Note to my progressive friends with blogs: The Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana elected a bishop yesterday, but you seem to have missed the story. Now I know that not all my blog friends cover news stories, but those of you who do, where are you?
I rejoiced in the election of two women in the Diocese of Los Angeles who made several holes in the glass ceiling, and I posted the news here on my blog.
Was our election in Louisiana not controversial enough? Did you miss telling the story because we are way down south nearly in the Gulf of Mexico? Are we too French and not Anglican enough? Why? A bishop-elect is a bishop-elect, no matter that he's a straight white male. Are we not part of the Episcopal Church?
I'm disappointed and a little miffed that my progressive friends do not see our election as important enough to note. Would you like to know which blogs covered the story? The conservative bloggers are quite vocal about the new "revisionist" bishop-elect in Louisiana. I have the sense that we're perhaps not seen as a true part of the Episcopal Church. I have that left-out feeling.
And if you take note after my petty little rant, it will be like getting birthday and anniversary greetings only after you remind loved ones that they missed the event.
My thanks to John Chilton at The Lead for his article on the election and to my fellow Louisianian, Ormonde Plater for his posts. If others out there in progressive blogland covered our election, and I've left you out, I apologize in advance.
To all of you who stopped by in the comments to congratulate us and wish us well here in our remote little diocese in the Louisiana swamp and bayou lands, I say a big THANK YOU.
There. I had to get that off my chest. And now I shall move on to other matters.
¨That didn´t take long, either¨
ReplyDeleteDear Mimi,
I´ve been following your election closely and I´ve enjoyed knowing more about your Diocese of Louisiana while doing so...actually, I´ve been snooping around your Louisiana, electronically, and as ¨posted¨ am thrilled with your new Very Reverend Bishop-Elect Morris Thompson (I even went back and read his ¨story¨ that he provided when he became a candidate).
BUT TRULY, you have a point. I think that most of us who are your friends sorta assumed this fine man got his job all fair and square and will be confirmed...quite automatically...no reason for alarm (and the Archbishop of Canterbury seems disinterested in our affairs as usual even though his FIRST REAL EPISCOPAL VISIT was to the HOB´s when they met in New Orleans)...not much of a supporter, I´m afraid especially in the case of a non-heterosexual being elected in Los Angeles.
I think all the drama has went to cover Los Angeles because the election took sooooooo long and the ABC was sooooooo lacking in moral leadership (again)...afterall, this guy doesn´t have anything much of substance/reality to share when he interfers, or lectures, TEC.
Meanwhile beyond Los Angeles and New Orleans the ABC and the Archbishop of York have NOTHING TO SAY about deadly and immoral activities at the Anglican Communion...I guess you might consider yourselves lucky that you´ve been overlooked by HIM but loved by us...regularly, daily, we are happy and devoted to you and the wonders of Louisiana and your NEW Bishop-elect too (on a personal note, thank God it wasn´t Smith, I can say that with good conscience over and over again).
Leonardo
Well, coming to the party late with my head in shame... I did take note of your election, told Compa that Louisiana had done a good thing and you approved of it and that people were calling him revisionist but of course you couldn't hear that so belatedly, I tell you what the conversation was up here. Congrats.
ReplyDeleteI also took note and reread his bio and congrats. May he prove a supportive, loving, and capable leader.
ReplyDeleteYou have every right for the rant, Grandmere. And again congratulations on getting a leader for Louisiana.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that other southern dioceses that elected "revisionist" bishops (such as Georgia) also received little attention, except at Stand Firm.
ReplyDeleteI am sure he is a good choice, blessings to Louisiana!
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is a Southern issue. Nor do I think anyone here in the Midwest at least doubts you'l are real 'piskies.' It is just sort of news cycle stuff.
ReplyDeleteYou'l had the bad fortune to elect a bishop on the same weekend when LA elected two who have a higher news value. Not human value, not even episcopal value, just news value. That is because the dolts on the schismatic side cannot see past their view between the candidate's legs. LA picked women and one in particular who has the same sort of stubborn honesty that +Gene has shown.
After all, the idiot of Canterbury did not even note let alone try to subvert the confirmation process for your new bishop elect. So how much news value is there?
My little blog is not much of a news site. I write essays a very select (that is to say tiny) audience reads. Once every blue moon or two someone actually comments on one of them. ;-)
So I did not mention the Louisiana election because I have not posted this weekend. Give me time, my essays do not get much readership but I actually do try to write them carefully. A coming title may well be: A tale of four bishops. It is in draft at the moment.
