1 August 2009
My Beloved Friends, Earlier this month I got an email from my daughter-in-law with a progress report on our twin grandsons. They are now walking and talking. They weren't doing either when we were last with them. I was sad to realize that I won't be able to see either them or their cousins in Maine until Thanksgiving or Christmas. My granddaughter and anamcara (Gaelic for "soul friend"), Katherine, is 6 years old. We get to go to church together only when we are in the same town and I'm not working. She and I are looking forward to planting a garden, to cleaning up the pond and to having tea parties on the porch at Granny's new house in Cincinnati where she and her family also live.
Recently I discovered on the window shelf next to where I pray in the morning, nine books that I have started to read but can't find time to finish. There are others stacked elsewhere in my office, on my bedside table and in my bookcases. Many of these are novels or other books I would read for fun, but I still don't have time to finish them. I have delighted in working with Bishop Rickel. He has given me room to grow, a voice in the development of this diocese and respect for who I am and what I do. Our families have a strong web of deep friendships. I love his sense of humor, his love for the church (which I share), his ability to listen to others as he makes decisions and his ability to make those decisions. I have come to believe in my heart that I have done what I was called to the Diocese of Olympia to do. Greg brings tremendous gifts to this diocese- gifts that need to be given full rein. He and I have, I think, a similar vision for the Diocese of Olympia, but we take different roads. I believe his roads are better and more direct.
I feel, for the first time in my life, that I am behind the times, slow on the uptake and out of sync with the future. I think I am part of the old order here. I have loved being in the Diocese of Olympia. I have learned so much from you, grown with you and delighted in my call here. I have many new friendships; I have done some good work; I have come to know and love the clergy and people of the hundred congregations.I have delighted in the amazing youth programs we have here. Our lives have become intertwined, and yet, like Abram who was called to leave those he loved behind, and move from place to place until he finally settled in Hebron, it is time for Bob and me to move (we hope) for the last time.
It's time for me to spend time with and delight in my children and grandchildren, to read my books, to get some exercise, to cook healthy food and to focus on discerning the future with and for the people of the Diocese of Eastern Oregon. In the end, there have been funds for the Diocese of Olympia to pay me when I was needed in this diocese. The income budget for 2010 brings a new reality that makes these other longings come into clearer focus and so I write to let you know that I will be retiring from the Diocese of Olympia at the end of January.
Greg and I will work out the details in the near future, but for now, I expect that I will be on the road to Cincinnati on 1 February. Thank you for your love and care for me, my family and the ministry we all share. I will treasure these five years, which have been the culmination of more than 34 years of ordained ministry and a deep, deep joy to both Bob and me.
Bendición, Nedi Rivera,
Bishop Suffragan As printed on the diocesan website www.ecww.org
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