Eau Claire diocese elects William Jay Lambert as bishop

From ENS-

The Rev. William Jay Lambert was elected Nov. 10 as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire, pending the required consents from a majority of bishops with jurisdiction and Standing Committees of the Episcopal Church.

Lambert, rector of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Leesburg, Florida (Diocese of Central Florida), was elected on the second ballot out of a field of four nominees. He received 26 votes of 48 cast in the lay order and 18 of 27 cast in the clergy order. An election on that ballot required 25 in the lay order and 14 in the clergy order.

The election was held during the diocese’s 84th annual convention at Avalon Hotel and Conference Center in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

Pending a successful consent process, Lambert will succeed the Rt. Rev. Keith Whitmore, who resigned as Eau Claire’s bishop in 2008 to become assistant bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta. The diocese has been led since September 2010 by Bishop Provisional Edwin Leidel, Jr, former bishop of Eastern Michigan. Eau Claire’s Standing Committee served as the ecclesiastical authority during the period the diocese was without a bishop.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/11/11/eau-claire-diocese-elects-william-jay-lambert-as-bishop/

Eau Claire diocese announces 4 nominees for bishop

From ENS-

The Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire announced a slate of four candidates for its sixth bishop. They are:

The Rev. Robert B. Clarke, priest-in-charge, Holy Apostles’ Church, Oneida, Wisconsin (Diocese of Fond du Lac);

The Rev. Richard E. Craig III, former rector, St. John the Baptist, Portage, Wisconsin (Diocese of Milwaukee);

The Rev. Arthur B. Hancock, vicar, Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Hayward, Wisconsin (Diocese of Eau Claire); and

The Rev. W. Jay Lambert, rector, St. James Episcopal Church, Leesburg, Florida (Diocese of Central Florida).

The search process has run exclusively by application. There will be no nomination process and no petition process.

All candidates will be in the Diocese of Eau Claire for public gatherings, known as “walkabouts,” during the week starting Oct. 7.

The election is scheduled for Nov. 9 during a meeting of the Diocesan Convention in Chippewa Falls.

Under the canons (111.11.4) of the Episcopal Church, a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan Standing Committees must consent to the bishop-elect’s ordination as bishop within 120 days of receiving notice of the election.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/09/18/eau-claire-diocese-announces-4-nominees-for-bishop/

Episcopal bishop withholds approval to form new diocese

From Wisconsin-

After consultation with diocesan leadership, the Rt. Rev. Russell E. Jacobus, bishop of Fond du Lac, has announced he will withhold his approval to form a new diocese.

Separate conventions of the Dioceses of Fond du Lac and Eau Claire, meeting in October, had mutually agreed to form a new diocese pending consent of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church.

Church law also requires approval by the bishop of each diocese.

The vote to junction in the Diocese of Fond du Lac is now in question.

At the request of members of the Standing Committee, the ballots were recounted and an irregularity discovered.

The clerical order of 32 "yes" votes and 28 "no" votes was confirmed.

However, the lay order of 53 "yes" votes and 51 "no" votes may have been in error.

The recount by two members of the Standing Committee — who voted on opposite sides — found a result of 51 "yes" and 53 "no" votes.

More here-

http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20111104/FON0101/111040417/Episcopal-bishop-withholds-approval-form-new-diocese

Bikers hitting the road to help Haitian village

From Wisconsin-

Every church in the Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire will receive a visit from a motorcycle gang with a message: Don’t forget Haiti.

The Rev. George Stamm, a retired minister who led both Christ Episcopal Church and St. Simeon’s Episcopal Church in Chippewa Falls, is one of about 15 bikers who will ride from Superior to La Crosse for four days beginning Thursday — stopping at all 22 churches in the diocese to benefit Haiti.

Riders prepare to head out from St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Superior at 8 a.m. Thursday and the public is invited to cheer on the riders and pledge their support for the people of Haiti.

“The diocese has been involved one way or another to try to help out Haiti for 20-some years,” Stamm said. “We talked about doing this last summer, but for some reason it didn’t come off.”

The Rev. Arthur Hancock, a pastor at Church of the Ascension Episcopal Church in Hayward, organized the event designed to raise money through pledges gathered by riders.

