In the Diocese of Rhode Island, as in the Diocese of Washington and elsewhere, not everyone accepts the idea of a woman bishop. The rectors of two parishes, in particular, found the concept difficult. The bishop, the Rt. Rev. Geralyn Wolf, met with each individually and offered to invite a "bishop visitor" to make an episcopal visitation to those parishes. She specified the visitor would be of the American church, that she and the rector would decide together who this bishop would be, and she, as diocesan, would issue the invitation and offer hospitality. And, she said, she'd like to come to the church sometime and meet the parishioners.

One parish chose with Bishop Wolf another bishop "we both felt good about." The church invited her to come for a service of Stations of the Cross followed by a pot luck supper. As to the future, "We just keep working it out."

The other parish "wasn't ready for a bishop visitor." They invited Bishop Wolf to officiate at Evensong, and to meet people, an offer she felt was "very generous." The next year, "some parents wanted me to confirm their children." The rector asked her to come on Sunday afternoon to confirm. When it was time for the next visitation, Bishop Wolf was asked to celebrate and to preach. The rector did not receive communion.

In each case, there seems to have been input from the congregation or the vestry, and Bishop Wolf appreciated the "very generous" invitations. "I'm not trying to change minds but just to get to know each other," she said

There were no forced visitations, no protests, no cleansing of the church and no Lamentations, and [TLC, Feb. 5]. Presumably anyone who did not want to worship with a woman at the altar stayed home, or at least in the pew. "We are trying to honor each other's positions without compromising our beliefs," Bishop Wolf said. The gentler approach seems to be working.