Testimonial.

It's about a lot more than the "the issues." It's about apostolic leadership. Here's Fr. Ken Leonczyk of Canterbury Episcopal at Southern Methodist University, commenting on Neil Michell and the Diocese of Tennessee's episcopal election at TitusOneNine:

"...I also feel a bit odd hoping that TN sees God’s call on Neal’s life as a Bishop- without Neal’s help I wouldn’t have known up from down in my first time in charge of a parish and without his pastoral guidance, spiritual mentoring, and evangelistic wisdom we certainly wouldn’t have had the amazing growth inour college ministry (over 10x rise in ASA and more importantly many college students and young faculty coming to a first time faith in Jesus Christ). While God receives the credit for all we do, Neal has been vitally important to me and to many of the small parishes, young priests, and cardinal rectors in Dallas. The problem I’m having with much of the discussion on this issue is that I keep hearing about finding a Bishop who be a good “compromise” or “bring the diocese together” or even are “orthodox.” Shouldn’t we look for people whom God has called to be Bishop because of their holy boldness, their commitment to the gospel, their ability to be mission-minded, and their passion to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ so the kingdom of God can be expanded, so lives can be transformed, and so our world can become a better place. Just being “orthodox” isn’t good enough. And choosing a Bishop because he is a “company mandevotedto ECUSA” just seems a bit like idolatry. How about a Bishop devoted to hearing God and following Him. We need Bishops who call us back to relationship with God, who call us back to a biblical worldview, who love people enough to worry less about “compromise” and “bringing us together” and instead are passionate about bringing the lost to Christ and helping those who know Christ to grow in their relationship with the Triune God. I’m young and I haven’t been a priest for that long, but it saddens me to hear so much about ECUSA, Networks, and other political entities when we all know that our only hope lies in Christ and in His Gospel. I went to Sewanee and loved it, and I certainly was and am called to be an Anglican priest (thereby in ECUSA), but there are a lot of people in and around Sewanee, TN, and the rest of the US who don’t know or care about Networks, ECUSA, or dialogue but who do know a lot about the void in their lives that they just can’t fill and know a lot about pain, and a lot about wondering what the world will look like in 50 years. They, and I, need the gospel of Jesus Christ and they, and I, need Bishops who preach Christ and see the Church as the Body of Christ a gift of God in the world to change the world, not to allow for polite conversation, but to enable radical change in our lives and enable the experience of the radical love and joy that comes from knowing and trusting God. Just some thoughts…"