Several people, in acknowledging my retirement, have said things like, “Good for you! You couldn’t pay me enough money to take that job!” It’s true what former Bishop Bolick still says, “90% of this calling as bishop is marvelous and fulfilling, but the remaining 10% can sometimes feel overwhelming.” I’m old enough now to know that anything worth doing, worth living for, is going to have a significant element of “hard.” It’s hard to be a parish pastor, or school teacher, or medical professional, or construction worker, etc. It’s hard to be in a relationship, and hard not to be. It’s hard being a follower of Jesus and putting aside the more natural and cultural priorities of self-gratification, of me first, of power over.

As I’ve said before, I do believe any true calling is hard. Will there be some things about this season of calling that I will gladly walk away from? You bet! Maybe even some things that make me long for one of those little flashy-thing neurolizers from “Men in Black” that make you forget certain things. Yet I am profoundly grateful for the trust you placed in me and the season we shared of my serving as bishop. I am equally grateful for Bishop-elect Emily Hartner and for her upcoming season of leading our ministry together. As cliché as it can sound, we really are stronger together than we are apart. Yes, congregations are the basic expression of church. AND synods and churchwide organizations are immensely valuable in enhancing our collective ministry and embodying the Gospel for the sake of the world.

Speaking of our Bishop-elect, I pray and trust you will show her the same grace you’ve shown me and more as she transitions into this new role. When I was elected, my bishop in Georgia said to me, “Welcome to the world of no longer being a person but an event.” Or an office. I get what he meant. Bishop Michael Curry worshiped regularly when at home in Raleigh at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, in part because he simply couldn’t just show up in an Episcopal congregation and NOT be the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA. I kept my social media accounts all together (work and personal) because I didn’t want to lose myself in this office. I am a person—a flawed one at that—who served as bishop. I have feelings, family, and physical, emotional, intellectual limitations as well as gifts.

I simply remind you of what the current female bishop of Montana said to her synod regarding her male successor: A new bishop is a real person with all that entails, and most of all they are a precious child of God striving to live out that identity as best they can in the context of the current season’s call. Encourage Bishop Hartner, support her, respond to her, pray for her—yes, as your bishop, but as a person called to a big, wonderful, hard job.

Lastly, I want to thank the synod for the significant financial gift presented to me at Synod Assembly upon my retirement. Wendy and I are honored, humbled, and a bit overwhelmed at your generosity. We plan to put it to good use, including a $5,000 gift to the Choir Tour Scholarship Fund that dear Ms. Maxine Amos established this spring in my name at Lenoir-Rhyne. We’ll also use it to wrap up our pledge to the Lutheridge 75th birthday campaign, take a trip to Portugal to see our daughter’s family, who have now moved there, and as a down payment toward a car since I’ll be turning the synod’s Tim-mobile over to Bishop-elect Emily. I have no way of knowing who gave toward this gift or who gave what, so I’ll just say thank you for this gift. More than that, thank you for the privilege of serving as your bishop for 10 years.