From The Living Church-
The Rev. Dr. Leander Harding of Trinity School for Ministry has joined the slate of nominees to become the ninth bishop of the Diocese of the Rio Grande. Harding is Trinity’s dean of church relations and seminary advancement and associate professor of pastoral theology.
The diocese, which encompasses New Mexico and the southwestern corner of Texas, announced Harding’s nomination by petition on March 20. The electing convention will convene April 24.
The diocese has also released question-and-answer essays by all six nominees. The essays reveal how the nominees envision helping the diocese heal after what the diocesan profile [PDF] describes as an extended period of turmoil in leadership.
“The argument could be made that the last ‘normal’ episcopacy in the Diocese of the Rio Grande was that of Bishop [C. James Kinsolving III], which ended in 1972,” the profile said after describing the tenures of Bishops Richard M. Trelease (1972–87), M. Terence Kelshaw (1989–2005) and Jeffrey Steenson (2005–07).
The profile said some in the diocese were wounded by Bishop Kelshaw’s leaving the Episcopal Church, after his retirement, for affiliation with the Anglican Church of Uganda and by Bishop Steenson’s leaving to become a Roman Catholic priest.
Each of the six nominees wrote of the Rio Grande’s need for a renewed sense of its identity.
“The bishop has to help humanize the divisive debates, create an envelope in which people can safely address differences with each other without the risk of winning or losing, and rebuild trust, mutual respect,” wrote the Rev. Ellis Tucker Bowerfind, rector, St. Luke’s, Alexandria, Va.
The bishop also should “offer an exciting opportunity to explore the natural beauty of the diocese, meeting the faithful clergy and people in their congregations, learn about and support their many important local ministries, and restore some creative peace to a diocese that has been troubled by ideological debates,” he wrote.
More here-
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2010/3/22/trinity-professor-joins-rio-grande-slate
