Message from Bishop Kym: Wednesday, September 6

Greetings, beloved in Christ. I hope that you are well on this day, and I hope that you are taking the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful weather. We are on the cusp of fall, which means our days are warm and our nights are cool, and these days are so special and I hope that you are taking the time to enjoy them. I am taking this opportunity today to address an issue that has recently arisen in the Episcopal Church. Last week, a letter went out from the president of our House of Deputies, Julia Ayala Harris, about a disturbing incident that occurred at our last general convention with one of our retired bishops. In her letter, President Ayala Harris was careful not to name the bishop, as she described, filing a Title IV, which is our church disciplinary process.

Recently, news has come out that the accused bishop is the Right Reverend Ed Konieczny, former priest of the Diocese of Colorado, former bishop of the Diocese of Oklahoma, former bishop mentor to me when I was a new bishop. From President Ayala Harris’s letter, it is clear that her interactions with Bishop Ed were very different from my interactions, but just because they were different doesn’t mean there are any less real or any less valid.

You know that as your bishop, it is a commitment, a passion of mine, that church be a safe place, that we honor our baptismal promise to respect the dignity of every human being. And to do that means we must love in ways that respect people’s boundaries, people’s space, that church is a safe place. I’ve always said that church may not always feel comfortable because when we have to face our own shortcomings and our own sin, that is not a comfortable place to be, but church should always be safe.

The House of Bishops is gathering in a couple of weeks. Our original content for our gathering was about talking about the hard things of church, and this is a hard thing. Our Title IV process is difficult and long and hard, but the goal of that process is about accountability and reconciliation. We are accountable for what we do and God calls us to be reconciled, but that reconciliation cannot take place without real accountability. Know, that your bishop is going to be a voice for those who have no voice. I feel that that is my call, and I also feel that it is my call to always call us as church to be better, to live more into the Christ that we say we serve, that our lives will be reflections of our Lord Jesus.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has done a video recently to address this matter. I hope that you’ll watch it. It will be linked below, but I also hope that you’ll know that it is my unwavering commitment to strive for justice and peace, to strive for hope and healing, and to make the Episcopal Church in Colorado a safe place. Blessings.