Episcopalians: The P.B. Steps Down

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"In the New Testament sense of the word," wrote the Rt. Rev. Arthur Lichtenberger in a letter to his fellow bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S., "I have had and I am having a good time in my work as Presiding Bishop. I do wish I could continue.

But since I should not and cannot, I believe I am ready by God's grace to accept this necessity." Thus Lichtenberger announced his intention of resigning in October as chief spokesman for the nation's 3,500,000 Episcopalians.

The Presiding Bishop's decision was not all that much of a surprise. Chosen to succeed the Rt. Rev. Henry Knox Sherrill in 1958, Bishop Lichtenberger, 64, was forced to curtail his speaking activities last spring because of Parkinson's disease. He underwent a hernia operation in September, later fell ill with phlebitis; his letter to the bishops admitted that he had made "little progress" in recovering the control over speech he lost as a result of Parkinson's disease.

Lichtenberger also announced that he would appoint a nominating committee of bishops, priests and laymen to recommend three candidates to succeed him. The new P.B. must be a bishop, will be elected by secret ballot at the meeting of the House of Bishops in St. Louis next October. Among the most likely prospects: the Rt. Rev. Stephen Bayne, who is resigning this fall as executive officer of the Anglican Communion, and Bishop Richard Emrich of Michigan.

As Presiding Bishop, Lichtenberger has been a middle-church moderate, with strong interests in the ecumenical movement and civil rights. In 1961, when he paid a courtesy call on John XXIII, he became the first U.S. Episcopal bishop in history to visit a Pope. Until last February, Lichtenberger was head of the National Council of Churches' Commission on Religion and Race, and last Pentecost he issued an impressive pastoral letter urging all Episcopalians to work actively for the cause of equal justice. "Bishop Lichtenberger has spent his life in the service of Christ," says Publisher Clifford P. Morehouse, layman-president of the church's House of Deputies. "He is widely recognized as one of the truly great Christian leaders in America today."