Who is Your Bishop and What The Bishop Does For Your Church Life
February 10, 2022

A biweekly update from the Search and Nominating Committee

Dear Sisters and Brothers of the Diocese,

 On Sundays, parishioners pray the Prayers of the People in which “. . .we remember Michael, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and Morris, Bishop of Louisiana . . . ”

The Right Rev. Morris K. Thompson, Jr. is the Eleventh Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, having been consecrated our bishop in 2009. He was born in 1955 and grew up in Mississippi.  After college, Bishop Thompson served in the Marine Corps before becoming an Episcopal priest in 1991 and serving as rector of congregations in Kentucky and Mississippi. He is married to Rebecca and they have two grown children, Virginia and Trey.

The Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana must have many talents and “wear many hats”:

  • First and foremost, our bishop is the spiritual leader of the clergy and the 17,000 Episcopalians in the diocese.  Episcopal bishops can trace their roots to New Testament times and the definition of the title bishop roughly translated to “overseer” .The Anglican Communion today teaches that we can trace a direct line from these earliest overseers of the church to today’s bishops. The original overseers in the church were the Apostles chosen by Jesus, whom he called to follow him, to whom he taught his message, and whom he prepared for leadership.
  • Like all modern bishops, our next bishop must also multi-task in the affairs of the diocese that we may take for granted. Today, the office of bishop carries with it a wide range of responsibilities, including defending the integrity of the faith, confirming and receiving new members into the church, ordaining and providing pastoral care for priests and deacons in their charge, providing community leadership, administering the business affairs of their dioceses, and participating in the affairs of the Anglican communion, both nationally and worldwide.

 Your Search Committee will provide updates on the Bishop search process every two weeks until the selection process concludes.

Ms. Carolyn Douglas & the Reverend Jay Albert
Co-Chairs
Search & Nominating Committee

You belong. You are children of God. No exceptions.

Bishop Duckworth’s sermon called us to remember the UpStairs Lounge fire in the French Quarter, a violent act of deadly arson that killed 32 gay men in nineteen minutes. In the aftermath, no church in the city would bury the dead. The exception was St. George’s Episcopal Church. Its rector, the Rev. Bill Richardson, did what he knew Jesus called him to do — he buried those men. He did so not without cost: he faced active condemnation from the larger community, but also from within his own congregation and from within our own diocese.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of two pivotal resolutions from the 1976 General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Resolution 1976-A069 and Resolution 1976-A071 declared that “homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church,” and that LGBTQ+ persons “are entitled to equal protection of the laws with all other citizens.” While we can celebrate many clear advancements for the full inclusion of our LGBTQ+ community in church and community life, the work is ongoing.

It has not always been a straight path. The church is human, and humans stumble. But consider how far we have traveled: from a church being rebuked for praying over the dead, to bishops wearing rainbow stoles given as gifts by LGBTQ+ Episcopalians at ordination. From closed communion tables to fully open sacramental life. From whispered exclusion to the joyful, public, Spirit-filled worship we offer tonight.

In our own Diocese of Louisiana, the transformation has been remarkable. Inclusive Louisiana, our network of LGBTQ+ Episcopalians and their allies, has been a light in this region for years — marching in Pride parades, offering pastoral care, and equipping congregations to proclaim God’s all-inclusive love. And here at St. Anna’s, you have led the way: becoming the first congregation in this diocese to celebrate same-sex marriage.

Bishop Duckworth’s conclusion made plain that actively creating a joyfully inclusive church is what we are called to do:

Not someday. Not when things are more comfortable. Not when the political climate improves. Today. The work of liberation is always a present-tense call.”

To speak that truth in this moment is not a partisan act. It is an act of Christian faithfulness. It is what prophets do. It is what the Church, at its best, has always done — even when it cost us something.

We serve a God who said: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” That includes everyone. Everyone is a child of God.

The Rt. Rev. Shannon Rogers Duckworth

Bishop Duckworth offered the Prayer for Travelers from the Book of Common Prayer for Deacon Luigi, who is relocating to Chicago. His contributions to Inclusive Louisiana, St. Anna’s, the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, and the broader community have been immeasurable. We are grateful for all he has given us, and we trust that though he leaves us physically, what he has created here will continue to grow.

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