The Zen Episcopalian
By Mark Tooley on 4.24.09 @ 6:07AM
The modern Episcopal Church always strives to stay ahead of the latest fads. In recent years it has dealt with its first openly homosexual bishop, its first Islamic priest, and its first Druid priest. Now it might be on the verge of electing its first Buddhist bishop.
Kevin Thew Forrester, who is ordained both as an Episcopal priest and as a lay Zen Buddhist, was elected bishop by the Diocese of Northern Michigan (the Upper Peninsula) in February. He is also known as "Genpo," or "Way of Universal Wisdom." A majority of Episcopal bishops and diocesan standing committees now must consent to his election by July. The 2003 election of actively homosexual Gene Robinson as New Hampshire's bishop has already fueled schism within the Episcopal Church and the global Anglican Communion. Would a Buddhist bishop add to the division, or merely be an anticlimax?
"I have been blessed to practice Zen meditation for almost a decade," Forrester has explained. "About five years ago a Buddhist community welcomed me as an Episcopal priest in my commitment to a meditation practice -- a process known by some Buddhists as 'lay ordination.'" He further opined: "Literally thousands of Christians have been drawn to Zen Buddhism in particular because, distinct from western religions, it embodies a pragmatic philosophy and a focus on human suffering rather than a unique theology of God."
Forrester, who is 51 and has been an Episcopal priest since 1994, insists Zen Buddhism is compatible with his faith. "It's not a matter of holding two faiths. There's one faith and it's Christianity," he told a local Michigan newspaper. "The gift is that that faith is deepened by my meditative practice and I'm eternally grateful to Zen Buddhism for teaching me that practice and receiving me as an Episcopal priest." Forrester insists that his faith allows him to be "open to receive the truth and the beauty and goodness, and the wisdom from the other religious traditions of the world, and to be in dialogue with them."
The diocese to which Forrester has been elected bishop has only 27 churches, has lost 30 percent of its membership, and now has fewer than 2000 souls, fewer than 700 of whom actively attend church. But consent to his election by the Episcopal Church will elevate him in the global Anglican communion, whose more than 800 bishops preside over nearly 80 million communicants.
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Timm has left a new comment on your post "Finding Forrester: New Zen Episcopal Bishop":
If Kevin "Genpo" Forrester's bishop-hood falls through, perhaps he can apply for this job:
http://epic.cuir.uwm.edu/entech/jobs/index.php?cmd=viewposting&id=3605
For that matter, any Church Growthers (nee WELS) out there may also be interested, provided they are willing and able to "work in a pluralistic, spiritual environment respecting the diversity of religious institutions, organizations and beliefs."
Rev. Jackson, maybe your site could host a job-board with listings of ecumenical positions available for those individuals who are trying desperately to unshackle themselves from the Lutheran church. It would just make things easier and less painful for all of us.
