There is a sense of joyful contentment in being in union with the office of Peter and the universal church. There is also an element of sadness at losing a special connection with the devoted clergy and outstanding lay leaders serving Christ in the Episcopal Diocese of Albany, and the Anglican Communion

You and many others are aware of the turmoil which has enveloped the Episcopal Church since the decisions and actions of the General Convention in 2003. That turmoil was not merely external. It also caused a lot of hidden tears. To my mind, the power which the Convention claimed to exercise in fact negated any previous authority on which I had relied. It caused me to engage in a fresh examination of apostolic teaching and authority.

In spite of my personal grief over all this, my sense of duty to the Diocese, its clergy and people required that I not walk away from my office and leave vulnerable this diocese which I love. I believed that it was my responsibility to provide for a transition to the future. Your subsequent election and consecration discharged that duty and has given me the liberty to follow my conscience, and now resign my orders and membership in the House of Bishops.

It is certainly no reflection on you or your ministry which Carol and I both admire and respect and for which we pray daily. Needless to say, we have only fondness and appreciation for you and the Diocese in whose ministry Carol and I have invested the past thirty-five years of our lives.

We have now an even greater incentive to pray for that unity which Christ willed for His church, a unity embedded in that faith once delivered to the saints.

With every wish for a holy celebration of Jesus' resurrection, I remain,

In Christ,

Signed/ Daniel W. Herzog