Bishop Frey of Colorado Accepts Call to Trinity School for Ministry
Episcopal News Service. October 17, 1989 [89188]
DENVER, Oct. 16 -- The Rt. Rev. William C. Frey, bishop of Colorado, announced today that he has received an invitation to become president and dean of the Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, and is submitting his resignation as bishop of the diocese.
"I want to assure you that this decision has not been taken lightly nor hastily," he wrote in a letter to members of the diocese. Bishop Frey said he and his family "have taken counsel with a number of advisors, including our Presiding Bishop," adding that "it will be difficult and painful to leave this diocesan family and this state."
If accepted by the diocesan standing committee and approved by other bishops in the church, the resignation will take effect next spring. Frey will have served the diocese as bishop for almost 18 years.
Frey said in his letter that he believed "the missionary strategy of our church will be well served" by his resignation. "It seems appropriate that we should have fresh episcopal leadership in the diocese which can work with this family throughout the coming Decade of Evangelism." He added that he was "challenged by the opportunity of investing the last five to 10 years of my active ministry in preparing future leaders for our church."
"His leadership in the church has been tremendously important for us all," Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning said in response to the announcement. "The opportunity is a plus for the church -- and for Trinity," he said. Browning said Frey follows in the steps of "the superb leadership of John Rogers," who will leave the office of dean and president but will continue on the faculty.
Frey was consecrated Bishop of Guatemala in 1967 and expelled by the government in 1971 when he participated in protests over the killing of innocent civilians. He also served as bishop in charge of El Salvador and Honduras. He was elected coadjutor of Colorado in 1972 and became diocesan bishop a year later. In Denver he has been active in the charismatic renewal movement and lives in a communal "bishop's household" which he established.