FIVE OUTSTANDING NOMINEES
The Diocese of South Carolina is blessed beyond measure to have five outstanding nominees for the XV bishop of the diocese. The Search Committee is to be commended for the work it has done in assembling this happy, if bewildering, panel. Selecting only one among them will be a hard choice since any one of them would make an excellent bishop.
The first point to celebrate is that this is the first truly diverse class of nominees in the 236 year history of the diocese. The five include two women, one African American man, and an openly gay man (the Rev. Kevin Johnson said in his video interview, at minute 12:30, "a gay man as bishop of South Carolina..."). They are the first women, the first African American, and the first openly homosexual person to be officially nominated for the office of bishop in the Diocese of South Carolina. That in itself is a colossal, if overdue, milestone. If a woman is elected and affirmed, she will be the first female bishop in the history of the diocese. If the African American is tapped, he would be the first bishop of color in the diocese. And, of course, if the gay man is chosen, he would be the first openly homosexual person to head the diocese. If nothing else, this diverse class of nominees is great cause for celebration. It was a long and exceedingly hard road to reach this point, even more reason to set off the fireworks.
I have watched all five of the interviews posted on Youtube. Find the link to them here . I strongly encourage everyone to watch all of them too, all the way through. They run between 19 and 30 minutes each. The "views" numbers show that one nominee has had far more attention than any of the rest. If this means that many people are only interested in one nominee, it would be unfortunate for them and unfair to the rest of the nominees. We should all be lost in admiration and gratitude to all of the five for volunteering to take on what is surely the most challenging job in the Episcopal Church at this moment. All of them deserve, and have earned, everyone's full attention and interest. The least one could do is to listen to what they have to say. There is much wisdom, hope, and inspiration in these "interviews."
The Walkabouts/Conversations will be on Monday the 12th, Tuesday the 13th, and Wednesday the 14th. They will be conducted on Zoom, recorded, and posted on Youtube. I, for one, will be watching every minute, on Youtube, of the conversations with these wonderful people. I encourage everyone to keep an open mind and an open heart throughout these days. Give everyone of these fine people an equal chance to reveal to you what they have to offer to the diocese.
One trivial point. How to pronounce the word "schism"? Some people say SKIZ-em, while some say SIS-em. Both are acceptable, but the preferred pronunciation in the major dialects of English is the first, SKIZ-em.
Meanwhile, I hope you are enjoying this lovely springtime as much as I am. Here are a few scenes of my garden these days:
In the smaller part of the garden looking toward the central lawn and the larger part of the garden. The large tree is elm. The purple shrubs are loropetalum.
From the lawn looking toward the larger part of the garden. The walk path entrances are to the right and left of the picture. Walkways twine through this part of the garden.
In places, I enjoy mixing shapes, textures, colors, and forms to give interest. Here dwarf bamboo grows by variegated yucca, juniper, and abelia between large crepe myrtles.
This aromatic dianthus clump is irresistible.
