In his address to Convention, Bishop Dietsche called for the election of a bishop coadjutor to replace him, ultimately, as the Bishop Diocesan of New York.

“Four days ago,” he said, “I turned 68 (which was kind of shocking: 67 felt like my ‘mid sixties’; 68 feels like my ‘late sixties’). And last month I passed the twentieth anniversary of my coming to 1047 Amsterdam Avenue to serve the Diocese of New York, initially as Canon Pastor. And six days from today will mark ten years since you elected me bishop. These are significant milestones for me, and they necessarily invite reflection and introspection. The writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes wrote, ‘I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds.’ Past and Future have come to me at midnight and awakened with me in the morning, and I have learned from those nighttime meditations how to pay attention to the times and the changes, and to be at peace.”

Assuring listeners that his retirement has nothing to do with COVID, he continued that at the time of the installation of the XVII Bishop, “…I will be 70 years old, and I will have been bishop in this diocese for twelve years. This timing seems right. It will be a blessing for Margaret and me, and also I believe honors the trust which you put in me when you called me to this ministry. But be sure that I have no intention of becoming a lame duck. I will continue to be the Bishop of New York as long as I am the Bishop of New York, and I very much hope to hand over as healthy a diocese as I can to my successor.

“I am not saying goodbye now. But please know that shepherding the two hundred (or so) churches in this diocese has been a privilege which I did not know how much I needed until you called me to it. I could never have imagined—I didn’t know—how deeply I would fall in love with these our churches, and the clergy and laypersons who lead them, and the people who fill their pews. I was no stranger to this diocese or our churches before, but becoming your bishop gave me new eyes and changed my life, and I am grateful to you for everything. And when the time comes to move on, I will bear you with me on my heart. Amen.”

The full text and video of Bishop Dietsche’s address are online at https://dioceseny.org/245th-convention-report/.