Are you persuaded that God has called you to the office of bishop? The Examination, Ordination of a Bishop, p. 517, BCP
By the time you read this the clergy and lay delegates of the diocese will have joined together in a bizarre electronic way, rather than gathering physically as would normally happen, to elect the eleventh bishop of Oregon. As I write this, however, the four candidates for bishop have just finished their walkabout of the diocese, engaging in five live-streamed question and answer sessions in lieu of the in-person walkabout gatherings that would normally have been open to anyone in the diocese who wanted to attend. During the live-streamed events the candidates addressed a host of topics from one day to the next, but the responses that moved me most deeply were those dealing with why they feel called to be the next bishop of Oregon. I listened to them talk about call, about how many times, for some of them, others suggested that maybe they were meant to be a bishop and how utterly amazed they were to hear such a thing. Oh no, one candidate said she replied the first time it happened, that can’t be right. But she heard it again and again over the years, until she finally came to accept that maybe that was her call. Listening to their stories reminded me that we are all called to our own unique ministries as we serve as God’s hands and heart in the world. I thought about how, throughout human history, there have been periods of time when the willingness of God’s people to answer God’s call seem to have been particularly important.
For example, decades ago I had a housemate for a year who was a French exchange teacher at the school where I taught. We became close friends and remained so until her untimely death four years ago. Her parents had also been teachers who during World War II were both active in the French resistance. Her father was actually captured twice by the Germans, but escaped both times. He knew if he should be captured a third time he would be executed. He continued to fight. In talking about all this one evening Liliane remarked that while she would never wish another world war on humanity, she would love to have lived in a time when so many ordinary people did such extraordinary things. When you think about it, there is another worldwide struggle going on right now in which the whole world is fighting against the same invisible enemy, one that has upended day to day life in ways that didn’t even happen when our country was engaged in World War II. This battle has been going on for six months, with no end in sight. In this battle too, there are ordinary people doing extraordinary things, but there are also ordinary people doing ordinary things that are making an extraordinary difference to those around them. Our call is to recognize where our gifts can be of value and then to be willing to share what we have, what we know how to do, simply who we are, with those who need us most. We are not all called to be bishops to be sure, but we are all called.
