A Meditation at an Episcopal Election

by Scott Field Bailey

Most every Episcopalian has someone in heart and mind that is The Bishop.

Each of us could call to remembrance quality experiences we have had with the one who is for us The Bishop. Some of you will recall that it was a faithful pastor, a devoted priest, a patient teacher, a wise councilor. For some of you your bishop was one with the Apostles as a guardian of the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church. Others of you will recall that your bishop's heritage was the faith of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs. Some will remember your bishop as a student of the Scriptures and a celebrant of the sacraments of redemption. Recall, also, that your bishop led all of us in the governance of the whole church.

Most of you will recall that your bishop was a strong advocate of the poor and the strangers, and especially of those who had no helpers.

Thanks be to God that you had the privilege of being with your bishop as members of Christ and inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Most all of us have blessed memories of our bishop and still can recall the joy of being his friend and his colleague. I give you an illustration of a fond memory I have of the one who is The Bishop for me.

When the Navy put me on inactive status in 1946, I became Rector of Christ Church, Nacogdoches, and Vicar of Christ Church, San Augustine, in the Diocese of Texas. The Bishop made his first visitation to East Texas. We were in my car. It had been a good day, and we were driving from San Augustine to Nacogdoches. It was a dark night, made even darker by the towering pine forests through which we drove. As we rounded a sharp bend in the road, there stood a huge white mule occupying both lanes. I had a choice -- either hit that mule or hit the ditch. I chose the ditch. We bounced down that ditch for fifty feet, crossed the high crown road to the other side and, in a great cloud of dust, slid another fifty feet.

Finally, I managed to get that Chevrolet back on the road. I was speechless, but I thought to myself, My God, I nearly killed my Bishop. Neither one of us spoke. After several minutes, John Hines tapped me on the knee and said, "Did you see that mule?"

Along with his great intellect, his theological acumen, and his social concerns, he had a keen wit and a wonderful sense of humor which not only deepened each human relationship, but which brought a freshness and a joy to all occasions.

Yes, I saw that mule. Thanks to John, we could laugh about it all of the way to Nacogdoches. Since then, I have encountered all kinds of "mules" in my path, but my mentor taught me how to laugh about them all the way to Nacogdoches.

As we call to remembrance our bishop or our wishes for a bishop, recall also that the Apostles who founded the Church were bishops. The Apostles chose their successors. Their praise is found in Holy Scriptures, such bishops as Timothy and Titus, Clemens and Linus, Marcus and Dionysius, Onesimus and Caius, and James (brother of Our Lord), Evodus, and Simeon. They were proclaimers of the Gospel and missioners of the Church!

Now, you, as Electors, are commissioned to find one who will become your next bishop, a proclaimer of the Gospel, a planter of the Church, and for countless souls, one who in heart and mind will become The Bishop.

O God, great in power, boundless in understanding, Wondrous in counsels toward your children: Fill with the gift of the Holy Spirit the minds of those who shall choose a Bishop for your Church, that we may receive one who is worthy to stand before your holy altar unblamably, who will advance the Gospel of your kingdom, who will administer the Word of your truth, who will offer gifts and spiritual sacrifices to you, who will renew your people in the font of Regeneration, and who will care for your people, equipping us for our ministries, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[COVENANT, Number 19, January 2005]

The Rt Revd Scott Field Bailey is V Bishop of West Texas (retd) and sometime secretary of The House of Bishops.