Despite blizzard conditions which forced closure of some airports in the northern high desert country, the Very Rev. Dan Thomas Edwards, rector of St. Francis’ Church, Macon, Ga., was consecrated Bishop of Nevada Jan. 5 before a capacity crowd of 650 at a hotel convention center in Las Vegas.
 
With an average Sunday attendance of 180, St. Francis’ is one of the smaller parishes among the 93 in the geographically compact Diocese of Atlanta. It would be among the largest of the 35 sprawled across Nevada. Bishop Edwards is confident that he will adjust quickly to the new region. He converted to The Episcopal Church more than 20 years ago while practicing law in Idaho, a regional ministry partner with Nevada and similar in composition to his new See. He officially assumed the administrative responsibilities of bishop in mid December.
 
The day after his consecration, Bishop Edwards praised his predecessor, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, for bequeathing him a “very healthy” diocese. Bishop Jefferts Schori served as chief consecrator of Bishop Edwards, who said he came away even more impressed with her leadership skills as he has gotten to know her and her staff better since his Oct. 12 election.
 
Under Bishop Jefferts Schori, who served as Bishop of Nevada from 2000 until her installation as primate in November 2006, parishes were free to conduct same-sex blessings if the rector and vestry consented. Bishop Edwards said he believes the Anglican Communion has not come to consensus on the theological permissibility of invoking a blessing in the name of the church on a same-sex union. He said his policy will be similar to one commended by House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada, which said that anything short of a liturgical blessing is appropriate at this time.
 
“It is not appropriate for us to proclaim that blessing without consensus,” Bishop Edwards said. “We are free to pray for each other and to invite God’s grace on their behalf, anything that does not constitute a blessing in the name of the church.”
 
Bishop Edwards said he was comfortable identifying himself as a “Windsor Bishop” as described in Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams’ Advent letter to the primates. He is adamantly opposed to the first draft of the proposed Anglican Covenant.
 
“I would not want to nail myself to the Windsor Report as an infallible document, but I do see it as the best vehicle for holding the Communion together,” he said. “Line me up with what Bishop Katharine and the House of Bishops did in New Orleans.”
 
Locally, Bishop Edwards predicts that geography and demographics will prove to be bigger challenges than his planned modification to diocesan policy on same-sex blessings. Founded as a missionary endeavor to Chinese immigrants who helped build the first transcontinental railroad in North America in the 1870s, nearly a third of the diocese’s parishes are now located in the cities of Reno and Las Vegas. Nevada was an early pioneer in the ordination of non-seminary-trained clergy and Bishop Edwards said he enthusiastically embraces what is now called Total Ministry in The Episcopal Church.
 
“I am passionately committed to it as an excellent way to help people grow in the faith, especially in a place like Nevada,” he said. “There will need to be a few adjustments and changes. A lot of the necessary work was done by my predecessor, Bishop Katharine. Abolition of Canon 9 ordination [by General Convention] has also changed the process.”
 
Steve Waring
 
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