More here-

http://www.superiortelegram.com/event/article/id/44360/group/News/

New Episcopal Diocese plan includes FdL

Fond du Lac's Episcopal Diocese may become part of a bigger religious picture.

Discussions will continue this week at the general convention in Anaheim, Calif., about the possibility of joining together the dioceses of Eau Claire and Fond du Lac.

Fond du Lac Bishop Russell Jacobus said although the local membership may have concerns about the future of St. Paul's Cathedral if a new diocese is formed, the cathedral would remain a center of local religious activity.

"Both St. Paul's and Christ Church in Eau Claire are seats for the bishop's throne. I would not want to give up either," Jacobus said.

Eau Claire's diocese has been without a bishop since April 2008. Jacobus has performed some Episcopal functions in the diocese, including an ordination and confirmations.

"They could elect another bishop, which they can't afford, or junction with another diocese. They are in the process of discerning what to do," he said.

Jacobus, who is turning 65, said he is willing to see the process through before considering retirement. Episcopal Church bishops are required to retire at age 72.

A decision from Eau Claire's diocese is expected in November, when it meets for its convention.

In the fall of 2008, each diocesan convention passed resolutions seeking consent to begin the juncture process from its general convention, the necessary first step in the process. Jacobus said the union is called a juncture, not a merging of two dioceses, because both would cease to exist and a new diocese would be formed.

When both dioceses are ready to pursue substantive discussion about juncture, they will move in that direction. If those discussions yield a decision by both dioceses to become one new diocese, then consent of the general convention will be sought.

More here-

http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20090707/FON0101/907070332/1289/FON01/New-Episcopal-Diocese-plan-includes-FdL

EAU CLAIRE, FOND DU LAC: Dioceses call merger resolution 'premature'

From Episcopal Life Online-

The Episcopal dioceses of Eau Claire and Fond du Lac, located in the state of Wisconsin, will not ask the upcoming meeting of General Convention for permission to merge.
A June 26 news release from the two dioceses said that presenting the July 8-17 General Convention in Anaheim, California, with a resolution to merge, or junction, the two "would be premature."

Fond du Lac Bishop Russell Jacobus said June 29 in an interview with Episcopal News Service that Eau Claire "is not at the point of being able to do any serious discussions or planning."

Eau Claire has been without a bishop since Keith B. Whitmore left in April 2008 to become assisting bishop in the Diocese of Atlanta.

Representatives of the two dioceses, which encompass the northern two-thirds of the state, met in January 2008 "to discuss common mission opportunities because of similar ministry challenges, comparable demographics and shared heritage of the dioceses," according to the joint news release. The idea of junction came up during this meeting.

In the fall of 2008, both diocesan conventions passed resolutions seeking consent to begin the juncture process from General Convention. Those resolutions were passed "with an understanding that consent of General Convention was the necessary first step in the process of discernment," rather than the immediate creation of a new diocese, according to the release.

Research by the chairs of each diocese's constitution and canons committees showed that the dioceses' understanding of the junction process "contradicted the understanding of our conventions when they passed their enabling resolutions," the joint statement said.


More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_111513_ENG_HTM.htm

EAU CLAIRE: Options considered as diocese faces uncertain future

A report from Episcopal News Service about the Diocese of Eau Claire which is actually smaller than the reorganized Diocese of Pittsburgh.

The Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire, without a sitting bishop since April and unable to afford the expenses of full-time episcopal oversight, has launched a process aimed at charting a course for the future.

A resolution passed at the recent 80th annual convention of the diocese, held November 7-8 at Christ Church, La Crosse, commits the diocese to consider five options for Episcopal oversight ranging from the election of a part-time, bi-vocational bishop to merging with another diocese, to dissolving the Diocese of Eau Claire.

The Right Rev. Keith B. Whitmore, elected Bishop of Eau Claire in 1998, announced his resignation in March 2008 in order to become assisting bishop in the Diocese of Atlanta.

The Diocese of Eau Claire, originally carved out of the dioceses of Fond du Lac and Milwaukee in 1927, has historically been a small diocese. Today it is home to 22 congregations with combined average Sunday attendance in 2007 of 952 persons, 45 percent of whom worship in three congregations. Seven churches have Sunday attendance below 20 persons; eight between 20 and 50; and four between 50 and 60. Average Sunday attendance dropped by five percent from 2006 to 2007.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_102845_ENG_HTM.htm