Alabama Nominates Four in Bishop Search

From The Living Church-

The Diocese of Alabama has nominated four people, including its bishop suffragan, in the search for its 11th bishop.

The diocese’s search committee asked the nominees five sets of questions that addressed such topics as vision for ministry, spiritual disciplines, church growth, and handling conflict. The questions about conflict and unity became, for some nominees, shorthand for church debates about sexuality.

The nominees are:

The Rev. Kenneth L. Chumbley, 57, rector, Christ Church, Springfield, Missouri. “The strife in the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion over human sexuality has challenged the church, including my parish,” he wrote. “But we have handled the issue well. As the rector, I have sought calmly and objectively to inform people about the issues and how Scripture, reason, and tradition treat human sexuality. I have also sought to be an example of warmth and compassion to all people, regardless of sexual orientations.”

The Rev. Clare Fischer-Davies, 55, rector, St. Martin’s Church, Providence, Rhode Island. “Congregations that say they have no conflict remind me of couples who say they never fight,” Fischer-Davies wrote. “Subterranean conflict can be far more damaging than open warfare. In my experience, often the most trouble making members of congregations talk about how much they hate conflict.”

The Rt. Rev. John McKee Sloan, 55, Bishop Suffragan of Alabama. “The way this part of our Lord’s Church is set up is that the will of God is not delivered from on high through the hierarchy, or reduced to a book, even a very Good Book — we work out the will of God together, learning from each other, teaching each other, trusting the Spirit of God at work in Scripture, Tradition and Reason,” Sloan wrote. “I think the form of a conversation is very often more important than the content of the conversation. It is the love of God in Jesus Christ that brings and keeps us together, and I believe the way our Lord’s followers interact should reflect that love.”

The Rev. William C. Treadwell III, 50, rector, St. Paul’s Church, Waco, Texas. “To quote a friend of mine, ‘As a son of the south I tend to round the edges of things.’ Honestly, I find that very often this is a positive character trait and helps with the ministry of reconciliation,” Treadwell wrote. “I had the great blessing of growing up in a house with a father whose ministry was largely committed to working with churches struggling with conflict. Therefore the language of conflict resolution is my native tongue.”

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2011/4/27/alabama-nominates-four-in-bishop-search