FWIW
jimB
Grandmére, perhaps people are confused, what with an episcopal election in the Diocese of L.A. and an episcopal election in the Diocese of LA.
ReplyDeleteFelicidades to the folks in the Diocese of LA upon the election of their new bishop, and to the folks in the Diocese of L.A. upon the election of their two new bishops.
Grandmére,I am elated that the Bishop elected in the DIocese of Louisiania was YOUR first choice.
ReplyDeleteTremendous!
Now, Mimi dear: in ALL things, give thanks! ;-)
ReplyDeleteJCF: no blog, but congratulated DioLA on their episcopal choice on "Daily Episcopalian/The Lead," BEFORE there was news out of DioL.A. later that day...
Checking further I notice that those Standing Limp groupies really tried to work you over as you discussed ¨moderation¨ and ¨let´s see what he does¨...also the bit about you liking him best during the ¨walk abouts¨ turned that little stone bridges woman bright red...good for you and may her little stone heart be transformed (but I think she must be on the payroll).
ReplyDeleteWell, I may have treated Louisiana like fly-over territory again, but you're a star over at Stand Firm in Viagra. Your comment concerning your new bishop got noticed. See Madpriest's latest post.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you were a revisionist? What do you revise? airline schedules? dictionaries? enrollment requirements?
I put on my hazmat suit and kevlar and went over there to take a look at the fuss. My! you're brave to go in there without a helmet, dodging the shrapnel.
ReplyDeleteI can't see what it is about Louisiana's new bish that gets their knickers in knots. He may not be to the right of John Knox as they would prefer; but, he's not exactly a flaming liberal.
Mimi -- truly, being ignored for being LA not L.A. is familiar to those of us sometimes from New Mexico who are asked about our visas and whether we had a long wait at the Border!
ReplyDeleteWe posted it at Episcopal Cafe´- but really most people don't cover elections of bishops unless there is some news about it. Did you cover Idaho?
ReplyDeleteMy friends, I'm sorry, but I don't buy any of the excuses.
ReplyDeleteI have never commented at SF before. I registered simply to say a few words in support of Morris Thompson, who was being trashed unmercifully, but my effort was probably a fruitless undertaking, with the exception that I now have a new quote to ornament my sidebar. I was polite and did not lose my cool in the in the comments in the face of the nastiness over there.
Len, yours was the only response to my plaintive comment at Fr Jake's that we elected a bishop, too. Thank you. Otherwise my comment was ignored.
Can you tell I'm pissed off? Don't worry. I'll get over it.
Oh, I did it...I got a little fresh posting regarding YOUR ELECTION in Louisiana at my Blog...I´ll blame myself if you don´t like it and take it right down.
ReplyDeleteAbrazos,
Len
http://leonardoricardosanto.blogspot.com/2009/12/heterosexual-priest-speedily-elected.html
Mimi,
ReplyDeleteI don't have a blog, but I was remiss, even as a person who reads you daily, but rarely posts, in not congratulating you and your beloved Louisiana in the election of a bishop you want to help succeed. I followed you to Viagraville, where I quit commenting two years ago. I admire your desire to stand firm when the merciless Hay Sarah throws out the "heretic" slur without a thought to the hurt she causes, and I regret that you felt(appropriately) not supported by your progressive friends. You know, we're a lot like the left-wing Democrats I also love: we aren't so great at staying engaged with each other in trying times.
Keep watch, Louisiana, He is coming.
The thing is Mimi -- one more straight white male bishop is not news even it he is in Louisiana and is progressive. Sorry. Cafe´ covered it - that's is all I can say.
ReplyDelete...most people don't cover elections of bishops unless there is some news about it.
ReplyDeleteAnn, I guess it depends on your point of view. To progressives in Louisiana, this was rather big news, but I guess not outside of Louisiana. We could have had Bp. Smith!
Len, I'll go see.
John, thanks for your kind words. They mean more than I can say.
I had to vent, and the rant is really not about me, but about about Morris Thompson. More of my anger should have been directed to the conservative blogs and the nastiness there.
Ann, did you see the link to the Café? I acknowledged the coverage.
ReplyDeleteSince I haven't blogged on ANYTHING in over a month, I'm hoping you'll give me a pass this time. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to change that soon, though. And when I do, I promise I'll say something nice about Bishop-Elect Thompson. :-)
Pax,
Doxy
My dear, I have just posted a reflection on all of this, including Morris. Your words are taken to heart -- and the obsession about sexuality drives so much these days. God bless you,
ReplyDeleteT
Doxy, ego te absolvo....
