Bishop-elect Fisher

After a long, full day, I am happy to report that our Bishop-elect, Doug Fisher, is well on his way to receiving full consent for his consecration in December. Normally this process would happen through the mail, gathering the consent of Standing Committees from throughout The Episcopal Church. But since his election occurred within 120 days of General Convention, the process is quite different. First there was a hearing at 5:30 yesterday, at which Meredyth Ward, President of the Standing Committee, presented Doug, then Doug told the committee about himself, then Rich Simpson, Chair of the Standing Committee, spoke about the sarch process, I spoke as Chair of the Transition Committee about the walk about and election process, and finally Doug answered questions from the committee. The committee on Consents to the Election of Bishops then voted to recommend adoption of a resolution consenting to his consecration. This afternoon, that resolution made it to the floor of the House of Deputies, and we were able to vote to approve the resolution with Doug and Betsy (and Rob Hirschfeld, whose consent was voted on earlier in the day) looking on. Tomorrow morning we expect that the House of Bishops will approve the resolution, and his consent process will be finished. Then the fun begins! Doug and the other bishops-elect (there are 8, including Doug and Rob) will be seated on the floor of the House of Bishops in a sort of ceremonial welcome. And finally, they will be invited to the floor of the House of Deputies, and we will be able to introduce Doug to the gathered body as our Bishop-elect. Our search consultant, who chairs the committee on consents, calls it the Bishop Parade! It has been wonderful to have Doug and Betsy with us here at General Convention, and we are *this close* to being able go share that Doug has received all the necessary consents for his consecration. Stay tuned!