The Rt. Rev. Bavi “Nedi” Rivera, Suffragan Bishop of Olympia since 2004, was installed as provisional Bishop of Eastern Oregon May 23 at Ascension School Camp and Conference Center in Cove, Ore. She had been serving as Assisting Bishop of the diocese since March 1.
Eastern Oregon has been without a diocesan bishop since the resignation of the Rt. Rev. William O. Gregg in 2007.
Because church canons call for a provisional bishop to be elected and because an electing convention requires considerable advance planning, the diocesan standing committee opted to bring Bishop Rivera in first as an assisting bishop. The installation service was preceded by an abbreviated convention held in the context of a Eucharist.
“We did not want to wait any longer,” said the Rev. Nancy Sargent Green, standing committee president. “It was much more important to get her into this chair, into the hearts and lives of the people of Eastern Oregon, and let her be our bishop.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Bishop Rivera will serve a minimum of 64 days in Eastern Oregon in 2009. The diocese will reimburse the Diocese of Olympia for the time that she spends in Oregon.
“They look at it as a missionary partnership, giving of their wealth to the beloved brothers and sisters who are not quite so wealthy,” Ms. Green said.
Bishop Rivera said the diocese was in the midst of a transition and would need to consider new ways of doing ministry.
“None of us know yet what that will be,” she said. “They have called a bishop who they believe can (among other things) think creatively and explore new models of the episcopate, strengthen lay leadership, understand and embrace shared ministry and area ministry models, understand the culture of the Church in the West and collaborate with other small and rural dioceses. This first step of ministry sharing between two dioceses is a first ‘new model of the episcopate’.”
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/5/27/bishop-rivera-pioneers-new-model-of-episcopate
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