ReplyDeleteTobias, I'll go see.
My apologies. No excuses, but it's pretty much what Ann said, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteYou have a right to rant. I'm sorry.
Too much news coverage can also be bad. I assume a Bishop Smith would have been trumpeted to the high heavens by certain powers and would be a force on the national scene; however, what you've got seems to be a bishop that sees the work ahead and it will be work on the ground in Louisiana. Visiting all the parishes (in both senses), learning the people both in and out of the church, bringing them together to accomplish what needs to be done (feeding, housing, healing, educating [the Christians here would probably add present the good news]). Ideally the national news should be about what needs doing and what has been done in LA, not about the bishop directly.
ReplyDeleteWhen John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus, Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." He did not reply the sinners have been driven into exile or that I am received in the halls of the rulers of the land or my doings are shouted from the rooftops. Admittedly I'm not quite sure how to interpret the last sentence.
Too much news coverage can also be bad.
ReplyDeleteErp, I had, indeed, thought of that. Had Thompson been taken up as the darling of the progressive bloggers, he may have begun his ministry in Louisiana at a disadvantage.
oh, Mimi, I'm having enough trouble keeping up with the events in my own congregation and church right now.... so, a belated congratulations to you on electing this fine man.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine was in the running for bishop in an election here in Minnesota. She didn't win, but first runner up. Someday, maybe I'll know an episcopal bishop.
Mimi
ReplyDeleteMimi
ReplyDeleteMea culpa!! I read your blog, gave thanks to the Holy Spirit for doing her usual good job and moved on. I am glad that La got a good bishop that will continue to help that diocese continue to move forward. I shall endeavor to be more thoughtful in the future.
Elizabeth
Dear Mimi,
ReplyDeleteProbably because of you (and my summer in NOLA), my heart was much more interested in the LA election than in the L.A. election, even if that was the diocese where I began my journey as an Episcopalian. I did posts about both elections and posted updates when the elections were announced. Afraid I did no more than that, and it was only later that I learned about controversy over your bishop-elect. I do not go to THOSE places, so I only read of their storms indirectly.
I am delighted by Thompson's election and congratulate your diocese on choosing him. It IS a huge step toward the future. May consents go smoothly. Blessings on EDoLA.
Sorry I haven't responded but I've read your posts! When I read of your joyful news on your new bishop I was ecstatic! That is such a gift and I am praising God for this blessing! :-)
ReplyDeleteDiane, not only the events in your congregation but also in your family. Your father, mother, and you are on my daily prayer list. I know that it's a difficult time for you.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, Paul, and Ciss, I regret now that I caused so many of my friends to feel guilty, and I should have foreseen that would be the result of my rant.
Electing Morris Thompson was a big deal in Louisiana, and he won't have an easy time of it. He will need much prayer and support.
I am with Leonardo, I've been following as much as could and kept your Diocese in my prayers as I still do with his tasks ahead.
ReplyDeleteI'm so frustrated with the ABC in his ignoring a situation that condones killings of this kind as as "good thing!" Where is his voice here?! Since when do you ignore death sentences for something that is NOT a capital crime over anything??
As for the ABC....
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I didn't get too excited because I just didn't think you all could elect anyone decent. I am happy to say that I was wrong. I apologize for not giving you and the Holy Spirit -- a combination I should never have doubted -- enough credit. I was wrong, and I am glad. Congratulations. And, please pardon a presumptuous old dyke a mistake once in awhile. I won't let it happen again.
ReplyDeleteI'm late to the party. Sorry. I did see his election and as I commented to you over at Facebook, your thoughts over at SF were right on the mark.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the election of a great new bishop.
and I am very pleased to say that I know a "known raving revisionist" like you!
I did a little (naked) dance in the bedroom when it was reported on the early morning BBC news, if that counts in lieu.
ReplyDeleteMy beloved was mightily entertained.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnd how about your Saints: 12-0!
ReplyDeleteLindy, all is forgiven, not just you, but everyone who transgressed in what they have left undone.
ReplyDeleteDennis, thank you for your gracious blessing at Facebook. I received it with gratitude.
DP, a video would have been nicer than a blog comment. I'm just saying.
Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?
ReplyDeleteSeveral of us followed the election on one of Kirstin's posts on Facebook. I hated to leave for our concert and rejoiced when Thompson won. I also blogged it yesterday. Some of us care.
ReplyDeletePiskie, thank you for taking note.
ReplyDelete