Bishop Ackerman's Address to the Diocese of Quincy Synod
Source: Diocese of Quincy
DIOCESAN SYNOD ADDRESS 2006
ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL
October 20, 2006

Excerpt:

"Am I happy with the State of the Episcopal Church? Absolutely not, because I am weary of witnessing the Church into which I was born continue to disintegrate. That’s not my opinion. That’s reality. While other parts of the Body of Christ both within the Anglican Communion and outside are prospering. That’s not my opinion. That’s reality. I am heartbroken that the very things that I thought God had called me to do as a deacon, priest, and bishop are all too often subservient to the agendas that are thrust upon us by a war that is being fought between the culture and the Church and within the Church. I am heartsick that some of the various programs that I believe I was sent here to implement have not taken place because all of us are involved in just trying to survive. I am brought to tears when I realize that more and more divisions are occurring because far too many people have blindly said, “Love me – love my dog.” When we begin to define our very identities in ways other than “I am a child of God and I am a Christian” then we may be guilty of having extracted one segment of our personhood and elevated it to an immutable identity. And that concludes my words about “trouble in River City.” If I define my ministry as a bishop on the basis of the disease of an institution, then I have failed miserably to do what our Patron St. Paul expected of Timothy and those upon whom he had laid his hands. " the rest