House of Bishops Adopts Statement
Bishop Lucinda and the Province VII Women Bishops participated in drafting the following statement, which the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church adopted at its virtual fall meeting Sept. 19-22:
STATEMENT ON THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF BISHOPS FROM THE HOUSE OF BISHOPS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH | SEPTEMBER 22, 2023
We, the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church, meeting online September 19-22, 2023, wish to express our heartfelt prayers, well-wishes, and love to the Most Reverend Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church, and his family. We fervently pray for his continued healing and restoration to health and wholeness.
Our time together in candid conversation and in fervent prayer has reminded us of how profoundly the love of God in Jesus knits the whole Church together as the Body of Christ, empowers us for service to God’s mission, and calls us to accountability one to another. We acknowledge the disappointment, pain, and grief felt across The Episcopal Church, and in any diocese, regarding the issue of moral, ecclesiastical, and pastoral accountability for bishops. The pain is absolutely real and urgent, both in the dioceses specifically affected by recent cases, and in cases where the recent complaints have recalled prior traumas elsewhere.