June 5, 2009
By Mary Frances Schjonberg

While some unofficial tallies show that Kevin Thew Forrester will not receive the canonically required consents to his ordination as bishop of the Diocese of Northern Michigan, he said June 5 that he and the diocese will "respect" the entire 120-day consent period.

"I continue to respect that 120 days," Thew Forrester told ENS. "The process has a wisdom and integrity of its own. The diocese and I have respected that all the way through and will continue to do that. When the process concludes, I will have something more to say."

Thew Forrester, chosen during a special convention on February 21 to succeed James Kelsey who died in June, 2007, has come under intense scrutiny since his election.

Initially, concern centered on Thew Forrester's status as the only candidate at the convention and the question of whether his practice of Zen Buddhist meditation has diluted his commitment to the Christian faith, making him unsuitable to serve as a bishop. That attention led to the internet publication of some of Thew Forrester's sermons and writings along with a revision he made to the Episcopal Church's baptismal liturgy, raising further concern among some about his theology.

Under the canons of the Episcopal Church (III.11.4 (a)) that apply for all episcopal elections, a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan standing committees must consent to Thew Forrester's ordination as bishop within 120 days from the day after notice of his election was sent to them. In Thew Forrester's case, standing committees have until July 19 and bishops with jurisdiction have until July 25.

The Rev. Canon Charles Robertson, canon to the Presiding Bishop, told ENS that the consent process for a bishop-elect lasts the full 120 days as prescribed by the canons of the church, unless that person receives the required majority of consents before the period is over, at which time an announcement can be made. Until the required number of consents is received, or the 120 day period ends, bishops and standing committees are able to change their vote, he said.

Fifty-six diocesan standing committees and 52 bishops with jurisdiction must give their consents for Thew Forrester to be ordained. The lesser number of bishops is due to the fact that some diocesan sees are vacant or currently filled by assisting bishops who are not eligible to vote.

There are at least three unofficial running tallies of consent votes being updated on the internet. One is being compiled by Frank Lockwood, the religion editor of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, on his BibleBeltBlogger website. Another is on the Stand Firm in Faith website. Another, tallied by writer David Virtue is online at http://docs.google.com/View?id=dddvdjf9_392hr5b8tc3.

'Steeped in the orthodox tradition'

Thew Forrester told ENS that his theology is "steeped in the orthodox tradition and deeply rooted particularly in the desert wisdom of Christianity and in the fathers and mothers of the early church as well as the medieval mystics" and is "thoroughly grounded in the tradition." He added that the diocese's experiments with liturgies are a "recovery of some of our earliest Christian roots" while upholding the tradition of the Book of Common Prayer and "recognizing that it is a dynamic and evolving tradition, which is why it continues to thrive."

"We uphold the prayer book and continue to explore, and we've done so – and I've done so – as openly and responsibly as possible out of love for the tradition and out of commitment to the tradition and wanting to be in dialogue with the tradition and wanting to engage in dialogue with the 21st century," he said.

Thew Forrester acknowledged that people may hear "echoes of other traditions whether it be Buddhism or another faith tradition, but those are only echoes," but he said that the source has been the traditions of the early Christian church.

Consent process includes attention to church's faith, unity, discipline

The majority of those voting at an electing convention must sign a testimonial to the wider church that says in part that the electors believe that their bishop-elect is "of such sufficiency in learning, of such soundness in the Faith, and of such godly character as to be able to exercise the Office of a Bishop to the honor of God and the edifying of the Church, and to be a wholesome example to the flock of Christ."

Among the ordination vows that a bishop-elect makes is one to "guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church."

Northern Michigan's testimonial and Thew Forrester's ability to take that vow has troubled some bishops and standing committees, according to statements that some of them have released in announcing their votes. Announcing votes and issuing explanatory statements is uncommon in most consent processes.

The diocese and Thew Forrester have issued a number of statements about the election process and other concerns that have arisen. The bishop-elect told ENS that he and the standing committee have been "open all along to engage in direct conversation with anyone who's been willing to do that." He estimated that he has spoken to seven or eight bishops and half a dozen standing committees. He said he was not invited to be present in March when the House of Bishops discussed his election.

The Diocese of Washington's standing committee, which gave its consent, said in a statement emailed to ENS June 3 that "it is our belief that Bishop-elect Forrester's practice of Zen Buddhism, his creation of innovative liturgies, and his challenging theological reflections do not prohibit him from serving effectively as a bishop in the church." The statement also said that his election was done in accordance with the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church and noted that Thew Forrester had received "wide support" from his diocese.

Meanwhile, the standing committee of the Diocese of Pittsburgh withheld its consent because of what it called Thew Forrester's "questionable theology."

In a statement, it said it objected in part to his re-write of the church's baptismal liturgy because, it said, it excludes "references to the sacrament as being a cleansing from sin and renunciation of evil" and "appears to put an emphasis on human actions as opposed to divine redemption."

Diocese of Central Pennsylvania Bishop Nathan Baxter expressed similar concerns in an April letter to the diocese. He said that his "greatest concern" is that Thew Forrester's "sense or understanding of the trinity lacks an appreciation of the essential atoning and incarnate role of Jesus."

"Salvation seems more about self-enlightenment and a resulting union with God," Baxter wrote of Thew Forrester's theology.

In support of the bishop-elect, Diocese of Wyoming Bishop Bruce Caldwell, who helped Northern Michigan with its election process, wrote that he is "convinced that he is a person of strong Christian faith, a thoughtful theologian, and a voice of advocacy for baptismal ministry which is much needed in the Church."

