There are now seven candidates for Presiding Bishop. Bishops J. Neil Alexander of Atlanta, Edwin F. Gulick, Jr., of Kentucky, Katharine Jefferts Schori of Nevada, and Henry N. Parsley Jr. of Alabama, were put forward by the Nominating Committee. They will be joined by Bishops Charles Edward Jenkins III of Louisiana, Francisco Duque-Gomez of Colombia, and Stacy Sauls of Lexington, who were nominated by petition.

The seven addressed us on Sunday evening, Mar. 19, sharing their vision for leading the Episcopal Church for the next nine years. All of them spoke well, and we deeply appreciated their willingness to put themselves forward. The next Presiding Bishop will certainly face some daunting challenges, not least being the problem of how to stem declining membership. We heard from the Episcopal Church's evangelism officers that a statistical analysis of recent membership figures indicate that it is in "systemic decline," and only a decisive change in direction will reverse this trend.

We also heard a report from the Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, appointed by the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies, whose task is to help the General Convention formulate a response to the Windsor Report. When this commission was appointed last autumn, I for one had few expectations that there would be a genuinely honest engagement with the Windsor Report. But under the leadership of its co-chairs, Bishop Mark Sisk of New York and Prof. Ian Douglas of the Episcopal Divinity School, the commission appears to have reached a consensus that our continued membership in the Anglican Communion can no longer be taken for granted.

The commission will propose several resolutions that will make clear the Episcopal Church's desire to remain a part of the Communion, specifically by declining to authorize same sex blessings and by discouraging the consecration of bishops who are in "same-gender relationships." It is an interim approach, to be sure, intended to get us to the Lambeth Conference of Bishops in July 2008. It does not adopt the Windsor Report's "moratorium" language, but it is certainly a step in that direction. There is now evidence that a majority of bishops are beginning to rethink the position staked out by the General Convention 2003 when it approved the election of the Bishop of New Hampshire.

Perhaps some context may be helpful here. The Churches of the Anglican Communion have been struggling with the question of homosexuality for a number of years. This led to Resolution I.10 from the Lambeth Conference of 1998, which declared that homosexual practice is incompatible with Scripture. Many in the Episcopal Church insist that this resolution has no binding force, and they argue that the legitimization of homosexuality is a moral imperative more important than Anglican unity. The actions of General Convention 2003 provoked strong reactions throughout the Anglican Communion, culminating in the Windsor Report from the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lambeth Commission in October 2004. The Windsor Report sharply criticized the Episcopal Church's actions and raised the possibility that it might have to "walk apart." This would severely erode the Episcopal Church's constitutional foundation as a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, and almost certainly would lead to schism. The Archbishop of Canterbury has recently declared that Resolution I.10 "continues to represent the general mind of the Communion," and he has cautioned the Episcopal Church that its actions could precipitate the breakup of the Communion.

In everyone's mind is the May 6 episcopal election in the Diocese of California, where three candidates have identified themselves as having same-gender partners. If one of these persons is elected, the consent process at General Convention will in effect become an up or down vote on Windsor, and the special commission's efforts to find a solution to hold things together until Lambeth will be for naught. The Bishop of Exeter, England, the Rt. Rev. Michael Langrish, brought an extraordinary message to the House of Bishops (no doubt from the Archbishop himself) that must have served as a wake-up call to many: the Anglican Communion will not permit the Episcopal Church have it both ways, blessing the homosexual lifestyle and enjoying the benefits of full communion. "'I suppose one of the major challenges for the Episcopal Church now has to do with whether there are enough of you to stand broadly on the same ground, holding a range of opinions on Lambeth I.10 but firm in carrying forward the Windsor vision of a strengthened and enabling communion life," he observed.

It appears that this common ground is now emerging. In order for us to get to the Lambeth Conference 2008, the only body which can bring some clarity and resolve to these divisive matters, we in the Episcopal Church must demonstrate restraint. At least amongst the bishops, I sense this is indeed happening, and so I left Kanuga hopeful. I want to urge our clergy and laity to continue to follow these developments but also not to lose perspective. By focusing so much of our energy on this, it is inevitable that we will neglect the work of God's Kingdom, and ultimately (ironically) this is to lose faith with Jesus Christ. People are not much interested in churches overly preoccupied with their internal difficulties. The principal decisions affecting the Communion will be taken at higher levels, and rightly so, for Anglican parish life becomes dysfunctional when it loses its pastoral identity.

Three areas of the Church's social ministry received considerable attention at Kanuga. We heard moving accounts of recovery after the hurricanes, especially in the Dioceses of Louisiana and Mississippi, where old attitudes and social patterns have been washed away. The Bishop of Arizona helped us to understand the consequences of proposed federal and state legislation on immigration, which would virtually criminalize the Church's ministry to illegal aliens. And a revised pastoral letter on the sin of racism was approved, which is supposed to be read published in all congregations of the Episcopal Church.

The bishops also approved a "Word to the Church," a summary of the Kanuga meeting, which can be found at: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_73053_ENG_HTM.htm. (the link is also on the home page of our diocesan website).

It was a privilege to represent the Diocese of the Rio Grande as your bishop. Mostly this was a time of encouragement for me, and I hope that I have been able to convey this to you. I do not want to minimize the serious challenges that lie ahead for the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, but I am hopeful that we are leaving behind the Frank Sinatra approach to doing church - "I did it my way!"

Yours faithfully in Christ,

+Steenson

The Rt Rev. Jeffrey Steenson is Bishop of the Rio Grande