Resolution: Bishop

Memorial regarding the constitutionally required roles of Bishops
submitted by Philip Van Dam / Peter Suwak

Whereas the office of the Bishop is an ancient office, and is mentioned in Holy Scripture; and

Whereas the office of Bishop, and the historic episcopate is an asset when we dialog with certain churches (such as the Orthodox, the Anglicans, the Moravians etc.); and

Whereas some parts of the ELCA have a distrust of what they perceive to be an accumulation of power in the office of the Bishop; and

Whereas the office of Bishop is given too many jobs for it to reasonably handle; and

Whereas the office of the Bishop is an obstacle to dialog with certain churches, such as the UCC, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, etc.; therefore be it

Resolved that the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod memorialize the ELCA Churchwide Assembly to study the role of Bishops; and

Whereas there are models of Bishop that remove the Bishop from the role of governance (such as with the Moravians); therefore be it further

Resolved that the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod memorialize the ELCA Churchwide Assembly to adopt an alternative in the model constitution for synods that would allow synods to separate the office of the president and the office of the Bishop. Such a decision would be left to the individual synod.