A
special message from the Bishop
I write to you this day, the Eve of the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle,
to follow up on my convention address as delivered on October 14 at the
Holiday Inn Convention Centre Hotel, Alexandria. Before doing this however,
I want to share two things with you. First, is my gladness with the manner
in which our convention was lived out. According to a wide variety of
people, the most common defining word expressed was the presence of a
sense of us seeking to be one. I realize there are some that may not agree
fully
with this, but this has been the feedback over the past several weeks,
and this is a first step. For this, as your bishop, I am grateful.
Secondly, looking back over the past three-plus years, I have prayed and sought for us to “not allow ourselves to get into ditches on either side of the road, but rather, take to the road together and seek to fulfill what God was calling us to be about in Western Louisiana, and this being the mission of his church, the building up of the kingdom.” As we entered into convention a few weeks ago, I felt this was being experienced in many ways, and now I pray we will move forward in the direction to which I feel God is calling us.
Of the several things that I raised within the context of my address, I stated that I would be bringing together a group of clergy and laity in the days ahead to work with me in the development of a gathering that would enable us to begin a process of reconciliation and healing in the ministry we share. Through the process leading to this, we would both explore and plan a way in which we as a diocese could together live out that which God has entrusted to us, and to do this to his glory.
I am pleased to advise you this work has begun, and the following people have been invited to share in the development of the gathering and related work. Dr. Dorothy Alexander (St. Luke’s, Grambling), the Rev’d William R. Bryant (St. James, Shreveport), Lisa Buchanan (St. James, Alexandria), the Rev’d Dr. Wayne E. Carter (St. John’s, Minden), the Rev’d John Clark (Trinity, Crowley), Susan Comeaux (Trinity, Crowley), the Rev’d Dr. Peter J. A. Cook (St. Michael and All Angels, Lake Charles), the Hon. Dee D. Drell (St. James, Alexandria), Regan Gaspard (St. Andrew’s, Moss Bluff), the Rev’d George Gennuso, Jr. (St. Michael’s, Pineville), the Rev’d Paula Claire Hall (Grace, Lake Providence), Larry James (Christ Church, Bastrop), Don Little (St. Mark’s Cathedral, Shreveport), Joe McKee (Polk Memorial, Leesville), Sherl Picchioni (Epiphany, Opelousas), Reece Middleton (Holy Cross, Shreveport), John Moore (Ascension, Lafayette), the Rev’d James F. Reed (Good Shepherd, Lake Charles), the Rev’d J. Peterson Smith (Epiphany, Opelousas), Kathleen Spires (Grace, Monroe), the Rev’d T. Whitfield Stodghill, III (St. Andrew’s, Mer Rouge and Redeemer, Oak Ridge), the Rev’d Catherine M. Thompson (Trinity, Natchitoches), Marty Thompson (Good Shepherd, Lake Charles), and Dr. Cheryl White (St. Paul’s, Shreveport).
In looking toward this shared endeavour, permit me to close with a modified version of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians that embraces us all, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg us to lead a life worthy of the calling in which we have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Yes, my brothers and sisters in Christ, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as we were called to the one hope that belongs to our call, one Lord, on faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.” [Ephesians 4:1-6]