Praying in the Bishop
St. Paul’s first letter to Timothy contains much excellent advice and counsel for a young church leader seeking to serve the Lord and grow the church. Paul lays before Timothy several concerns and instructions for organizing the church, teaching the faith, and providing for the ongoing ministry of the church as time marches on.
One thing to note is that 1 Timothy chapter 2 provides directions for the church to be at prayer, reverently, fervently, and consistently.
Chapter 3 provides directions for the qualifications for church leadership.
I don’t think this is a random fact that prayer comes before leadership in the letter.
Prayer, in God’s Kingdom, always comes first.
Paul knew this. This is why so many of his letters open with a word of prayer before getting into instruction. This is why he asked the churches for their prayers for him and for his ministry.
Jesus also reflects this in His ministry: Luke 6:12-16 informs us that before choosing His twelve apostles, He spent an entire night in prayer. He spent time with the Father discerning who would be His closest companions and the ones charged with spreading the faith.
Before His transfiguration in Luke 9, we are informed that Jesus was praying.
Before His arrest and trial, we all know that He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He was praying when the soldiers arrived.
Indeed, it is a fascinating study to read through the Bible and discover that God’s mightiest actions are almost always preceded by ordinary people praying. I commend that study to you; you will find it very rewarding.
Now, our diocese is about to experience our first major leadership transition when Bishop Guernsey retires in 2023. As you know, the Standing Committee of the Diocese formed a Nominating Committee to identify and put forward a slate of nominees to stand for election as the second bishop of the Diocese. The Nominating Committee has done so and recently announced those nominees to us.
Now it is time for us to pray reverently, fervently, and consistently. As individuals, as churches, and as a Diocese.
What do we pray? Several suggestions:
Pray that God will stir us up to pray across the Diocese, even now. Ask Him to show you how to pray. He will.
Pray that God will guide our minds and hearts by His Spirit that together we can discern His choice for our next Bishop.
Pray that the Lord will bless our clergy and all our delegates and alternates with humble discernment as we seek His will in this election.
Pray for the Lord to bless the nominees as they continue to submit themselves to this process.
Pray that He will bless their wives and families.
Pray that He will bless their churches and ministries in this season.
Pray that He will bless us with gracious conversations with each other as we prepare for the election.
And be sure to give thanks for His hand of blessing on the Nominating Committee which enabled them to accomplish the amazing amount of work they did within the time constraints they were under and for blessing us with this slate of nominees. Read the updates from the Nominating Committee and you will see God’s hand of blessing at work. Check them out here: https://www.anglicandoma.org/committee-on-nominations (Scroll down and click on the Committee’s reports.)
I encourage all our churches to incorporate prayers for the election into your regular prayers week by week. The Prayer for the Selection of a Bishop on page 648 of the Book of Common Prayer is a good, “catchall” prayer that is easily incorporated into the prayers of the people.
Finally, mark your calendars for October 14 and 15: Friday, October 14, at 7 pm at All Saints’, Woodbridge, we will hold a prayer service on the eve of the election. This is open to everyone in the Diocese to attend and will be a time for us to pray, corporately, for all these things mentioned above and specifically for the election.
Then, of course, October 15 will be the actual electing Synod, also at All Saints’. This will be open to the clergy of the Diocese and to registered delegates only. Everyone else is encouraged to spend this Saturday in prayer, asking God to bless the election and the Diocese.
If we desire to see God’s blessing on our election and then on our new Bishop, we must pray. It is as simple as that.
So, brothers and sisters, I encourage you to do so, reverently, fervently, and consistently.
May the Lord bless us as we pray,
Tim Howe+