Nominating Committee chosen for bishop suffragan election; Mildred Robinson named to panel

As you may know by now, Bishop David Jones will be retiring in a year as our suffragan bishop, and we will be electing a new bishop on April 21, 2012.

The bishop suffragan does not have the authority of a diocesan bishop (who for us is Shannon Johnston), but nonetheless bishop suffragans have great responsibility and are full members of the House of Bishops.

The election of any bishop is a major event in the life of the The Episcopal Church, made more so because the Diocese of Virginia is the largest domestic diocese in terms of membership. Elections begin with a nominating committee that vets potential candidates and proposes a slate for election.

I am very pleased to report that our own Mildred Robinson has been chosen to be on the Nominating Committee. Here is a letter from Bishop Shannon Monday reporting his appointments to the two committees that will guide the election:

Dear Diocesan Family, As we prepare for Bishop Jones' retirement at our next Annual Council in January 2012 and a celebration of his ministry, we will undertake the search for a bishop suffragan. I'm writing today to encourage us all to embrace this opportunity, and to recognize it as such: an opportunity to celebrate and give thanks for Bishop Jones; an opportunity to examine our health and needs as a diocese; and an opportunity to welcome new episcopal leadership to the Diocese of Virginia. The election process is watched over by two committees. First, the Nominating Committee is charged with engaging the Diocese of Virginia in a discussion about who and where we are as a diocese, and then to undertake faithful, prayerful discernment to identify a slate of not less than four nor more than six nominees to stand for election. Once the nominees are announced, the Transition Committee takes the lead in the process. They are charged to introduce the nominees to the Diocese through the "walkabout" process. The committee then serves as a liaison to the nominees during the election. They also assist in organizing the consecration. The Transition Committee will continue as a resource for the new bishop as he or she begins this new episcopal ministry. Most importantly, the members of the Transition Committee provide pastoral support to the nominees and their families through and after the election. With the thoughtful advice and unanimous consent of the Standing Committee, I have appointed the Nominating and the Transition Committees as requested by resolution at Council. Two gifted members of our diocese will lead these committees: Ms. Allyson Getlein of St. Andrew's, Richmond will chair the Nominating Committee and the Rev. Jim Dannals, rector of St. George's, Fredericksburg, will chair the Transition Committee. The members of these committees have accepted a call to serve, first and foremost. I have every confidence in their collective ability to lead us through the search and transition process with sound wisdom and faithful judgment. The job set before these two groups is not a small task. The Rt. Rev. David C. Jones, our bishop suffragan, leaves a legacy of profound excellence in ministry. These committees will seek not to replace Bishop Jones, but to honor his ministry by seeking out candidates who are well equipped to live out the tradition of dedication and gracious spirit established by Bishop Jones in his 17-year ministry as a bishop. In the weeks to come, both committees will start their work, spend time in prayer and retreat, and start producing search process materials that will be made available on the diocesan Web site. The key dates are these: the Nominating Committee will announce nominees shortly after Annual Council in 2012; the walkabouts will occur in March and the election will take place on Saturday, April 21, 2012. The consecration will occur on July 28, 2012, with the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori joining us to celebrate that wonderful day. More details will be forthcoming in the weeks and months ahead. In the meantime, I ask for your prayers during this time of transition: prayers for Bishop Jones as he continues his faithful ministry amongst us this next year; prayers for a spirit-filled search process; prayers for our dedicated Nominating and Transition Committees, named below; and, as always, prayers for our diocese. Faithfully, The Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston Bishop of Virginia

