Four Bishops Noted in Resolutions
Diocesan Press Service. February 5, 1974 [74034]
GREENWICH, Conn. -- Four outstanding bishops of the Episcopal Church -- one recently deceased, two soon to retire, and one to become Presiding Bishop on June 1 -- were singled out in resolutions adopted by the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, meeting here February 5 -7. The texts of the resolutions follow:
Stephen Fielding Bayne, Jr.
WHEREAS, Stephen Fielding Bayne, Jr., deacon, priest, Bishop, scholar, author, Executive Officer of the Anglican Communion, Executive Vice President of the Executive Council, Dean, pastor and friend, has on January 18, 1974 entered the Church Expectant, and
WHEREAS, his many gifts and gracious spirit shall be sorely missed by this Church in general and this Council in particular, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that this Council sitting as the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church does hereby ex- press our Thanksgiving for the life of Stephen Bayne, our grief at his death and our sense of victory in the resurrection about which we learned so much from him. Be it further
RESOLVED, that this notice of this resolution be conveyed with our love to Lucie Bayne and to their five children.
Roger Blanchard
WHEREAS, Roger Blanchard left his post in Southern Ohio to share his administrative expertise with the National Church for the last four years of his exciting ministry -- a ministry that embraced the parish, college work, national administration, the deanship of a great cathedral, and the Episcopacy of a great diocese, and
WHEREAS, his gentle manner, sharp mind and big heart have endeared him to the many whose lives he has touched in each of these capacities, but especially in the position of Executive Vice President in charge of operations at 815,
WHEREAS, this is the final meeting at this Council prior to his retirement, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that this Council express our gratitude for the presence, the untiring service, and above all for the gift of himself to the enterprise of this Church in service to our Lord of Roger Blanchard, and be it further
RESOLVED, that this Council does hereby express our wish for Roger Blanchard that retirement will be filled with joy, peace, love and continued service, for without all of these Roger Blanchard would not be Roger Blanchard.
John Maury Allin
WHEREAS, John Maury Allin has served this Council and through it the Church with distinction since his election to this Council in 1970 in Houston by his fellow Bishops, and
WHEREAS, these same Bishops aided and abetted by those newly consecrated since the Convention of 1970 did see fit to terminate John Allin's term on this Council at a prematurely early date by their action at the Louisville Convention of 1973, and
WHEREAS, he has accepted the call of his Church through his fellow Bishops to come up higher or to be pressed down deeper (whichever the case may be) and to serve this Church as its Chief Pastor and Chief Executive Officer, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that this Council express our gratitude to John Maury Allin for his service as a member of this Council, and be it further
RESOLVED, that we pledge to him our love, our support, our confidence, our loyalty and our constant prayers as he accepts the weighty responsibility and high privilege of the office of Presiding Bishop.
John Elbridge Hines
He was born in Seneca, South Carolina 63 years ago, the son of a public health doctor who took on the town fathers in an epic battle over the location of hog pens proximate to the homes of the citizens of that community, prompting the local newspaper to run the headline, "It's Either Hogs or Hines ".
He was educated at Sewanee and the Virginia Theological Seminary, where his scholastic achievement marked him for future greatness.
He was ordained deacon and priest and began a ministry of notable success, revealing the talents of prophet, orator, and pastor in such abundant measure that his Church called him to the office of Bishop at age 35 and Presiding Bishop at age 54.
In that office, he occupied a moment of glory in the conscience of this Church. He moved this institution as few have ever moved it before -- as perhaps few will ever move it again. He called us out of the complacent self-satisfaction of the post-war religious boom and into the arena of concern, pain, controversy, and witness to him who is the Lord of history and the God who so loved the world that he dared to enter it.
He brought to the meaning of mission a new dimension. He forced a reordering of priorities upon a reluctant Church. He lifted our vision, he excited our hopes, forced us to dream big dreams of the task that had lain heretofore undiscovered before this portion of the body of Christ.
He restored our pride in an almost archaic structure. He called us to discover a new richness in liturgy and worship. He taught us how to be courageous and uncompromising, but at the same time how to love with a humility that reflected the beauty of his Lord.
He was and is a giant among men -- a leader among leaders. He was our Chief Pastor and Presiding Bishop for nine and one half years -- intensely human, tennis enthusiast, devoted husband, admired father, friend to us all.
With hearts overflowing with a gratitude that is exceeded only by our admiration, we bid him Godspeed in retirement.