Two Bishops Leaving in 2016

The Rt. Rev. Edward S. Little II, Bishop of Northern Indiana, writes in the latest Around Our Diocese newsletter:

This past Tuesday I presented a letter to the Standing Committee, announcing my retirement as of June 30, 2016. At the time, I will have served as bishop of this wonderful diocese for 16 years. My ministry as your bishop, however, will actually conclude three months earlier — March 31, 2016 — when I begin a three-month sabbatical to write a long-planned book.

Palm Sunday marks the first day of a new visitation cycle. In my closing cycle, I will have the opportunity to visit all 36 churches of our diocese and to thank you for your witness to Jesus, for your faithfulness in mission and ministry, and for your kindness and encouragement to Sylvia and to me.

I have said many times and in many settings that if I had the opportunity to choose any diocese in the Episcopal Church to serve as bishop, I would without hesitation select Northern Indiana. Our diocese is a profoundly Christ-centered community, a place where Jesus is known, loved, worshiped, and followed. Our relationships are deep. Indeed, the small size of our diocese is a blessing, because it has given me the gift of knowing people and parishes in a way that my colleague bishops envy. March 18, 2000, the day of my consecration in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of Notre Dame, marked a turning point in my life for which I will always give thanks. You have touched Sylvia’s life and mine, welcomed us into your hearts, and drawn us ever more deeply into the heart of Jesus himself.

Around Our Diocese

The Rt. Rev. Gladstone B. “Skip” Adams III, Bishop of Central New York, writes:

With love to all of the people of the faith communities of our beloved Diocese, I write to inform you that I have indicated to the Standing Committee my intention to resign as your Bishop Diocesan on or about October 31, 2016. At that time I will be concluding fifteen years as your Bishop. As best I can tell personally and drawing on wise people around me in prayerful discernment, this is a good time for a transition to new possibilities for the ongoing health of the Diocese in service of Christ’s mission.

Being your Bishop is an amazing privilege for which I will always be grateful. It has formed me and drawn things from me in ways that I could never have imagined. By grace I believe it has made me a more deeply faithful person. This wonderful and, at the same time, crazy vocation as Bishop has drawn me over the years to an ever-deepening life of prayer resting in Christ as my center and life. I have all of you to thank for that.

You may have noted above that I used the word “resign.” That is the specific canonical word, even when the intention is retirement. Even though I am retiring from Central New York, I do intend to allow myself to be available to the Church in any way that God’s Spirit may call forth. I am not stepping aside for any other position, although it is my understanding that once my resignation is public, I will likely receive offers for other opportunities. If it occurs, that will also be a time for discernment bathed in prayer and open to the Spirit who blows wherever she wills.

Read the rest.

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