Bishop Candidates Meet & Greet

Join the Candidates Meet & Greet at Grace, or 

here on our  YouTube livestream channel.

April 19, 2024
 
Dear Grace,
 
I am writing to invite you to participate in an important event in the life of our church and Diocese. I hope you’ll consider attending and contributing to what will be a day of celebration and discovery for our community and Episcopalian neighbors.
 
We are an Episcopal church. The name indicates that we are organized around the guidance and leadership of a bishop. Historically, bishops stand in a long line of apostles, those appointed to carry out the work and teaching of our rabbi Jesus. Jesus commissioned the original twelve apostles. They then passed on their authority to their disciples by laying hands on them. In turn, these disciples then laid hands on their disciples, and so on… Our Bishop’s spiritual authority comes from this apostolic succession.
 
Curiously, the Episcopal church is also a democratic body, and we vote for our Bishops who are then consecrated into that ancient apostolic succession. Our Diocese will be voting for a new bishop at a special convention to be held on May 18. At that convention, representatives from all the churches in the Diocese will have a chance to select our new leader. It’s an important role, one that should be taken prayerfully and wisely. The convention delegates from Grace will be Eric Matthews, Jim Quitsland, Holly Renfrew, Ken Wesley, Ted Cozine, and myself.
 
There are four candidates for this episcopal election. You can learn more about the candidates here. Prior to the election process on May 18, the Bishops will be touring the Diocese for a series of “meet and greets” from April 29 – May 3. Grace has been selected as one of those sites. We will host the meet and greet on Wednesday, May 1, 7 – 9pm. You can find out more about the Diocesan Meet and Greets here. Beginning at 7:00 p.m. each of the four Bishop Nominees will have 20 minutes to introduce themselves to the audience and answer five selected questions. This event will be broadcast to all members of the Olympia Diocese. From 8:30 to 9:00 p.m., you will have a chance to chat with them directly.
 
I encourage you to attend for two reasons. First, good leadership matters, and your discernment in this process contributes to the health of our diocese. Our delegates would benefit from your input. Second, we have an opportunity to show hospitality to our future bishop and to our fellow Episcopalians who will be coming from both the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas. Toward that end, we need volunteers to assist with parking, greeting, set-up and take-down, serving dinner to the candidates and those accompanying them, and meal clean-up. If you are willing to help out, please contact John Kydd at: john@kyddlaw.com.
 
This is an important moment in our Diocese. We have an opportunity to shape the outcome.
 
Peace,
 
Rev. Eric