It is good to be home.
I left Fairbanks June 20th to attend General Convention in Louisville, KY. I wish I could tell you anything about Louisville, but the schedule and demands of my responsibilities at General Convention limited my experience of Louisville to my hotel, a pedestrian walk bridge to the Convention Center and the Convention Center itself. I didn’t have time for much else.
The Diocese of AK Deputation did an extraordinary job representing us. Your clergy Deputies were Mary Norton, Bessie Titus, Marilyn Duggar, and Julie Platson (Dawn Allen-Herron served as the Alternate). Your Lay Deputies were Dan Hall, Maggie McKay, Allan Hayton, and Adam Lees (Loyd Platson served as the Alternate).
The Deputies will make a full report at our Diocesan Convention, however, one highlight was the election of our next Presiding Bishop. Bishop Sean Rowe will become the 28th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church on November 1 this year. Until then, please continue to pray for our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, and our Presiding Bishop-elect, Sean Rowe.
Bishop Rowe, at age 49, will become the youngest Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. For quite some time, he was also the youngest bishop of the Episcopal Church. He was consecrated a bishop at age 32. But, as Alaskans, we know that the youngest priest ever to be elected and consecrated a bishop in the Episcopal Church is our own Bill Gordon. Bill was elected in 1947 while he was only 29 years old and had to wait until after his birthday in May of the next year, 1948, to be consecrated since the Episcopal Church Canons set a minimum age of 30 for bishops.
I look forward to Bishop Rowe’s leadership.
There were also two Dioceses formed through reunification. The Dioceses of Eau Claire, Fond Du Lac, and Milwaukee reunited as The Episcopal Diocese of Wisconsin. And the Episcopal Diocese of The Great Lakes was formed with the unification of the Dioceses of Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan.
This General Convention also celebrated the establishment of the Missionary Diocese of Navajoland. Navajoland’s official status was an “Area Mission.” Now, as a Missionary Diocese, they have taken another step forward in full self-determination as they now have the authority to call and elect their next bishop. As an Area Mission, their bishops were elected by the House of Bishops.
Following General Convention I was able to spend a couple of weeks with my wife, Patricia, visiting my family in the Rochester, NY area. It was lovely to spend some time catching up and enjoying some down time.
