EASTERN OREGON: Rivera to serve as assisting bishop
Episcopal News Service. March 3, 2009 [030309-02]
Pat McCaughan
Bishop Edna Bavi "Nedi" Rivera has been appointed assisting bishop of the Diocese of Eastern Oregon effective March 1, the diocesan standing committee announced.
She will become provisional bishop after a diocesan electing convention, which is still being planned, according to the Rev. Canon Lee Kiefer, diocesan canon for transition. "It hasn't been definitely decided yet, but we have two or three options, including waiting until our regular diocesan convention in October, which many people feel would be the best stewardship [most cost-effective]," he said.
Kiefer said the diocese is "absolutely delighted" to welcome Rivera. "She comes highly recommended and many folks in the diocese have known her from previous times. Her reputation is grand."
According to the agreement, Rivera, who also serves as suffragan bishop in the Seattle-based Diocese of Olympia, will work one-third of the time in Eastern Oregon, or a minimum of 64 days in 2009.
Because church canons call for a provisional bishop to be elected -- and an electing convention requires considerable advance planning to meet canonical requirements -- the standing committee opted to bring Rivera in as assisting bishop, followed by an election, "to expedite the process," Kiefer said.
"We did not want to wait any longer," said the Rev. Nancy Sargent Green, standing committee president. "It was much more important to get her into this chair, into the hearts and lives of the people of Eastern Oregon, and let her be our bishop."
Rivera's part-time position in Eastern Oregon has the approval of Bishop Gregory Rickel, diocesan bishop of Olympia. The Diocese of Eastern Oregon will reimburse the Diocese of Olympia for the time that Rivera works there. "They look at it as a missionary partnership, giving of their wealth to their beloved brothers and sisters who are not quite so wealthy," Green said.
Serving as provisional bishop of the Diocese of Eastern Oregon "is work I believe I am called to do," Rivera said in a letter to that diocese after her appointment was announced.
Reflecting on her ministry, Rivera's letter also said: "I was stunned when I was elected Bishop Suffragan in the Diocese of Olympia, and knocked off my feet when I was invited to participate in your standing committee's discernment process for a provisional bishop. When I read about the qualities you sought in a provisional bishop, I heard a call."
In another letter, addressed to the people of the Diocese of Olympia, she described the people of Eastern Oregon as "in a huge transition. With only a couple dozen (mostly small) congregations, they will have to consider new ways of being the Episcopal Church in Eastern Oregon. None of us know yet what that will be.
"They have called a bishop whom they believe can (among other things) think creatively and explore new models of the episcopate, strengthen lay leadership, understand and embrace shared ministry and area ministry models, understand the culture of the church in the west, and collaborate with other small and rural dioceses. This first step of ministry shared between two dioceses is a first 'new model of the episcopate.'"
Kiefer said the diocese has been without a bishop for nearly two years. "Bishop Jim Waggoner in Spokane and Bishop Barry Beisner in Northern California have helped us tremendously through this period" by performing some episcopal functions, he said. "It is very much appreciated."
Rivera was elected Olympia's first bishop suffragan in 2004. She is the first Hispanic woman bishop in the Episcopal Church and the daughter of the late Bishop Victor Rivera of the Diocese of San Joaquin. Ordained to the priesthood in 1979, she served in parish ministry in the dioceses of El Camino Real and the Diocese of California. Before moving to Washington she was rector of St. Aidan's Episcopal Church in San Francisco from 1994-2004.
"None of us knows how the details of how all this will work out, nor do we know where God will lead us," Rivera's letter added. "We never do, but this particular leg of the journey has no map. We will take it a piece at a time and we will evaluate how it's going on a regular basis.
"Mostly, I look forward to getting to know each of you – each and every congregation, commission, region and minister. I look forward to walking with you, to discerning with you, to joining you on our journey together in Christ. I pray that I will be God's instrument for wonderful surprises in the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon – surprises that delight, and that bring us all closer together and to God."
The Diocese of Eastern Oregon has about 2,615 active members and encompasses 22 congregations and 69,000 square miles. Created as a missionary district in 1907, the diocese was previously part of the Diocese of Oregon and became a full-fledged diocese in 1970.
Rivera succeeds Bishop William O. Gregg, who was consecrated in 2000 and resigned in 2007 to become assistant bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina.