Election to Council Presidency Surprises Western Louisiana Bishop
12/20/2006

Bishop D. Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana was so surprised by his “raising up” as president of the Presiding Bishop’s Council of Advice that he asked for time alone to pray before consenting to the nomination. The newly constituted council met with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori Dec. 4-6 in Weehawken, N.J.

“That was not what I expected when I went to New York that week,” Bishop MacPherson told The Living Church. “One of the important things to bear in mind is that I differ somewhat in my support of the Windsor Report. I want [The Episcopal Church] to stay in the Anglican Communion and to follow the Windsor Report. I talked to the [council] about that fact. I wanted them to have clarity and understand where I’m coming from.”

The council is comprised of bishops who are either presidents or vice presidents of the nine geographic Episcopal Church provinces. Bishop MacPherson, who was elected to a second three-year term as president of Province 7, which includes the dioceses in Texas and surrounding states, said Bishop Jefferts Schori may make some changes to the way council functions. Bishop Frank Griswold, her predecessor, used the council as somewhat of a listening post to understand how national and international issues were affecting individual dioceses and provinces. the rest