Western Jurisdiction Blog

General, jurisdictional and annual conferences all begin with “high worship” and certainly the Consecration Service was “HIGH worship!” Read the rest of this entry »

Linda Sullivan has asked me to write a blog about the consecration service, which closed our time together at the Western Jurisdictional Conference.  Since I had the incredible privilege of planning this service, I have a unique perspective to offer! 

This is a very special service for the bishops of our jurisdiction (together, they are called the Western College of Bishops), because they all join in the “laying on of hands” on the heads of the two bishops-elect as they are consecrated and become full bishops.

I learned a great deal about episcopal protocol while working on this service! For instance, the bishops processed into the sanctuary in the reverse order of their election, stretching back through the years. This meant that Bishop Minerva Carcaño led the bishops, with Bishop Jack Tuell bringing up the rear (he was the senior bishop in attendance at the WJC, except for Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, who was the presiding bishop for the service (because she is the senior active bishop in the College), so she was the very last one in, carrying the crozier (the symbol of the episcopacy, which looks rather like a shepherd’s crook).  And that’s just a tiny taste of all the details that must be juggled when arranging a service like this! Read the rest of this entry »

The dreams and prayers of many Oregonians and Idahoans were fulfilled this morning by the Episcopacy Committee of the Western Jurisdiction when Bishop Robert T. Hoshibata was assigned to another four years in our Conference. Bishop Hoshibata was originally assigned to the Portland Area in 2004, the year he was elected bishop.

Changes in assignments: Bishop Warner Brown will move to the Cal-Nev; Bishop Elaine Stanovsky to Rocky Mountain/Yellowstone; Bishop Grant Hagiya to Pacific Northwest/Alaska. Bishop Minerva Carcaño will stay in Desert Southwest and Bishop Mary Ann Swenson will go back to Cal-Pac.

See photos of Western Jurisdiction Conference. Photos by Linda Sullivan-UMOI. Read the rest of this entry »

The Rev. Elaine Stanovsky, Pacific Northwest Conference, became the second person elected to the episcopacy in the Western Jurisdiction. Her election came on the 25th ballot at about 1 a.m. Tired delegates cheered and shouted as their task was accomplished.

 
Newly elected Elaine Stanovsky sits with Bishop
Ed Paup (L) and Bishop Bob Hoshibata (R)
(Photo by Linda Sullivan)

Walk into the room through the dark, heavy, wooden double doors into a world that dazzles, surprises, uplifts. Colors play against and with each other throughout the displays of fabric, metal, paper, clay, glass. Artists are lay people and bishops, amateurs and professionals, desert dwellers from the dry Southwest to the wonderland of Yellowstone to the tree shaded, wet Pacific Northwest. Read the rest of this entry »

On the 16th ballot Grant Hagiya was elected a bishop in the Western Jurisdiction! Bishop Hagiya was a member of the California-Pacific Annual Conference. Upon his election he receives an episcopal pin (from Bishop Hosibata).

 
(Photo by Greg Nelson) Read the rest of this entry »