Bishop Warnecke Granted Leave of Absence
Diocesan Press Service. June 15, 1968 [66-26]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Rt. Rev. Frederick J. Warnecke, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem, has announced that he will take a six-month leave of absence from the Diocese to devote full time to the Church's national Board for Theological Education, of which he is chairman.
The Board for Theological Education was created at the 1967 General Convention at Seattle to develop a master plan for theological education in the Episcopal Church, covering all aspects of the ministry, and to implement the findings of a theological education committee headed by Dr. Nathan Pusey, president of Harvard University. The study was financed by a grant from the Episcopal Church Foundation, an organization of Episcopal laymen.
"We want to develop better methods of recruitment and screening to assure top quality in the ministry, " Bishop Warnecke said in the announcement that he would take a leave of absence. "We want the Christian ministry to have an equal show on college campuses with other professions and opportunities. "
"There will also probably be radically new plans for the seminary years geared closely to contemporary life. The Board further has been asked to plan for the continuing education, the salaries and deployment of clergy. As if this were not enough, we have been asked to consider the need for theological education for the laity. It's a big order. I am accepting because I believe this is close to the heart of the renewal of the Church. "
Bishop Warnecke, who will serve without title and without salary, also cited the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, the ferment in the United States, the loss of faith, moral problems, prejudice and violence as factors which led him to his decision.
"They speak of our need to witness to the Christian way with strengthened life as a Church," he said. "The ministry is critical in these matters."
The Bishop asked for his leave of absence at the request of the Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. He will travel extensively visiting seminaries and universities, having an office in New York but continuing to maintain his residence at Bethlehem. The Board for Theological Education does not have a staff at the present time.
Bishop Warnecke will be away from the Diocese for six months beginning October 1, 1968, during which time the Standing Committee will serve as the ecclesiastical authority. He will return to the Diocese in the spring of 1969. The Ven. Dr. Edward W. Stiess, Archdeacon of Bethlehem, and the Rev. Canon H. Arthur Doersam, assistant to the Bishop, will share pastoral and administrative responsibilities.
The Pusey report entitled "Ministry for Tomorrow" resulted from an 18-month study of theological education and called for a serious effort by the Episcopal Church to strengthen its leadership through career incentives for the clergy and improved theological education which was described in many instances as "outmoded or seriously deficient."
The Board which Bishop Warnecke heads has been asked to make a report to the House of Bishops at its next meeting at Augusta, Ga., in October, 1968, as well as a further report to the special session of General Convention to be held at Notre Dame University in August, 1969.