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November 13, 2008
Recent Election of New US President
I noticed in the recent edition of Newscope an article about the Council of Bishops celebrating the recent election of Senator Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America.
I write this blog to clarify what I experienced and was apart of during the recent Council of Bishops meeting.
First of all the Council of Bishops since the time of Francis Asbury has always celebrated the election of the president of the United States by sending to the elected president and his wife individual bibles signed by the Bishops. In 2004 at the Fall Meeting of the Council of Bishops as a newly elected bishop at Epworth by the Sea I was privileged to sign bibles for then elected President George W. Bush and First lady Laura Bush.
When we began our meeting on Sunday November 2, 2008 we began signing the two bibles as we always do before we know who would be elected. We also drafted a letter and approved the letter prior to the election being completed as is always our custom.
Secondly, the COB celebrated two issues around this election which I would hope all United States citizens would celebrate.
1. We celebrated the democratic process that is ours to cherish and to guard as citizens of this nation.
2. We celebrated the tremendous strides this country has made since 1865 when African Americans were freed from slavery to 2008 when tremendous numbers of Anglo Americans helped to elect an African American to this high office.
It is to this end that we celebrated, some who probably voted for Senator Obama and some who probably voted for Senator John Mc Cain and I believe the vast majority of Americans celebrated for the same reasons. I listened to the concession speech by Senator Mc Cain and heard him say with pride how historic this election was and his support for newly elected president.
Yes this was a great day not just for Senator Barack Obama but for the vision the founders of this nation had when they worked to create these United States of America.
Posted by Bishop at November 13, 2008 04:02 PM