The Rt. Rev. Martin S. Field, Bishop of West Missouri, and Carole G. Pryor, president of the standing committee, announce a pastoral arrangement resulting from mediation discussions:
In May 2016, the Standing Committee sitting at that time invoked a canonical process for “Reconciliation of Disagreements Affecting the Pastoral Relation between a Bishop and Diocese” (found in Title III of the General Canons of the Episcopal Church). A number of issues had arisen which, in the view of the Standing Committee, made such a process necessary. Since then, a number of meetings have occurred between the Standing Committee, Bishop Field, and representatives of the Presiding Bishop’s Office of Pastoral Development, currently headed by The Rt. Rev. Todd Ousley. This has been a long but fruitful process.
The current Standing Committee and Bishop Field have signed a plan for going forward: “Definitions of Responsibility and Accountability for the Bishop and Diocese,” the entirety of which can be found here. What follows is a summation of that document.Bishop Field will participate in professional counseling with a counselor appointed by the Presiding Bishop in order to improve his emotional accessibility and cultural sensitivity and to become better aware of how he is perceived by some and how he relates to all people.
Bishop Field will participate in professional counseling with a counselor appointed by the Presiding Bishop in order to improve his emotional accessibility and cultural sensitivity and to become better aware of how he is perceived by some and how he relates to all people.
Bishop Field will engage in a coaching/mentorship relationship with a person appointed by the Presiding Bishop. That person has been identified and has agreed to fill this role: The Rt. Rev. Duncan Gray, III, resigned Bishop of Mississippi.
The Standing Committee, in consultation with Bishop Ousley, will utilize feedback instruments to receive input from several groups with which the Bishop interacts: the Standing Committee, the Diocesan Council, the Deans of the deaneries, a priest and a lay person from each parish to which Bishop Field makes an official visitation, and from Bishop Field as well.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
