After official ballots were distributed during the House of Bishops’ spring retreat in North Carolina last week, bishops began voting on whether to consent to the election of the Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester as Bishop of Northern Michigan.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has reported that the Rt. Rev. Gregory Rickel, Bishop of Olympia, announced in a recent email message that he has already voted not to consent to Fr. Thew Forrester’s election. He promised to share the reasoning behind his vote in a follow-up email.
The canons and constitution of the General Convention require that the bishop-elect receive consent from a majority of standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction to be consecrated. According to the church’s canons, bishops and standing committees have 120 days after the election in which to vote. Not voting is considered the same as a ‘no’ vote.
Fr. Thew Forrester’s election has sparked controversy because he underwent lay ordination as a Buddhist several years ago and was the only candidate nominated by the diocese.
Two other bishops with jurisdiction were consultants to the Northern Michigan search committee that nominated Fr. Thew Forrester. Bishops Tom Ely of Vermont and Bruce Caldwell of Wyoming have not made known how they intend to vote on consent, but they have previously issued statements indicating that they believe Fr. Thew Forrester is well qualified and that the consecration should go ahead.
Get your copy of The Living Church the same day it’s printed with the Online Edition. Hurry: Our introductory price of just $24.50 for a full year ends April 1, so order yours today!
5 Comments
Even the use of ' ' in the title doesn't eliminate the obvious bias. The Bishop-elect has made it clear that he is not a Buddhist and applying that lable to him hardly conforms to journalistic standards. One wonders whether TLC has become a proganda organ.
This headline is a travesty.
The Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester is an Episcopal Priest that uses a Buddhist meditation technique that enables him to understand his faith more deeply and apply those truths to love and serve his professed Savior- Jesus Christ.
Meditation and contemplation are venerated practices in most Christian communities.
This whole article comes close to breaking the 9th Commandment
The "Buddhist Priest" part of the problems the Diocese faces with this election has been blown out of proportion. True, it is an issue of importance but the primary focus shoukl remain on how Thew-Forrester was elected. That is the real travesty here!
I have sent the following email to all Bishops of the Episcopal Church.
"After close to 50 years as a member of the Episcopal Church and Diocese of Northern Michigan I am compelled to offer one layman's dissent to the above article.
Apparently those referred to as "leaders" of the Diocese of Northern Michigan feel a need to justify themselves and the flawed process they invented to bring about approval of their singular choice of Mr. Thew Forrester for Bishop-Elect. The solicitation of letters of support from retired Bishops, intentionally ignoring objections raised to the election process, inferences that as "leaders" of the Diocese they speak for an overwhelming majority of its members or that the Zen Buddhist question was the principal reason for people objecting to approval of their personal choice as Bishop-Elect are fraught with error.
Consider the following:
The Standing Committee, Commission on Ministry, Diocesan Council and Ministry Discernment Team are packed with nothing but supporters of Mr. Thew Forrester. By happen chance he also serves ex-offico on all of these committees which some might view as producing undue influence on deliberations. During the years these groups guided the Diocese membership has dropped from 3,900 in 1983 to a current total of 1900. Reported average Sunday attendance of 700 is probably inflated by including mid-week services. Considering there are 22 active congregations, not the 27 claimed, means an average attendance of 32 members each Sunday. Two of those congregations averaged 51 and 70 attendees as I recall so average attendance of the other 20 would be slightly smaller. In addition the congregation reporting an average Sunday attendance of 51 is now on the verge of closing its doors. I submit these facts do not support a ringing endorsement of Mutual Ministry, their leadership or that of Mr.Thew Forrester.
I challenge any member of any of the committees to document their claim that the Zen Buddhist matter was the front runner in objections to Mr. Thew Forrester. The initial and still ongoing objections to his approval rest with the method they used to assure his election. The Zen Buddhist issue arose later after publicity made it widely known throughout the Diocese. Other belated attempts justify his nomination by pointing to events that transpired centuries ago or using a recent election process in South Carolina shout of desperate grasping for straws to justify their actions.
Kevin Thew Forrester left the Diocese of Eastern Oregon after Bishop Gregg replaced Bishop Kimsey. Bishop Kimsey is a supporter of Mutual Ministry. Bishop Gregg's views on Mutual Ministry were different than those of Bishop Kimsey's and propelled Mr. Thew Forrester's move to Northern Michigan. There he rejoined Jim Kelsey with whom he had worked in the Diocese of Eastern Oregon. Therefore the fact Bishop Kimsey voices support for Mr.Thew Forrester comes as no surprise. It also points to the raw politics he and Bishop Ray have engaged in by promoting Mr.Thew Forrester to the House of Bishops via their letters.
