The Bishop - Postlude

 Postlude

Well my friends, it is time to draw our little narrative to a close as there a but a few loose ends to weave together. I shall attempt to finish the task as best as I am able.  Yes, the Bishop did resign his office, and Tony, the ever knowledgable diocesan historian was quite right, it was the shortest episcopate in diocesan history, but it was far from the most inconsequential. Bishop Perkins would forever be the bishop who would be remembered for authorizing same-sex marriage in the diocese, and certainly remembered with fondness and admiration by the LGBTQ community, and many others, for his courage and bravery in doing so.  Yet, for all the accolades and laurels placed upon him for this act of courage, he was loathed by the smaller conservative contingent, and is it not true that the voice of the angry minority so often drowns out that of the contended majority?  

The Diocese remained in the turmoil he created for some time and it fell upon the next bishop to get the house in order.  Who might have possibly been the one most capable and ready for the task?  It may come as something of surprise, or perhaps not, that after his nineteenth attempt at being elected bishop, none other than Robbie Ready, the "Susan Lucci" of episcopal elections finally got his Emmy in the form of a bishop’s mitre and crozier.  Bishop Ready went quickly to work to bring together the divided church, and I must say that this was his moment and he did it well.  In typical Robbie Ready fashion, he manoeuvred, he politicked, and charmed his way to a solution that pleased no one but was mostly acceptable to everyone.  The breakaway parishes were courted back into fold with the promise that they would be exempt both from having to perform same-sex marriages and from referring inquiring couples to liberal clergy would perform the task.  They had one further, and more controversial request: alternative episcopal oversight.  Robbie knew that to get them back, he had to concede the point and so he offered them a so-called “flying bishop” of a conservative inclination to serve as a suffragan bishop of the diocese and act as their de facto chief pastor. Rebecca Hope was elected without much contest in this role and I must say that she and  Robbie got on quite famously in their shared administration of the reconciled diocese.

Robbie wasted no time in getting about the other business that needed his attention as diocesan bishop, namely, the “delinquent” parishes.  He closed several in his first year, including St. Brigid’s and finally succeeded in putting poor old Percy Poorechap out to pasture.  Percy, however, decided to retire willingly on the condition that he could help out in a parish somewhere. Robbie quite wisely sent him to Hampton’s Corners to serve as Maddie’s “honorary assistant.”  She was quite happy to have the extra “free” help, and the new Bishop was happy to have found a place for him under the watchful eye of a competent young priest who would ensure that there would be no further baptisms of household pets. 

And what of Judy Jumblejump? She was indeed hurt for some time.  I’m not sure she ever fully recovered from the indignity of her rejection.  All of us, of course, are responsible for seeking out our own healing and bringing our griefs and sorrows to the foot of the cross.  Whatever conversations Judy had with her Lord will be left private, but I am told that she was always the first one to church every Sunday and she always said her prayers faithfully.  One parishioner from Hampton’s Corners, with whom I am in touch from time-to-time, tells me that Judy is still Judy, but something of a kinder and gentler version of her old self.

And what about our dear friend Bishop Perkins? Our time with him has run its course and now we must take our leave of him.  He retired quietly and although many retirement events were offered him, he eschewed them all. He did not want any celebratory parties or farewells, only the assurance that the people of the diocese would be faithful to God’s call and support their new bishop.  He, himself, had one request of the new bishop, that he might have a small country parish to live out the rest of his ministry.  Graciously, I am happy to say, Robbie found him one.  In fact, it was that little church of St. Edward the Confessor, the furtherest-flung parish in the whole Diocese, the one to which Bishop Verity regularly used to threaten to send recalcitrant priests, but for Bishop Perkins, it was just perfect.

Thus, it is here that we shall leave him and bid him
farewell, to live out the rest of his days and let his story quietly run its course, living the life he loved best, that of a simple country parson.

THE END