May 26, 2008
Memorial Day

Dear Colleagues in Christ,

The General Conference has come and gone and with it have come many new directions for ministry for our beloved church as well as many changes in our day-to-day polity.  It was a positive and uplifting Conference and one in which God’s Spirit moved freely.  I left there with a great sense of hope for the future and a confidence that we are wrestling with the issues that are so very important to God’s world.

Among the many changes made was one that has impacted my and Kay’s life significantly.  Late on Monday night, April 28 a petition came before the body that would change the mandatory retirement age for a bishop.  The current Book of Discipline reads, “A bishop shall be retired on August 31 next following the regular session of the jurisdictional conference if the bishop’s sixty-sixth birthday has been reached on or before July 1 of the year in which the jurisdictional conference is held.”

I reached my sixty-sixth birthday in November of 2007 and Kay and I have been planning accordingly for our retirement.  However, the change that was put before the General Conference plenary body was to raise the determining age to “the bishop’s sixty-eighth birthday.”  There was an amendment to that petition that would make the legislation effective immediately.  It passed overwhelmingly.

There are three retiring United States bishops who are affected by this legislation.  Bishop Jane Middleton, Bishop Lawrence McCleskey, and I!  Needless to say, Kay and I have been absolutely stunned by this whole thing.

From that moment on, we have been in deep prayer and discernment as to what we should do.  We have found valid and compelling arguments on either side of the question.  One day retirement has looked preferable.  The next day continuation in the office has appeared preferable.  It has been a tug-of-war in our emotions and our devotions.  But through it all we have sought to discern what is God’s will for us at this time in our lives.  That is our utmost desire.

We have finally come to a decision with which we are very peace-filled and that we believe to be in harmony with God’s will.  That decision is to continue in the office of an active bishop for another four years. 

As a Conference you have been gracious and generous to us with your love, your encouragement, your graciousness, and your respect for our need for time to work and pray this through.  You have been gracious to say you will support us in whatever we may decide and that has been a beautiful gift.  “Thank you for your care for us in this process” is an inadequate phrase to offer to a people we love so dearly.

We ask for your continued prayers as we move now to adjust our lives to a new direction.   We are eager to see you at our Annual Conference session beginning on Sunday, June 1 in Shreveport where together we will worship, work, and be in wonder of God’s greatness.  Until then, may God’s bounteous goodness be prevalent in your lives.

With love and gratitude,

Bill and Kay Hutchinson