Episcopal Diocese hears from candidates for bishop

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-

Three years after a traumatic split took the majority of its parishes, the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh is poised to become the first of four such fractured dioceses to elect a permanent bishop.

Five candidates visited the 11-county diocese last week. They have diverse convictions on some issues that led to the split. But all pledged to avoid imposing their own agenda on the 32 parishes, which range theologically from evangelical to moderately liberal. All have experience with mediation or reconciliation among feuding Episcopalians. All have led the revival of tiny parishes similar to many here.

And all intend to spend more time in parishes than in an office.

"The next bishop will have to be a missionary bishop, not an administrator," said the Rev. R. Stanley Runnels, 60, rector of St. Paul's Church in Kansas City, Mo., in a view expressed by all candidates.

The Rev. Scott Quinn, 57, rector of the Church of the Nativity in Crafton since 1983 and a top aide to the interim Bishop Kenneth Price, displayed his knowledge of the diocese, while the others focused on their desire to listen and learn. The Rev. Michael Ambler, 47, and rector of Grace Church in Bath, Maine, is a former attorney and self-described theological centrist whose professional training in mediation has been utilized by congregations in crisis. He emphasized his high view of scripture, describing a visit to the site where Jesus is said to have fed 5,000 from five loaves and two fish.

More here-

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/episcopal-diocese-hears-from-candidates-for-bishop-627933/