September 25, 2023
My brothers and sisters, my siblings in Christ,
I write to you today as I promised I would after the House of Bishops meeting concluded. We spent a great deal of time discussing the painful experience we are all living through related to the Title IV process highlighted by the letter from House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris to the House of Deputies on August 30. After that letter’s release, information came out naming Bishop Ed Konieczny as the respondent in the matter. Bishop Ed later made his own statement, which went to the House of Bishops’ listserve. I don’t believe it was made public, but was mentioned in an article from The Living Church. Within The Living Church article, there is a timeline you can scroll through.
In our meeting, the bishops went through the timeline of events in the Title IV process with Presiding Bishop’s Chancellor Mary Kostel and the attorney for the Disciplinary Board for Bishops, J. B. Burtch. What became quickly clear is that there are no more details to be gleaned other than what you see in the timeline as there are issues of confidentiality.
A group of women bishops from Province VIII drafted a statement that was brought to the House to review. Additional bishops were added to this writing team, and together as a house, we adopted a statement of accountability.
What I want to assure you all is that one thing became very clear to me: The bishops are taking this very seriously. We have committed ourselves to this work and to accountability for our actions. In our statement, we outline much of our deliberations — I ask you to read the statement HERE.
I want to let you know that wrapped up in the emotions we all felt as we talked about this very painful experience for our church were emotions about the health of the Presiding Bishop. His well-being loomed large in our meeting, and I ask you to continue your prayers for his healing, for his family, and for his medical team.
Please know that your Bishop Provisional, along with all the House of Bishops, is committed to work for change in the Title IV process. Please pray for me as I continue my prayers for you.
