Praying in our Next Bishop

Prayer for the Selection of a Bishop (from BCP 2019):
Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a bishop for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic that we may receive a faithful pastor who will preach the Gospel, care for your people, equip us for ministry, and lead us forth in fulfillment of the Great Commission; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for the Leadership of the Diocese:
O God, by your grace you have called us in this Diocese to be a good and godly fellowship of faith. Bless those who have been called to exercise leadership during this season, especially the members of the Committee on Nominations, as they begin the search process for our next Bishop. Grant to them, and to each member of the diocese, a fresh outpouring of your Spirit, a renewed determination to seek your will, and the assurance of your presence; safeguard our unity and ignite in us a great passion for the mission of your Kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Updates

November 30, 2021

Friends,

It is an interesting Biblical study to examine all the times God moves in power for His people in the Scriptures. Nearly every time, He does so in response to the prayers of people desperate and eager to see Him work.

Think of the Exodus. It says in Exodus 3:23-25 that “Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel and God knew.”

After He heard these prayers, God appears to Moses out in the backside of nowhere in a burning bush and the rest is history, as they say.

We all know the constant refrain in the book of Judges is that the people each did what was right in his own eyes. But there’s another refrain throughout the book, too. When things get really bad, it says that the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help and every time they do, God raises up a Judge to deliver them from their enemy in response to their prayers.

All during the reign of the monarchs of Israel and Judah, the good kings are those that seek after the Lord and see Him answer their prayers.

Jumping to the New Testament, we discover that even the coming of Christ is immediately preceded by people praying to God to fulfill His promises to the people of God. Anna, the widow, prayed in the Temple day and night. Simeon, the devout, prayed for the coming of the Messiah and was rewarded with the opportunity to actually hold Jesus the Messiah in his arms before God called Simeon home.

Prior to the Day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit, Acts tells us in 1:14 that all the disciples were gathered in one place and devoting themselves to prayer and that after that, the Holy Spirit came as promised.

In the book of Revelation, chapter 8, we are told that all the prayers of the saints ascend before God like incense on the Altar. This little vignette is sandwiched in between God’s acts of judgment on the world for its unbelief and rebellion and on the devil for his rebellion and wickedness and reinforces the notion that God acts in response to the prayers of His people.

The long and short of things is that prayer that seeks God causes Him to respond. He calls us to participate with Him in His plans and will for our lives and the life of the world through our prayers. He especially calls us to pray for the church and its life and mission in the world.

With these things in mind, we have formed a team of intercessors to pray over and for the entire process to elect the next Bishop of the Diocese.

We desire to bathe the entire process with prayer so that God’s presence and power can work freely in and through everyone involved in choosing our next Bishop.

We desire to see God richly bless our next Bishop, as He has Bishop Guernsey, with His favor, wisdom, and power to enable the entire Diocese to accomplish His purposes today and into the future.

We are more likely to see His hand of blessing on this endeavor if we humble ourselves and seek Him during this process.

Will you join us in praying for our next Bishop and for the people and processes necessary to identify and call him to the Diocese?

If you are willing to do so, please contact me, the Rev. Tim Howe via email with your name, email address, and the name of the church you attend, and I will gladly add you to our ranks.

Once you join us, I will send you periodic prayer updates with specific prayers to pray for the people, committees, and status of the search process.  It is the plan to have the election next October 15 and have the new Bishop consecrated in February 2023.

Thank you for praying about this. I look forward to hearing from many of you!

Sincerely,

The Rev. Tim Howe
Executive Assistant to the Canon for Church Planting