Almost as soon as I had posted yesterday came the announcement that Bishop Geralyn Wolf of Rhode Island had taken action in the case of Rev. Anne Holmes Redding.
As most of you are now aware, the bishop wrote to her diocese, "After meeting with her I issued a Pastoral Direction giving her the opportunity to reflect on the doctrines of the Christian faith, her vocation as a priest, and what I see as the conflicts inherent in professing both Christianity and Islam. During the next year she is not to exercise any of the responsibilities and privileges of an Episcopal priest or deacon. Other aspects of the Pastoral Direction will remain private."
There is both grace and discipline in the bishop's action, and from what I have read there has been an appropriate response from Dr. Redding. While this is far from the end of this incident, I cannot but help thanking the Bishop of Rhode Island for the sensitivity and forthrightness that she has shown. Let us pray that in their pastoral relationship, Bishop Wolf can provide Dr. Redding with both oversight and space to work through what it means to be a servant of the Living God.
Let us pray for a godly outcome to this strange situation.
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1 comment:
Kudos to a leader that will discipline both publicly and privately.
Meanwhile, another priest who has denied the very substance of his ordination vows, thereby de facto revoking his commitment to the doctrine and discipline of the Episcopal Church gets away with it.
Here in middle Tennessee.
Absent public discipline by the leader(s).
izzy israel
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