By the Rev. Lyda Pierce, Candidate for Bishop
I deeply appreciate the love and affirmation that people have shared since my nomination this weekend as a candidate for bishop. What started as a creatively playful moment last year has morphed into a somewhat daunting adventure. Yet after much prayer and consultation with colleagues, I now embrace this opportunity to offer myself, with fear and trembling, as a candidate for bishop.
Elections will take place at the Western Jurisdictional Conference, to be held July 13-16 in Scottsdale, Arizona. The jurisdiction has several wonderful candidates for bishop, and I’m confident that whoever we choose will help move us as a church to more fully incarnate the beloved community that God intends for us.
It’s an honor to represent my feisty and faithful Pacific Northwest Conference in the election. I trust that this experience can be one of grace-filled discernment for our denomination in the west of the United States, and I pray I can contribute to a time of holy conferencing in which the Spirit’s work of leadership, accompaniment and vision will be made manifest among us. With God’s help, and your prayers, I am ready for this.
The Rev. Lyda Pierce serves the Pacific Northwest Conference as Coordinator of Hispanic/Latino Ministries. She was endorsed as a candidate for bishop by the members of the 2016 Pacific Northwest Annual Conference. Follow along on Facebook at Ready for Lyda!
It was an honor to participate in the process of nominating someone for the office of bishop who is not seeking the position and can only serve for a limited time as an active bishop, but continue to witness in that position for life. I am remembering that Cal McConnell did not seek the office. In fact, he was the campaign manager for another candidate. Talk about an embarrassing development. But Cal did not seek the position. He did accept it when it happened. So let’s watch who Lyda selects as her campaign manager.