"In my opinion, he will have no difficulty as a bishop guarding the faith and unity of the church," Caldwell added.

Diocese of California Bishop Marc Andrus did not release a statement about his decision to consent to Thew Forrester's ordination, but told ENS June 4 that he consented in part because he believed the bishop-elect could make his ordination vow to uphold the faith, unity and discipline of the church. He also said that he did not find any evidence that would override what he called "the wisdom on the ground" that leads a diocese to select a particular person as bishop.

Andrus, noting that St. Gregory of Nyssa's Episcopal Church in his diocese has long experimented with liturgies, said that the church needs "responsible liturgical experiments" as a way to consider what existing liturgies can be improved. Andrus said that Thew Forrester did his work with the approval of then-bishop James Kelsey.

Liturgical experiments, Trinitarian words

In his revised baptismal liturgy, which he used at least once (on Easter Sunday 2008) at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Marquette, Michigan, Thew Forrester replaces the so-called renunciations of "Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God," "the evil powers of this world," and "all sinful desires" with a new question and three invitations.

The new question asks "Do you seek to awaken to the eternal presence of God, who is your very heart and soul?" The baptismal candidates are then asked if they accept God's invitation to "to let go of self deceit to dwell in the house of honesty, where eternal Hope reigns," "to let go of all fear to dwell in the house of courage, where eternal Faith reigns," and "to let go of all anger to dwell in the house of serenity, where Love reigns."

In place of the first of three subsequent "acts of adherence," baptismal candidates are asked if they "turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as the way of Life and Hope," while the Book of Common Prayer's liturgy asks candidates if they accept him as their savior. The third question of whether the candidates will follow and obey Jesus as their Lord is replaced by the question of whether candidates if they "promise to follow Christ as the way of life."

Then, in the first three questions of the Baptismal Covenant, which reiterate the Apostles Creed, Thew Forrester rewrote the question formula of "do you believe in God the Father … Jesus Christ, the Son of God … [and] God the Holy Spirit" to ask "do you place the trust of your heart in God, the creator …God, the Redeemer … [and] God, the Sanctifier."

In a letter written in support of Thew Forrester, the Rev. Dr. Louis Weill, who teaches liturgy at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific said that the church always deals with its immediate situation while new issues arise "for which former responses are not adequate." Thus, some people experiment with liturgies to find new responses, wrote Weill, who helped construct the Book of Common Prayer baptismal liturgy and who teaches at the Episcopal Church-affiliated seminary that granted Thew Forrester master of sacred theology and doctor of philosophy degrees.

The bishop-elect's baptismal liturgy, Weill wrote, models the type of process which Episcopalians ought to use when developing new liturgical rites. "We need a process of local development, critical evaluation, and appropriate revision so that, in due course, the cream will rise to the top and the poor experiments, having been tested and found wanting, may drop off our plate," wrote Weill.

Thew Forrester addressed his theology of the Trinity, (according to a transcript online at http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/21058) during his Trinity Sunday 2008 sermon, saying that "the Trinitarian structure of life" means that "everything that is comes from the source," which he said can be named many ways.

"Everything comes from God. We give it back to God. And the spirit gives us the heart of gratitude. That is the Trinitarian nature of life," he said. "And you can be a Buddhist, you can be a Muslim, you can be a Jew, and that makes sense. And we all develop more elaborate theologies, but the truth is we live and have our being in a God who asks only one thing of us: to grow into people who give thanks that God is our center, God is our life, that we are one with God."

'Approaching the Heart of Faith'

On May 1, the Northern Michigan standing committee sent a letter to the other standing committees of the church, asking them to consider an essay by Thew Forrester, titled "Approaching the Heart of Faith," in which he addresses some of the issues raised during the process thus far.

Among Thew Forrester's points are:

• his profession that "Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior" and that, citing past theologians, the Christian church in its wisdom "has never said that there is only one way for understanding the Incarnation" or the Trinity;

• that "the largesse of the Anglican tradition has been, is now, and will be, capable of including and affirming divergent theologies";

• that "because we are created in the image of God, we are created in the image of the Trinity" and that "the Trinity is a symbolic way of affirming the hope expressed in John's gospel that ‘all may be one'";

• that as a bishop he would "guard and protect our faith, which is a pilgrim journey of love" and "embrace and uphold the rites of The Book of Common Prayer as they are the principal form of worship of The Episcopal Church and our diocese," insisting that what he called "our limited-use trial prayers and liturgies" fall within the form of the BCP and "reflect the spiritual history particularly of the church fathers and mothers and the mystics"; and

• that, in reference to his alternative baptismal liturgy, he "recognize[s] the symbolic and spiritual meaning in the language of Satan and Sin" while he "search[es] for ways to move beyond the inadequacy of literalism, be it with the Scriptures or The Book of Common Prayer," seeking "to discover anew ways to speak clearly, meaningfully, and truthfully, about the enormously destructive power of evil in our lives."

Consent process rarely attracts attention

Most bishop-consent processes take place with very little attention from the wider church. Three years ago, now-Diocese of South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence's intentions concerning whether he might attempt to lead the diocese out of the Episcopal Church became the lightening rod during his consent process in 2006 and 2007.

Lawrence eventually obtained the necessary consents from bishops and standing committees, but Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori declared his election "null and void" because she said the way some standing committees filed their consents violated the canons. Lawrence was subsequently elected again and received the needed consents.

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service.