We are quickly approaching the election of the 10th Bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta on June 2. As many of you know, this has been a long process for me, as one who was tasked with creating the slate of candidates, representing our convocation. I am extremely excited about what is to come, and think we have a solid group of candidates.
On June 2 at the election, I will be joined by Chris and Jackie Lintner as electors for the next bishop. As we pray and trust the Holy Spirit to guide us in this election, it’s also important for the people of St. Nicholas, as people of the Diocese of Atlanta, to give some feedback as to who you think would make a good bishop for our parish and for the diocese as a whole.
Next week, there are “walkabouts” across the diocese to meet the various candidates. If you can’t make one of those sessions, take a look at the following short introductory videos of the various candidates, read over the diocesan profile, and read the candidates’ essays, then let me know who you think would make a good bishop and why. You may provide some good insight for Chris, Jackie, and me as we discern who will get our vote.
Click on the names to read their resume and essays.
The Rev. George Adamik
Rector, St. Paul’s, Cary, North Carolina
The Rev. Michael Bird
Rector, Christ Church, Bronxville, New York
The Very Rev. Samuel Candler
Dean, Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta
The Rev. Martha MacGill
Rector, Memorial Episcopal Church, Baltimore, Maryland
The Rev. Canon James Pritchett
Canon to the Ordinary, Diocese of Western North Carolina
The Very Rev. Robert Wright
Rector, St. Paul’s, Atlanta
Below is offered by the Rev. Sam Candler, dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta. It is good food for the soul as we celebrate our lives’ work this weekend. Thank you all for laboring for God daily.
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| I live today because someone has labored. I live today because many, many, people have labored. On this Labor Day, I give thanks for them.
I eat today because someone served. Someone cooked. A grocer sold me the food. Or a local farmer at a farmers market sold it to me directly. A distributor supplied food to the grocers. A laborer tilled the soil. Another farmer planted and planned. Years before that, someone else prepared and cared for the very soil.
I wear clothes today that someone else sewed. Someone designed. Someone developed the store. Someone else marketed and advertised and kept the books and answered the telephones.
I wake up in a house that someone planned and built. Someone financed. Someone loaned. Someone brokered. I used money that someone paid me. Someone advised the investments. Someone did the banking. Someone else arrived to repair plumbing and wiring and appliances.
I drive a car that someone built. Someone marketed. Someone built the factory. I use public transportation, busses and trains, that someone else built. Someone planned. Someone else sold the bonds. Someone else drove.
I live in a city that someone manages. Someone leads. Someone polices. Someone administers and protects and cleans and keeps the utilities going. Someone teaches students who will be my neighbors and future laborers with me. Someone provided all the communication devices and techniques around us.
I am alive today because someone diagnosed my illness in a hospital. Someone nurses. Someone prescribes medicine and attends to medical emergencies and advises my future health.
I write these words on a computer that someone researched and developed. Someone labored for the electricity that powers it. I read a book that someone wrote. I read a newspaper that someone laid out. For all our industries, someone fabricated the designs, mined the metal, built the machines, and then recycled the metal. Someone developed the commercial building that houses offices for all these laborers. Someone sold the land.
My soul is inspired today because someone sang, someone else painted, someone wrote, someone kissed me. Someone preached, someone taught, someone challenged me.
I live a fruitful life because many, many people have labored. I know that they did not always labor for me in particular. Maybe they labored because they needed a job. Maybe they labored because they loved someone and wanted to help them. But their labor has also helped me.
All our labor, together, is what makes us a society, a culture, a civilization. I give thanks for that labor today, for each and every vocation that God has given to each and every one of us. For those without jobs, I pray for their quick relationships with a fruitful vocation. God wants each of us not just to have a job, but to have a vocation - a calling-through which we can be proud that we are serving the world. When our labor makes a positive difference in the world around us, we truly have a vocation; and vocations, working together, create a beloved community. I give thanks for those vocations this year. Thanks to each and every one of you who serve!
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