“I wouldn’t want your job.”

April 8, 2026

I’ve heard this more than once since I became your bishop. There are certainly hard parts. But if you ask me today what it’s really like, I would have to honestly tell you: more often than not, it’s a blessing and a blast. It really is.

I haven’t always felt that way. I have recently come to realize that I suffer from depression. I have been, for a very long time – most of my life, actually. It’s not just the demands of this current call. When someone put my name in as a candidate for bishop, at the Synod Assembly in October 2020, both my son and my wife said, “If you do this, you have to promise us: you will get a therapist.”

I honored that commitment, and have been in weekly therapy since January 2021. It’s made a big difference. I strongly encourage anyone to seek out therapeutic care.

About 18 months ago – in the summer of 2024 – on advice from my therapist and primary care physician, I decided to try anti-depression medication. Zoloft is a fairly mild drug, so it took a while for the healthy effects to be noticeable; but gradually, it began to work. To the point that now, I feel like a cloud has lifted. You may not be able to see any difference. But I feel more energetic, more confident, calmer and clearer than any time I can remember in my life. It is a real gift.

So I have a few messages I want to pass on to you:

First, don’t be ashamed to ask for help.

Second, I am truly finding more joy in this work than I ever have before. Thank you for your care and prayers for me and our staff. And if someone nominates me for a second term as your bishop, I plan to keep my name in the process.

Third, if you are a pastor – a Minister of Word and Sacrament – and someone nominates you for the office of bishop, I encourage you to prayerfully discuss and discern with your family, your trusted colleagues, your God and yourself. But let me be clear: this call is a blast.