Siblings in Christ, we shine brighter together

OUR NEIGHBOR'S FAITH: A column by Jeremiah Williamson, the Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Albany

Bishop Jeremiah Williamson is shown with his family at his consecration service at the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany. (Photo provided)

In the Episcopal Church, we like to vote. It is just in the DNA. We were born with the nation and caught the same democratic fever. 

Last year, Episcopalians in this region voted and I was elected. On Sept. 9, 2023, clergy and lay deputies from across the 20,000 square miles of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany gathered at our cathedral, the Cathedral of All Saints, to elect their 10th bishop. A search committee of ordained and lay leaders named four finalists – two from within the diocese and two from beyond our borders. I was one of the outside candidates. 

I am originally from Ohio. After attending college in Illinois and seminary in New Jersey and New York City, I returned to the Buckeye State to begin my ordained ministry. My first ordained position was as the assistant priest of St. John’s in Youngtown, Ohio – only 90 minutes from where I was raised. 

And in the city in which my wife grew up. Some of you are likely aware (though I do not presume that everyone is) that Episcopal priests can be married. I am, to a woman named Jennifer; she is a United Methodist pastor and currently works as a hospital chaplain in Troy. I also have two children. My oldest is named after Roman Catholic bishop Oscar Romero; my youngest is called Isaiah Augustine, middle named for another Catholic bishop.

My time in Youngstown almost feels like a dream: newlyweds figuring out life and ministry before the introduction of children. Thirteen years into parenting, it is almost impossible to remember life before kids. She served in the suburbs; I was in the city. After a couple years of inner-city ministry, I was called, at 28 years old, to be the rector of St. Andrew’s in Toledo, Ohio. I served that parish for seven years. During those years, the church grew and so did my family. Both of my boys were born in Toledo.

When they were 4 and almost 2, we moved the family of four across the country to Colorado Springs. My interview with the parish was my first visit to that great Rocky Mountain city. But the visit went well and the people of Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church called me to be their rector. I served that large (at least large for the Episcopal Church) downtown church for eight years. I was involved with the city and the ecumenical community. It was a great place for me and my family. We really didn’t plan to move.

But God had other plans. I was nominated to be the Bishop of Albany by a colleague and friend. I knew almost nothing about Albany — city or diocese. But they had prepared a beautiful profile (like an advertising pamphlet) describing the challenges and possibilities, the past, present and hopes for the future. And while reading it, it felt like God was calling me to dive into a discernment process that is somehow simultaneously too slow and too fast.

After a lot of process and vetting, I was elected by the clergy and people of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany on Sept. 9, 2023. I left parish ministry during that Christmas season and moved into our new New York home on the Feast of the Epiphany. Weeks later, on the Feast of St. Matthias, I was consecrated and ordained as the 10th Bishop of Albany and as the 1,164 bishop in the American Succession of the Anglican Tradition.

This year has been complex and beautiful, challenging and affirming. I have discovered that there are abundant gifts of this holy office. An important aspect of this ministry is to visit each of my 106 churches at least once every three years. That work has taken me all over the region and has allowed me to witness the amazing ministries of our baptized members, faithful Christians shining the light of Jesus in an increasingly secular world.

Another gift I inherited here is the beautiful relationship between the two dioceses of Albany. I believe our willingness to recognize our unity in Christ is a powerful witness in a world in which there is so much division. Yes, we disagree on some theological and ecclesiological points. But more importantly, we are the Church, members together in the Body of Christ. We shine brighter together. 

As the Church we now approach the beautiful season of the Incarnation. Together, Episcopalians and Roman Catholics, and all Christians, celebrate the wonder and holiness of Christmas. We marvel at the mystery of Emmanuel, God with us, now and always. We celebrate the closeness of the God who, in deep humility and limitless love, took on human flesh in the person of Jesus. And continues to take on human flesh, dwelling in the hearts of those who wear the sign of their Savior. 

Siblings in Christ, though we sit in different pews and live out different legacies, the same Jesus, Emmanuel, lives within us. The same Jesus shines through our hearts and sets us like brilliant constellations, beaming, separate and yet together, in the dark winter sky.

Merry Christmas!

The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah William­son is bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany.