Diocese of New Jersey | Bishop Councell

As the Church begins its observance of Holy Week, 2012, we – the Bishop and Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, together with our Anti-Racism Commission and Team – are deeply saddened and greatly troubled by the recent shooting death in Sanford, Florida, of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African-American teenager, by an armed neighborhood watch captain. While we await the results of the official investigation of this incident, one comment sums up the bare facts of the matter: “There is a lot of explaining to do when you have an unarmed teenager and a neighborhood watch officer who does not comply with a request [from the police] that he not follow him … and the kid ends up dead.”

It seems inevitable that the name of Trayvon Martin will be added to the sorry line (that runs from Emmett Till to Amadou Diallo) of blacks fallen victim to our society’s seemingly indelible presumption in favor of whites, their words more credible and their lives more valuable than those of blacks. We call it racism when one group imposes its race prejudice on others through the power of systems and institutions. The Florida case appears to us to be an instance in which the power of white privilege has (thus far) trumped justice. “How long, O Lord? How long?”

In Holy Week, as at no other time in the Church Year, we are reminded that the mission of God is to reconcile our sinful and broken world to God and us to each other through the Cross of Jesus Christ. It has been said that racism is like spitting in the face of God. In His Passion our Lord endured that and worse – even death itself. Yet, he won the victory. “By his blood, he reconciled us. By his wounds, we are healed.” In the end, Jesus wins.

Still, we have a lot to do and a long way to go in order to institutionalize Anti-Racism in our Church and to be agents of this kind of change in our society. We call upon our Christian brothers and sisters to join us in this anti-racist project and bring an end to senseless killing based on the color of someone’s skin.

Our Christian vocation can never be to “stand your ground.” The way of Jesus is to “take up your cross and follow me.” That is the way of life and peace. Regardless of how this case is ultimately settled, we call upon every member of this Diocese to repent of our own racist attitudes and actions, to make use of our Anti-Racism programs, to deplore this incident and every evidence of racism at work in the fabric of our Church and society, to strive for justice and peace and to respect the dignity of every human being.

So also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Alleluia.

The Rt. Rev. George E. Councell, D.D.
Mr. John B. Ackerman
Ms. Cheryl Browne
The Rev. Kuruvilla K. Chandy
The Rev. Carolyn H. Eklund
The Rev. Andrea Rose-Marie Hayden
Ms. Deborah Kirk
Ms. Angela Levy
The Rev. C. John Thompson-Quartey, President

A letter from Bishop Councell

October 21, 2011

Dear Friends in Christ,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I write to inform you that, after prayer and consultation with family, friends and advisors, I intend to resign the office of Bishop of New Jersey and retire in the fall of 2013.

Please be assured that no crisis or sudden deterioration in my health has driven me to this decision. By the grace of our God I plan to continue to serve as your Bishop for at least the next two years -that is, until I complete ten years in this ministry and reach the age of sixty-four. Since the process leading to the call and consecration of a new bishop usually takes eighteen to twenty-four months, I hereby call for the election of the Twelfth Bishop of New Jersey. Note that this call is for the election of a diocesan bishop to succeed me immediately upon her or his consecration and not for a coadjutor bishop.

I have informed our Presiding Bishop of these plans and the Standing Committee and I have recently consulted with the Rt Rev. F. Clayton Matthews, Bishop for Pastoral Development Guided by our Constitution and Canons and with such help and consultation as the Standing Committee may seek from the Office of Pastoral Development, we are beginning an orderly transition to a new chapter in the history of our Diocese under the care of a new chief shepherd. Information about next steps in the episcopal election process will soon be forthcoming from the Standing Committee.

My heart is filled with gratitude to God and to the Church for calling me to be your Bishop eight years ago. It has been both more challenging and more blessed than I could have ever imagined. I look forward to these next two years with you all as we love and follow Jesus Christ together and continue "Right Onward" in mission for His sake.

Lord, in your mercy, make New Jersey new. Amen.

Faithfully yours in Christ,

The Right Reverend George E. Councell, D.D.
Bishop of New Jersey

October 21, 2011

My dear Sisters and Brothers,

The Standing Committee was informed by Bishop Councell, our dear Bishop of his intention to retire in October 2013.

For everything to proceed in good order he is calling for the election of a new Diocesan Bishop in Spring 2013.

We, the members of the Standing Committee, duly informed, met with Bishop Clay Matthews, Bishop for Pastoral Development, to get an understanding as to what is required of us going forward.

Bishop Matthews was very instructive and we are prepared along with Bishop Councell and the Diocese of New Jersey to move "Right Onward".

We are fully aware that all of us will have many questions. Please be patient and stay tuned for regular updates as to where we go from here; keep our beloved Diocese and Bishop in your prayers.

Disturb us Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess we have lost the thirst for the water of life.

Stir us Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery, where losing sight of land we will find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hope, and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope and love. Amen. (Attributed, Sir Francis Drake, 1577)

Yours in Christ,

The Very Reverend René R. John
Standing Committee President