Disciple: Answering the Unexpected

A reflection by the Rt. Rev. Anne E. Hodges-Copple

By the Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple

 Four years ago, just a couple of hours before I was ordained a bishop and consecrated as Bishop Suffragan of North Carolina, I prepared to sign some official documents when the Secretary to Convention said something that stopped me in my tracks.

“You do realize,” said Joseph Ferrell, “that under our Constitution and Canons the bishop suffragan may become the Ecclesiastical Authority in the event the bishop diocesan resigns.”

The statement froze my hand in mid-air. “No, I did not!” I replied with alarm and chagrin. For me, part of the attraction of the suffragan role had been working alongside the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry while avoiding some of the administrative and disciplinary work specific to the role of the diocesan. But given the procession was lining up, and I knew my 84-year-old mother had taken her seat in Duke Chapel, reconsideration was impossible unless I wanted to risk the wrath of people who scare me more than God. Besides, I thought, Bishop Curry wasn’t going anywhere.

So much for best laid plans. In July of 2015, after Michael Curry was elected the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, I had a very interesting meeting with the Standing Committee of the Diocese. We had several ways to proceed until the election and ordination of the XII Bishop of North Carolina, a process that could (and would) take close to two years. The Standing Committee could remain the Ecclesiastical Authority and try operating the day-to-day business of the Diocese. We could take the somewhat new path of asking for the appointment of a bishop provisional.*

Or, the Standing Committee, consistent with the pattern in our diocesan history, could appoint the bishop suffragan as the Ecclesiastical Authority. After much prayer and discussion, more prayer and a vote of the Standing Committee, I was designated Bishop Diocesan Pro Tempore for the transition, a call I had not expected to answer.

“So, Bishop Hodges-Copple, what happens to you now?” At most of my Sunday visitations to the parishes and missions of our diocese, I get some variation of this question. It is a good and natural question, and there are several layers to answering it. I usually quip, “Hey, I am the one diocesan employee with tenure.” Now, our new bishop diocesan has made it clear that he is eager to work with our current staff and he plans to seek, learn and appreciate what makes this diocese work so well and so successfully. He has stated on numerous occasions he feels blessed to inherit such a gifted, hard-working and harmonious staff. Even so, the bishop diocesan has the power to make the final decisions about diocesan employment – except for the bishop suffragan.

Sometimes I also quip that our new bishop diocesan is “stuck” with me. I overthink the concerns about “trading places” or stepping on toes, or some such nonsense. In truth, I am completely clear that I remain in the role to which I was called: to support the XII Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ near and far and in equipping the saints to do the work we’ve been called to do.

But I also understand what was hidden from me in 2013 when I was more focused upon a specific job description: assuming the role of the Ecclesiastical Authority was part and parcel of my calling as the bishop suffragan from the beginning. I’ve come to trust even more in God’s providence and wisdom that being a type of support bishop included a different kind of leadership role over the course of this transition period. And I have to say, despite initial trepidation, I’ve enjoyed this brief reign….I mean ride… I mean time-certain call of duty. I think I learned more about how episcope—oversight—is deeply dependent upon nurturing trust, collegiality and collaboration. It was fun both to laugh and appreciate it when the Rt. Rev. Peter Lee, the former Bishop of
Virginia who became our assisting bishop during the transition, would affectionately and respectfully call me “boss.” With such an excellent role model, it is not a challenge but a joy to let go of the reins and welcome our new bishop diocesan, the Rt. Rev. Sam Rodman, as my new “boss.”

*In recent years it has become fashionable to put the adjective after the noun in bishop-speak. For as far back as I can recall, we had diocesan bishops and suffragan bishops. In the last decade or so, the noun and adjective have reversed. This is in line with other usage such as attorney general and inspector general. I leave that story to another installment from our church historian, the Rev. Dr. Brooks Graebner or letters to the editors from the highly educated readership of the Disciple.

The Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple is the bishop suffragan of the Diocese of North Carolina.