Bishop-elect Mary Gray-Reeves

It is my honor and privilege, and I am absolutely thrilled to accept the call to be the third bishop of the Diocese of El Camino Real. Es un honor y un privilegio, y me siento profundamente emocionada al aceptar la llamada a ser la tercera obispa del Diòcesis del Camino Real. Dios ha llamado, el Espiritu ha instruido e inspirado, y la comunidad de Cristo ha oido y afirmado esta llamada en cada paso de este proceso.

God has called, the Spirit has guided, instructed and inspired, and the community of Christ has discerned and affirmed this call at each step of this process. I wish to thank the clergy and laity of this convention for your confidence and commitment to our future together, to Bishop Romero who is completing a healing and fruitful interim process, the search committee, who has done an outstanding and thorough job, the standing committee, Diocesan council, diocesan staff, and all the members of this diocese, for their faithful work of prayer, steadfastness, preparation, discernment and action in bringing us to this moment. I want to thank my colleagues, my friends, David, Gale, Paige and John, for their faithfulness in this process. You are wonderful priests and I am blessed by having shared this time with you. Thank you for offering your very selves to this process. May God bless you with continued discernment and energy as you minister in your parishes. Pray for me as I pray for you.

I want to thank Michael, Katie and Dorian, without whom I would not be myself. I am abundantly blessed by my life with them and I know that you will be too. They are incredible people. I also want to thank my mentors, friends and colleagues along the way, in the Diocese of Los Angeles, in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and in Southeast Florida. It will be hard to leave my family, friends and colleagues who have raised me up in so many ways. I literally could not have had the guts to do the hard work of discernment for this call without them, especially Bishop Frade, who has mentored me and kept me on this path to the episcopate. There really are no words to express my gratitude to those with whom I have had the privilege of serving. Please know, I bring to El Camino Real the many gifts that have been shared with me, and I am ever grateful for our life together. I love you deeply.

To the diocese of El Camino Real, today we continue walking together; a probable call turned to a sure reality – an inward and spiritual grace, now in the process of becoming an outward and visible sign. Today we begin a tangible and public ministry, united as one in the body of Christ in El Camino Real, discovering and carrying out Christ’s vision for the work of God’s Kingdom in this place. Thanks be to Jesus Christ, we are assured of God’s marvelous and transforming Grace and the challenging and inspiring, sometimes scary, power of the Holy Spirit. The fullness of God will be with us as we live our life together, and as we live out the greatest adventure of all – welcoming all who seek a path to God in Christ. This is the most holy work in which anyone of us can ever participate, drawing another into the abiding Love of God that we know in Jesus. I cannot wait to join you in this work! May we hold each other in prayer, excitement, enthusiasm, anticipation, Love, Grace and Peace as we approach our life and ministry together.

And now, together we walk El Camino Real. Que Dios nos bendiga, este diocesis, y toda la iglesia de Cristo, en el nombre del Padre, Hijo y el Espiritu Santo, ahora y por siempre. Adelante por El Camino!