Episcopal Press and News
NORTHWEST TEXAS: Homosexuality isn't the only issue, bishop tells interviewer
Episcopal News Service. July 16, 2007 [071607-01]
As Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas Bishop C. Wallis Ohl recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of his consecration, he sat down with the religion editor of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal newspaper to reflect on his tenure.
Ohl, 63, told reporter Beth Pratt that not the least of his challenges has been the Episcopal Church's continuing quarrel over homosexuality.
"It doesn't matter what the issue is," Ohl said. "We're going to have something to argue about as long as we have human beings. How do we treat one another in the midst of all that is, for me, more important than anything else - as brothers and sisters in the Lord or with 'no, not as long as you disagree with me.' "
Whether a bishop agrees or disagrees with decisions made by the majority of fellow bishops, his or her task is that of peace maker and preserver of the diocese, and thus, the church.
Clergy-led movements to take congregations out of the Episcopal Church and form relationships with other Anglican dioceses or provinces are a reality in the Lubbock diocese as well as in other areas. The diocese has filed a lawsuit in San Angelo to keep the property of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, in which the majority of the congregants have affiliated with Bishop Dunstan Bukenya of the Ugandan Diocese of Mityana.
Members of six of Northwest Texas' 39 congregations have left the Episcopal Church over the issue.
But the greatest threat to the Northwest diocese is a shrinking population base across the rural areas, Ohl told the newspaper.
Nevertheless, the bishop said, "One of the greatest strengths is the tenacity of Episcopalians in this diocese, some of whom live in a small town but are just not going to give up."
Speaking of the transition he had to make from rector to bishop, Ohl, the diocese's fourth bishop, called it a major step that may be impossible to prepare for.
"You don't have the same community connection," he said. "This community is 78,000 square miles. There's a great company of saints there to help with the witness, but they sometimes have to be cajoled, encouraged, dragged kicking and screaming - oh, no, it will be different when I do it, I thought."
He thought he had enough experience in working in a diocesan office to anticipate the challenges of leading a diocese.
"I thought I knew what to expect, but there is an awful lot you can't grip until you get there," Ohl said.
In addition to the power of West Texas tenacity, he has learned to "understand that ministry is not what the professionals do, but what we as Christians do. We had about 300 to 400 years of the priest, pastor, rector, whoever, not to teach us but to do it for us, and we let that person do it. Now, we are coming to a healthier New Testament understanding of this is what we are doing."
For example, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on the Plains in Lubbock, the congregation is serving breakfast on from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Thursday mornings for anyone in the neighborhood.
Attendance, which often reaches 100, reflects the neighborhood, which includes students, older people, street people, transients, different races and cultures, lonely people.
"The point is not, 'Who are you?' but, 'We're here, and we want you to know we're here,' " Ohl said."No questions asked, nothing required, no preaching. Just come and be. It's thrilling to see it happen."
Another case in point, Ohl said, is the diocese's health ministry and the parish nursing programs that are forming in many congregations.
Margaret Hiett Williams, director of health ministry for the diocese, said she is aware of the issues that are creating division in some churches, but she sees the solution as serving people's needs in the parishes.
The complete article is here.