Having A Say
FROM THE RECTOR
Our bishop, the Rt. Rev. Larry Benfield, was elected on November 11, 2006. A lot has happened since then. For our state, that was three—almost four—governors ago, and four different presidents have lived in the White House since then. During that time, we have endured two recessions and a global pandemic. All of us are older. Some of us have become parents or grandparents during those years. Many of us have lost loved ones.
Sixteen years ago, I was a newly ordained deacon, still a month away from being ordained a priest. Almost all of the churches in the Diocese of Arkansas, including our own, were led by different clergy. The faith we share has not changed, but its place in our lives and in the world around us has shifted significantly. The theological language we use to make sense of things like marriage and race and poverty and gender has matured. We need to be loved and cared for as much as ever, but the ways we seek comfort within the Christian community are sometimes quite different. We are still the Episcopal Church in Arkansas, but what that means has undergone a substantial transformation during the last decade and a half.
When Bishop Benfield announced his plans to retire in early 2024, our diocese began a process that we have not undertaken in a long time. The election of a successor will take place in the fall of next year, and an ordination will happen in the January after that, but a lot of important, hard work must be done now. The Standing Committee of our diocese, which is entrusted by the canons of the church with the responsibility for overseeing the election, has appointed a committee of thirteen people from across the diocese to manage this search. They are now hosting a series of “Holy Conversations,” which give you the chance to shape the search for our next bishop.
St. Paul’s is hosting one of those Holy Conversations tonight at 6:00 p.m., and I hope you will come. To understand how tonight’s meeting gives you a voice in the process, it may help to think ahead to all of the work that will be done behind the scenes between now and the election. Tonight’s conversation gives you the chance to name what you think is important to our diocese. Your input, combined with that of people across Arkansas, will be used to develop a diocesan profile—a document that will showcase the gifts and needs of our diocese.
Once published, that profile will let potential candidates from across the church begin to discern whether they might be called to serve as our next bishop. When the Search Committee reviews applications and interviews candidates, they will rely on the profile to help them determine which candidates best match this opportunity before presenting a slate of candidates to the diocese for election. Delegates who come to the candidate meet-and-greets and gather to vote in the bishop election will have the profile in mind as they evaluate the individuals on the ballot.
Next fall, our parish will send four lay delegates and all of our canonically resident clergy to the special convention called for the purpose of electing a bishop. Before that, there will be informal ways for you to share your thoughts with any of those delegates, but the best way for you to help choose our next bishop is to participate in tonight’s Holy Conversation. If you cannot be present tonight, you might consider attending one of the other Conversations, which are listed on the Bishop Search website (https://www.episcopalarkansas.org/bishop-search).
We are honored to host this Holy Conversation, and we also have the distinct honor of hosting, at the same time, the only in-person Conversation specifically for youth. Because of that, I think it is particularly important for our youth to come and share their perspectives on what we need in our next bishop. If we intend to elect a bishop who will lead this diocese for the next fifteen or twenty years, I can think of no group whose input is more valuable. By the time we elect another bishop, many of them may be parents themselves.
Please pray for all who are involved in this process. Pray for the Search Committee and the Standing Committee. Pray for the Transition Committee, who, once the slate of candidates is announced, will manage the meet-and-greets, the election, and the ordination of the new bishop. Pray for whoever those candidates will be. Pray for all of the delegates in the diocese who will participate in the election. And pray for Bishop Benfield, who continues to serve faithfully during this transition.
I hope to see you tonight.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan D. Garner