We’ve No Less Days to Sing God’s Praise
Our Next Bishop
Dear next bishop, we’ve been waiting for you for a long time. 3 years of intentional self-searching, wondering, and growing, and we are ready. Ready to be called, to be renewed, to write the next chapter in our extraordinary history. Help us recapture our evangelical zeal and maintain our commitments to justice. Dig deep into who we are, get to know us, and lead us toward Jesus.
We’re ready for a dynamic leader who will leverage our resources, our people, and our passion to help imagine and embody the Kingdom. We’re ready for a bishop who will help us plant new ministries, support local congregations in their local contexts, and share God’s grace in ways we can only envision together.
We know you will have boldness, wisdom, humility, vision, and integrity. Your experience leading large, complex systems through change and conflict will equip you to bring a sense of compassion as our Diocese seeks change which will last. Your ability to cast a vision of church that draws us together will guide us into a new season. Your deep, infectious, Christian faith, and your witness in the pulpit and public square will inspire us to follow where God will lead.
As you confirm, receive, and reaffirm our faith in God’s Grace, take the time to meet us and hear our stories. As we explore new media and technology’s ability to connect us across the Diocese and beyond, capture our excitement and show us new ways of sharing the Gospel. As you take your place in the House of Bishops, remind us that we walk together as a Church, and never on our own. As you pastor your clergy, hold them tenderly. Laugh with us, lament with us, love us all fiercely, and share in our journey with Christ.
In Virginia, we know the end of the story. We know we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise. But until those last days, we need a leader. We need a bishop. We need you.