As with Bishop Kimsey I wonder why Bishop Ray feels it necessary to praise Mr. Thew Forrester. Could the fact Bishop Ray actively recruited and brought him to the Diocese of Northern Michigan be a factor? I can understand why Bishop Ray was well informed of all aspects the discernment process. After all his son, Rayford Ray has been an integral part of what is referred to as the lengthily discernment process. Bishop Ray's defense of the "tenaciousness and faithfulness" of the discernment process and "overwhelming consensus" of support for Mr. Thew Forrester is an out-and-out misleading statement. His claim of overwhelming support for the approval of Mr. Thew Forrester fails to acknowledge the machinations that went on to pack committees and assure that result. As one Senior Warden put it to me, "Why waste the gas driving to a convention where the result is already a foregone conclusion?" Such a knowing comment only attests to the fact outright politics, not some prayerful and lengthy discernment process, dictated the outcome of what was describe as an "open process" for election of a Bishop.
For unknown reasons the Diocesan power structure seems incapable of recognizing one simple fact. They rigged the election process and refuse to admit it. In addition they all seem to suffer from an acute case of tunnel vision. The steady decline in membership is attributable, in part, to the folly of Mutual Ministry. The scheme to permit no one but Mr.Thew Forrester as nominee for Bishop as well as denying anyone else the right to be nominated as his adviser's smacks of nothing more than a blatant overreach by a group convinced of their own infallibility. Mr.Thew Forrester and his cronies have no grasp of how deeply they have offended many of us who have been a part of the Diocese long before they came upon the scene and who are being forced from the Diocese by their inflated sense of self-importance.
I mourn for the Church and especially the Diocese of Northern Michigan which seems bent on a path of self-destruction."
Peace---
Alvin G. Covell
11847 Covell Dr
Pelkie, MI 49958.
I am wondering why everyone is making such a big deal out of Kevin's use of meditation as a way to develop his relationship with God. It's a tool. Years ago while living in Califorina I attended ST. Mary's Episcopal Church in Lompoc. While there i got to know Father Stu he introduced me to meditation as a means of growing in faith. Until recently I had forgotten about using meditation, I think I should try it again maybe it can help me to regain some of my lost faith in the church and in religon. I was part of the mutual ministry processI was called and was ordianed a Deacon and served for a couple years in that role. Mr. Covell I would ask you did ask to be a part of the discernment group? I know each church was asked to submit names of people who wanted to be a part of that group. your name apears to be the only name that keeps coming up that has any issue with Father Thew-Forrester calling as Bishop. Kevin is no more a Buddist than I am. I ask the house of Bishops what they are afraid of?? Northern Michigan has been using the Mutual Ministry model for 25 years or more. Are the bishops afraid that they power to call priests and bishops is going back to the people. When the church was young all people were called from the population to serve based on the baptism covent and the decentment of the group. Kevin is a good honest man who loves God and takes his vows to heart.
I have considered Mutual Ministry to be a disaster from its introduction by the powers that led and still lead the Diocese. Therefore I think that anyone who supports MM should be required to enumerate just what it has produced in the way of results. My position is that since the Diocese has shrunk from 3,800 to 1,900 or less members in the past twenty-five years of MM is proof positive it has been no panacea for the ills of the Diocese.
If you reread my comments above you'll notice I said KGTF's buddhist leanings were inportant BUT NOT the primary reason for opposition to him. The most important issue was how he was elected. It was nothing more than pure, raw politics that would would put Tammany Hall to shame.
I think I speak with some knowledge of Diocesean politics. I've been a member of the Diocese for fifty years, served as a convention delegate more times than I can recall,as a vestryman and as a Senior Warden. I was also a layreader for twenty-five years. That experience alone told me the layity have no place in being a part of the priesthood by the mere act of volunteering. MM is never going to be the solution to the problems faced by the Diocese. It has ignored its older members for years and is just now realizing how difficult its financial position is. The blindspot here is their inability to recognize that the two are interwined along with a multitude of other problems.
Thew Forrester predicted last month the Diocese would be bankrupt in seven years unless things changed. Since there will be no influx of new members and the older will continue to leave or die the legacy he will leave, if elected, will be a less than enviable one.