The Diocese of Northern Michigan elected the Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester as bishop Feb. 21 at a special diocesan convention.
Fr. Forrester, the only candidate on the slate, was elected on the first ballot, receiving 88 percent of delegate votes and 91 percent of congregational votes, according to a diocesan news release.
The bishop-elect has served the diocese since 2001 as its ministry development coordinator and more recently as rector of St. Paul’s Church, Marquette, and St. John’s, Negaunee.
The announcement of Fr. Forrester’s nomination sparked controversy last month because he is also a practicing Buddhist and said he had received Buddhist “lay ordination” and was “walking the path of Christianity and Zen Buddhism together.”
Assuming sufficient consents are received from a majority of standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction, Fr. Forrester will be consecrated Oct. 17 in Marquette.
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6 Comments
"Thomas said to him, "Lord we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:5, 6, NKJ)
This view is no doubt terribly politically incorrect of me, and doubtless lacking in theological sophistication. Yet when one reads stories like this, why are we surprised to hear that the Episcopal Church shrinking in general and congregations are leaving for more conservative arms of Anglicanism in particular ? "TEC" needs become more Christ centered and more Christ focused if it is to relevant to those hungry for the Gospel, and it needs to do so now.
Unless the Reverend Forrestor attests to the Lordship of Jesus Christ without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, he should not be approved as a Bishop.
Michael A. Foughty
St. Mark's Episcopal Church
Alexandria, VA
If Fr Forrester receives sufficient consents from the diocesan bishops and standing committees, it will be an indication that the Episcopal Church has abandoned Scripture, tradition, and reason. Scripture says that there is but one God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that the Incarnate Son is the only way to the Father. Scripture also says that a bishop must be sound in faith. For centuries, tradition insisted that bishops promise to bandish and drive away all heresy. And reason says that two completely different religions cannot possibly both be true. Buddhism is a non-theistic religion, and its solution to the human problem is enlightenment, not the grace of God restoring us to fellowship with him and granting us life through the Holy Spirit.
The many contrasts and contradictions between historic Christianity and Buddhism would take more space than this comment would be allowed. Fr Forrester should choose one or the other - but he cannot possibly be both. The first creed of the Church was simply "Jesus is Lord." more has been said - but that statement is either true, in which case Buddha is not needed, or it is false, in which case, Jesus is not needed.
If a "Christian/Muslim" was rightly removed from priestly duties....how can a "Christian/Buddhist" be a Bishop. By the way, Christian/Buddhists do not exist no matter what one calls one's self.
let me preface this with the fact that I do agree with what those above me have said...for the sake of discussion I would like to bring up that some people I know who are devout Christians with an interest in buddism have often toyed with the thoughts such as this...
If Buddhism asserts no God (or lack thereof), doesn't it seem that Buddists could be free to believe in the one true God and follow Jesus as the way the truth and the life?
I also think it interesting that anthropologists often consider buddism a social program rather than a religion
Anyhow, Whether or not the two seem compatible to Forrester, whether or not the two actually are compatible... I'm certain that Episcopal Bishop (or even just priest) is NOT the right vocation for someone who seems to feel enough is missing from their Episcopal Christian spiritual life, to need Buddism.
Thew-Forrester and his followers in the Diocese rigged the election by preventing any nomination from the floor. His followers also assured their election as his "support team" by using the same ruse to assure their election. If you google the words you'll be able to learn a lot more about him and his predecessor Jim Kelsey when both were in the Diocese of Eastern Oregon.
After 48 years as a member of the Diocese of Northern Michigan I can only say that the Diocese is now the laughing stock of the Episcopal Church. The election just past has sealed my decision to leave the Diocese and take my faith elsewhere.
I understand the need for preserving one's faith, to ensure that it continues for centuries to copme, and it's for that reason that I am commenting on this issue, not only as a Ch'an regent, but also a participant in several inter-faith conferences.
It appears that the criticism in regard to Rev. Forrester is two-fold... first whether or not he received "lay ordination" as a Buddhist, and second, his use of meditation techniques related to the Buddhist tradition.
To begin with, "taking refuge" is not lay ordination and it has never been viewed as such within the life and history of the Buddhist tradition. With the exception of the "anagarika" that one might encounter among Theravada practioners in Sri Lanka, the closest thing to lay ordination is a temporary ordination, more often than not young male children, as seen in Thailand.
There are only two levels of ordination within the Buddhist tradition, as a novice (pravrajya or lower ordination, also used in temporary ordination) and upasampada (higher ordination) --- while "taking refuge" occurs in both ceremonies, it is not ordination in and of itself alone.
As for meditation techniques related to Buddhism, this has been accepted within the Benedictine community for years, so it is not strange, as I am sure many of you are aware of the writings of Thomas Merton --- or to quote St. Benedict himself, "something for the strong to strive after and nothing to dishearten the weak".
With metta and warm regards,
Ven. J.M. Dharmakara Boda
Mahabodhi Maitri Mandala in America
Los Angeles, California