From the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana:
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Bishop Charles Jenkins Announces Pending Retirement
Dear Friends in Christ,
At the December 4, 2008 meeting, the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Louisiana heard of my decision to retire as the tenth Bishop of Louisiana effective December 31, 2009. This move is based on issues of health and a concern for the mission strategy of the diocese. To that end, I now call for the election of the eleventh Bishop of Louisiana.
This decision and the timing of my announcement are not what I had hoped. However haltingly I have displayed my value of transparency over the last decade, I do think transparency important. As we struggle with the new realities of our life in common for 2009 and beyond, I thought it best that I make this announcement now rather than continuing my discernment. I am of the mind that a healthy Bishop, fully engaged with the needs of the Diocese and one who has the confidence of the clergy of the Diocese, will better lead us through this challenge and into the future.
My struggle with health issues since Katrina has not been a secret. My PTSD was exaggerated by the experience of the mandatory evacuation in Hurricane Gustav. The symptoms that accompany the PTSD now seem deeper and more frequent. After talking with various health professionals, it seems best for me that I take a significant rest, which means an absence from the stress and strains of the episcopate. I considered and explored the possibility of a medical leave and even a sabbatical. I could not bring myself to do this for there is no assurance that I would be back to lead the Diocese. I am not willing to ask this Diocese to take such a risk.
I discern God’s call to continuing concern for and involvement with the social apostolate of the Church across Louisiana. In such ministries I find energy, excitement and satisfaction. I pray that God will enable me to continue to give myself to the work of a newly constituted Episcopal Community Services in Louisiana. I hope by God’s grace that I will be able to devote even more time and energy to the social ministry in Louisiana. We are in a position of leadership in our part of the Kingdom like the Episcopal Church has never been before; let us not turn our back on this ministry especially in times of economic uncertainty. I shall remain Bishop of this Diocese until the day of my retirement and I shall do all in my power to see that we stay on this path to Biblical justice, the building of the Beloved Community, and the realization of the New Jerusalem midst our ruin and degradation.
We will have time over the coming year to bid farewell and perhaps enjoy memories of the past decade. Perhaps, by God’s grace we can do several things in my last year. I want to incorporate Episcopal Community Services and merge the Office of Disaster Response into ECS. I pray that somehow we can move ahead with some sort of Reconciliation work in south Louisiana. What would it take to get us off “stuck” in conversations about race and class? Second, I hope we can break ground on the Youth Campus at SECC. The revitalization of youth ministry in this Diocese will be an important accomplishment for today and for tomorrow. Finally, I want to more firmly anchor the Diocesan Perpetual Memorial and Endowment Fund. Let us get these tasks done in the year to come.
The Standing Committee has met with Bishop Clay Matthews of the Presiding Bishop’s office to begin moving us towards the election of the eleventh Bishop of Louisiana at an Electing Convention to be convened in 2009. The Standing Committee is already developing the process for choosing our next Bishop. The broad outline of this process will be shared publicly in early January. The Standing Committee is committed to transparency, accountability and widespread participation as we move forward.
Thank you for your love and patience with me and I hope in return you know that I have loved you as brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
+Charles E. Jenkins
Tenth Bishop of Louisiana
UPDATE: Prayer For the Election of a Bishop
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.
BCP p. 818
Uh oh. This is also happening in CT. Somebody(s) better be ready to step up to the plate.
ReplyDeleteWith Robert Duncan et al. making such spectacles of themselves, I don't think there will be talk of leaving the Episcopal Church, no matter who is elected. I can thank the breakaways for that.
ReplyDeleteI didn´t know Bishop Smith of Conneticut was retiring...heck, he´s a real fireball...as for +Jenkins I´m truly sorry that he is in such dreadful shape...being ¨stressed¨ to the degree he reports is a ghastily thing to live with...I hope he finds peace of mind away from the daily reality of the HUGE rehabilitation and active restoration in New Orleans and beyond...think of the tens of thousands who are walking around in the same broken emotional shape thanks to those deadly hurricanes and the massive uncovering of human fragility.
ReplyDeleteOh Grandmere --you and your Diocese will be in my prayers. These transitions bring stress in themselves.
ReplyDeleteLeonardo,
ReplyDeleteYep. Our next diocesan convention (October, 2009) has been scheduled as our electing convention. Drew deserves a break. Everyone please pray for us, and for LA.
Leonarde, Bishop Jenkins is, indeed, one among many suffering PTSD.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, thank you. LA and CT need the prayers.
I applaud Bp. Jenkins question:
What would it take to get us off “stuck” in conversations about race and class?
However, the diocese has had very little conversation about the position of LGTB persons within the diocese. How can we "start" that conversation?
"How can we "start" that conversation?"
ReplyDeleteSome BLTG person will present him/herself for ordination with an undeniable love for God in the cultic (worshiping) context. That's how. I pray courage for that person, whoever it turns out to be.
Scott, a partnered lesbian has already done that, and she was not ordained to the permanent diaconate.
ReplyDeletegrandmere,
ReplyDeleteI was thinking more along the presbyteral (or episcopal) line. (Yes, I remember you telling me about the aspirant deacon some time past. Ouch.)
Drew has been a wonderful bishop--easily the best I remember--but, as Scott points out, he's been through hell several times over, and deserves a rest.
ReplyDeleteThe question is, who in Connecticut will replace him; a Suffragan or ???
Prayers ascending (esp. for +Jenkins' health---I didn't know he suffered from PTSD).
