Albany: Area cleric to mind new flock as bishop
PAUL POST, The Saratogian
03/30/2006
LUZERNE -- The Rev. William Love is a bit like Moses, who found reasons not to lead when the opportunity first presented itself.

Then he considered that it was God, not people, asking him to do a job, and that made all the difference.

Love, the pastor at St. Mary's Church in Luzerne, has been elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany, which covers 19 counties from Pennsylvania to the Canadian border and western New England to Central New York.

'I felt God challenging me in my motivation for saying no,' he said. 'He was saying, 'Have you considered what I might want? If you're obedient, I can work in and through you.' That kind of turned things upside down for me.'

Having served 14 years at Luzerne's tiny parish, he'll soon be administering 130 churches with more than 20,000 parishioners. One of his top priorities, in addition to shepherding the flock, is the development of a new $9.1 million spiritual retreat center in Greenwich, which opened last year at a former 612-acre farm. The rest