WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS: Bishop announces plan to retire in 2012
Episcopal News Service. June 10, 2011 [061011-03]
ENS staff
The Rt. Rev. Gordon P. Scruton has said that he intends to retire as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts at the end of 2012.
Scruton, who has served the diocese as its bishop for 15 years, made the announcement in a June 9 letter in which he said: "I believe God has brought the diocese to a moment of transition. It is time to seek God's guidance for a new bishop to lead you into the next chapter of life and ministry in Western Massachusetts.
"When my time as your bishop is finished," he added, "I will be in the 17th year in this ministry and will be on the edge of turning 66. I feel a deep sense of gratitude for all the relationships and experiences we have shared over these years."
The process of searching for a new bishop now falls to the diocesan Standing Committee, whose president, the Rev. Meredyth Wessman Ward, expressed "profound gratitude" for Scruton's leadership. In a letter to the diocese, Ward said: "We will continue to rely on his prayerful guidance over the next 18 months and we know that the mission and ministry of our dioceses, parishes and missions will remain strong."
Ward outlined the steps that will lead to the eventual consecration of a new bishop on Dec. 1, 2012. The first task is the creation of two committees: a search committee that will create a diocesan profile and identify potential candidates for the office of bishop, and a transition committee that will manage the election process.
Ward said that an announcement concerning the slate of candidates is anticipated sometime in the winter.
The election of the new bishop is expected in June 2012, Scruton said, and the new bishop-elect "will likely move to the diocese in September 2012 so we will have three months to serve together..."
The Diocese of Western Massachusetts comprises more than 60 congregations from Worcester County to Berkshire County in the state of Massachusetts.