ReplyDeleteIn (almost) all seriousness: Mimi, I hope you will consent to YOUR name being put into episcopal consideration? ;-)
[Hey: wasn't Augustine of Hippo baptized, confirmed, ordained, and consecrated bishop on the SAME DAY? You've already been baptized and confirmed! Our Mimi's always ahead of the curve! :-D]
Chere Mimi, tousjours bien-aime
ReplyDeleteHaving recently read Courtney Cowart's 'An American Awakening,'even at this distance I've heard of Bishop Jenkin's passionate and very human presence in the struggles towards new life in the diocese, and this news really saddens me- both for our brother and his diocese.
Having known PTD myself, in my work with AIDS, I'd dare to suggest +Charles become a particular focus of our prayers. I'd also highly recommend Courtney's powerful book as a glimpse into the Church we are all called to becoming.
Thanks
David@Montreal
I've been through three of these transitions, and believe me, the politicking has already started.
ReplyDeleteI agree, its understandable with everything Jenkins has gone though. I suppose its the responsible thing. Prayers for you and your diocese! I'm sure whoever is elected will have their hands full.
ReplyDeletePrayers for you and your diocese, GM. And also prayers for +Jenkins. He's been through quite a bit, putting it mildly.
ReplyDeleteWhat would it take to get us off “stuck” in conversations about race and class?
ReplyDeleteAnd sexuality.
JCF, thanks for your expression of support, but no thanks - if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteI nominate Ormonde. He's here in the neighborhood and would only have to jump from deacon to priest to bishop. He'd have my vote in a heartbeat, if I have a vote, which is not very likely. See how neatly he framed his "conversation" comment. He obviously has episcopal potential.
David, thanks for the book recommendation. I'll look into it.
Thanks all for the prayers.
+Charles has ordained, or consented to the ordination of, several gay priests, myself included (and supported my ministry as a gay lay person, too; I take it he would have no objection to ordaining lesbians, either, I just have no evidence one way or the other). What he would not consent to is the ordination of someone in a relationship other than Holy Matrimony: which is, after all, the teaching of the Church, however much we might like it change. I don't have a dog in the fight about larger questions of how the diocese has or hasn't been led, but I wouldn't want +Charles to be unfairly criticized.
ReplyDeleteAugustine was baptized some years before his ordination, and served as a presbyter for a further time before his election as a bishop. However, Ambrose, who would later baptize Augustine, was not yet baptized when elected Bishop of Milan.
4 May, thank you for your comment. I made the point that the lesbian woman in question was partnered. Of course, she and her partner cannot be wed in Holy Matrimony, therefore she's in a bind. She'd have to split with her partner to be ordained.
ReplyDeleteThanks for noting that Bp. Jenkins has ordained gay men to the priesthood, so long as they pledge to be celibate.
Hi, Grandmere--
ReplyDeleteYes, I didn't mean to disagree with what you'd said about the specific case--just didn't want my good friend Scott H. to get the wrong overall impression ;-)
On another note: just got back from a luncheon at which I was served vegetarian jambalaya. Which appealed to my piety for a Friday in Advent, but still seems somehow like a contradiction in terms!
Sorry, wrong date!
ReplyDelete4 May, you know that reprobate Scott H.? You'll have to give me the skinny on him in an email. No holding back, now.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Vegetarian jambalaya. I've never had that. How was it?
Today we had excellent Louisiana fried oysters at a restaurant here in Thibodaux.
Well, I only know him electronically...couldn't pick him out of a crowd of one in the real world!
ReplyDeleteThe "jambalaya" wasn't bad, just as a food item: but not jambalaya in any conventional sense. Really a slightly watery Spanish-rice sort of thing; tasty, though not by the standards of our friends from Avery Island. Closer to the Fanny Farmer Cookbook than to Galatoire's (or even Justin Wilson).
Just to round things out, I think Justin Wilson was buried from St. Luke's, Baton Rouge: though some years after +Charles left St. Luke's to become Bishop.
Fried oysters...now I am hungry. I used to know a restaurant in BR that specialized in crawfish etoufee over breaded fried eggplant...and had great oyster po'boys, too.
As someone (General Sherman, I believe) said: If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve. Not that a deacon stands a chance. But the job's a killer. Charles is a better bishop than many have believed, and I dread the thought of whom we might get in his place.
ReplyDeleteAnother comment: Bishop Jenkins won't ordain anyone, gay or straight, who has sex outside of marriage.
ReplyDelete4 May, then perhaps you have nothing more to tell me about our Scottie than I already know.
ReplyDeleteAll the foodie talk is making me hungry again.
Charles is a better bishop than many have believed, and I dread the thought of whom we might get in his place.
Ormonde, I absolutely agree. I'm especially not looking forward to the jockeying for position and politicking.
If I decide to seek ordination within the year, I shall be faithful to Grandpère.
prayers ascending for +Jenkins
ReplyDeleteYes, prayers for +Jenkins and your diocese. PTSD can be quite debilitating, and I hope your bishop will seek help.
ReplyDeleteThe race and class issues have to be addressed post-Katrina because it was apparent that, in America, some people are "expendable". And bless you, Grandmere, for wanting the LGBT community included in the "to be discussed" list. I doubt your diocese will attempt to buck the moratorium on consecrating "gay bishops". But one does not need to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered one's self to recogize that the church needs to be more welcoming of the many talents LGBT persons of faith bring into the church. We aren't going to paint the pews lavendar. We won't take away the body and blood of Christ at the Eucharist (in fact, some of us might know of a better wine source!). All we want is the opportunity to participate, and in some cases, serve at God's table in the way we feel called to do.
SCG, he is being treated for his illness. He has said it more than once.
ReplyDelete