Nominating Committee Ms. Allyson Getlein, Chair St. Andrew's, Richmond Mr. Sam Bridges St. Francis', Great Falls Ms. Ellyn Crawford St. George's, Arlington The Rev. Ross Kane St. Paul's, Alexandria The Rev. Lucia Lloyd St. Stephen's, Heathsville The Rev. Alexander MacPhail Beckford Parish (Emmanuel, Woodstock & St. Andrew's, Mt. Jackson) The Rev. Cuthbert Mandell Aquia Church, Stafford Ms. Kendall Metz Grace Church, Alexandria Mr. Russell Randle Christ Church, Alexandria Ms. Mildred Robinson St. Paul's Memorial, Charlottesville Mr. Alex Slaughter St. James's, Richmond The Rev. Sven vanBaars Abingdon, White Marsh Transition Committee The Rev. Jim Dannals, Chair St. George's, Fredericksburg Mr. Robert Allen St. Stephen's, Richmond The Rev. Dr. Don Binder Pohick Church, Lorton The Rev. Kate Chipps St. Margaret's, Woodbridge Ms. Joan Inger St. Paul's on the Hill, Winchester Ms. Barbara Maniha Holy Comforter, Vienna The Rev. Daniel Robayo Emmanuel, Harrisonburg Mr. Joseph Royster Meade Memorial, Alexandria The Rev. John Sheehan Church of the Redeemer, Aldie Mr. Dick Shirey St. James the Less, Ashland Ms. Mareea Wilson St. Barnabas', Annandale The Rev. Deacon Barbara Ambrose St. Andrew's, Richmond

Fruits of the Spirit

It has been a most serious week, and rather rainy in these parts so it is definitely time to lighten up a little. Coming up tomorrow (Saturday) we have a "quiet day" led by author Bonnie Thurston from 9 am to noon (come join us). 

The Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville is well underway. We went to panel yesterday by authors of books on the civil rights era, including our friend Mildred Robinson. 

We plan to go to a few more events including a panel on the beat poets today. So, to mark the promise of Spring, and to bring you into the world of letters, here is a gift of poetry from the collection of our friend Karen in Tennessee:

Tangerine 
By Ruth L. Schwartz

It was a flower once, it was one of a billion flowers
whose perfume broke through closed car windows,
forced a blessing on their drivers.
Then what stayed behind grew swollen, as we do;
grew juice instead of tears, and small hard sour seeds,
each one bitter, as we are, and filled with possibility.
Now a hole opens up in its skin, where it was torn from the
branch; ripeness can’t stop itself, breathes out;
we can’t stop it either. We breathe in.

~

The Orange
By Wendy Cope

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—
They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange it made me so happy,
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park
This is peace and contentment. It’s new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.
I did all my jobs on my list
And enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I’m glad I exist.

Law Touched Our Hearts

One of the great delights in being at St. Paul's is being surrounded by smart, wonderfully creative people. And so it is with great pleasure I am highlighting today a new book just published by my friend Midred Wigfall Robinson, who also happens to be our senior warden this year. 

Mildred is a University of Virginia law professor, and her book, Law Touched Our Hearts, is a collection of short personal essays from the generation whose lives were changed by the Supreme Court decision Brown vs. Board of Education of Tokeka, Kansas, the monumental landmark opinion that required the desegregation of the schools. 

Here is how Mildred and her co-editor, Richard J. Bonnie, explain the title of their book:

In February of 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower invited Chief Justice Earl Warren to dinner at the White House. Among the guests were well-known opponents of school desegration, including John W. Davis, the lawyer who had recently presented the states' argument for upholding segregated schools before the Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education of Tokeka, Kansas. In his memoirs, Warren notes he "was the ranking guest, and as such sat at the right hand of the President and within speaking distance" of Davis. During that evening, Eisenhower famously commented to Warren that "law and force cannot change a man's heart."

But the law did change hearts. Not long after, the Court handed up its decision in Brown. Segregation did not fall easily, but it began to collapse with that decision.  The country began to change, and so did individual lives. 

Mildred and her colleague asked 5,000 of her colleagues in law schools from around the nation to write essays on how their lives were changed and their hearts touched, and not from the point of view of lawyers writing about the law, but as human beings living in a land undergoing tremendous change. All of them attended public schools as children.  Mildred and Bonnie call them "the Brown generation." They note that much has been written about the impact of the decision on schools, and on the dismantling of segregation and the law itself. 

"But what of the children themselves? What impact did all this have on their hearts and minds?"

Mildred and her colleague selected 40 of the essays that explore that question, representing a wide perspective and geographic breadth. Desegregation affected every corner of the United States. I highly commend spending time with this remarkable book and drinking deeply from each essay. You can read more about the book and see a video of Mildred and her colleague discussing their work by clicking HERE. The book, published by Vanderbilt University Press, is available at the University of Virginia Bookstore, or via the usual on-line outlets that shall not be plugged here.