I'm listening to the Annual Conference Sessions out in the heat of Redlands. I knew it was likely to happen last night and it did. Molly, 31, was nominated for endorsement as Bishop. If she went forward she would be eligible to serve as Bishop for 40 years. YIKES! The Spirit of the Conference is wonderful-- they want to encourage and empower young people. Just what I've been working and praying for....
Molly withdrew her name not long after hearing the names read. I'm still proud of her and proud of the Spirit of the community for acknowledging her gifts and leadership qualities.
And, she can't blame me for this...I'm not there! :)
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That is just fascinating to me, probably in part because the mindset and method for endorsing an episcopal candidate in my own part of the world is so different. For instance, in the Arkansas Conference, we only endorse one candidate per quadrinneum, and that person has to be the first clergy elected as a delegate to General Conference. Who our candidate will be is largely known ahead of time, and deference is paid to that person when the GC voting starts.
Can you share anything about why Molly was identified as a potential candidate to the episcopacy at such a young age? And do you think this was a nod toward young adult clergy as a form of symbolic respect, or do you think there were those within the annual conference who really wanted to try to get her elected?
Andrew...great questions...just to refresh your memory...Molly was our first elected (led the delegation from Cal-Pac) to General Conference. She did an amazing job. (This is not just because I am biased...she really did a great job!) It probably did not hurt that right before they called for the nominations Molly led the General Conference delegation report to our Annual Conference Session. There are many first timers I am told, and all the younger folk know and love Molly...so it is easy for me to see that this motivated people to write her name down.
Molly is dynamic, articulate, and has many gifts that we in the west would identify as someone who would be a good episcopal candidate. Saying that, there's also a sense out here that we neeed a change in how we do leadership and are excited by new possibilities...such as Molly. Who knows whether she would have received the one endorsement should she have kept her name in the hat...but it is exciting to see people affirm her gifts and competencies...at 31.
It is fascinating...
I'd also add that there was some confusion in this process as manhy put our current Bishop's name down and my father-in-law (layperson, Conference Treasurer) got enough votes to be on the ballot...if he was clergy. I don't want to diminish what happened with Molly's nomination...just name the reality that the process was confusing to some!
I am so proud of Molly and all she has accomplished. Jenn and I have always said she will be a Bishop by the time she is 35. Glad your conference went so well for the youth and young adults. Our Jars of Clay concert was a huge success. Our Bishop is really into helping promote the young clergy and lay folks. He couldn't believe I loved the concert! Here's to all the young clergy out there, including YOU.
I can ALWAYS blame you, even if you're not in Redlands.
And, I think it's worth sharing our Cal-Pac nomination method, as it's quite different from other ones I know of: toward the beginning of our Annual Conference, members (lay and clergy) are given a blank ballot, on which they're invited to name up to 3 people they would lift up as candidates for the episcopacy. Anyone who gets 25 or more votes then becomes a candidate in our balloting. When we ballot, people are invited to vote for up to 3 of the names listed; anyone who gets a majority is endorsed by the Conference. After each ballot, whether or not there is an endorsement, we vote to see if we want to take another ballot. So, we can endorse multiple candidates, one, or none.
After that first vote, with the blank ballots, six people had enough votes to qualify for the ballot, and I was one. That first vote is not counted, except for the first 25 for any one person. So there's no record of how many crazy people thought it was a swell idea to lift up a really young nominee.
I've decided to just feel really honored and grateful for affirmation of young leaders... ;)
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