Outrage or Business as Usual

A conversation with Luke this week tipped me off to the practice of creating websites for episcopal candidates within the United Methodist Church. He pointed me to the Southeast Jurisdiction Candidates and North Central Jurisdiction Candidates where nearly 100% of them have created a website specifically to promote their candidacy.

United Methodist Episcopal Candidate Websites « Thoughts of Resurrection.

We’re going to jump on the bandwagon and draw your attention to Andrew’s post and conversation on the practice in a couple of jurisdictions to blatantly campaign for the office of bishop. It really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, as there have been campaign websites for at least the past two quadrennia. However, let’s mix it up here around the following questions: Do we really believe that the selection of bishops is a process of discernment, or should we all admit that it is a political horse race? Shouldn’t delegates in the information age have as much information about the candidates being presented for election as possible, or does this somehow impede the work of the Spirit? What does it mean for the church to have a “political” episcopate versus a “discerned/called/selected” episcopate? Last but not least, is the political election model of selection inherently a problem if we believe that Bishops should be selected by discernment?