nominees--who have prayed
and thought carefully about their call to the office of the presiding
bishop," he said. "It is a momentous decision to allow your name to go
forward. During this time, it is an important discipline for all of us to
surround the nominees, their families, and their dioceses with prayer."

--James Solheim is director of news and information and James H. Thrall
is deputy director.