From the Diocesan office:
Dear Friends in Christ,
Three weeks ago I celebrated with thanksgiving the fifteenth anniversary of my consecration as the XII Bishop of the Diocese of Rhode Island. Your support and affection during these years are gifts that I treasure and words are inadequate to express the love and appreciation that I have for you and for the people of our state.
As Christians we are called to serve Christ as best as we are able and then to accede to the contributions and vision of those who would follow. So it is that on this fifth day of March, 2011, I officially inform you of my intention to retire by the end of 2012, and hereby call for the election of my successor. By then, I shall be approaching my 66th birthday and the 36th year of my ordained ministry.
This was a very difficult decision for me to make, for I am truly invigorated by the ongoing challenges of episcopal ministry. However, it is the duty of every Christian to continually discern God’s will. Through prayer and conversation with others, I recognized that this was where the Lord was leading and have informed the Presiding Bishop’s office of my decision.
During the next twenty months or so, I will continue to have the honor of serving as your Bishop, gladly fulfilling the responsibilities of this sacred office. Having served in two dioceses during a change in diocesan bishops, I am well aware of the anticipation, excitement and anxiety that are part of this process and equally aware that on a daily basis, most things remain the same.
The crozier, one of the signs of the Episcopal Office, reminds us that the work of Christ, the Good Shepherd, never ends though the person who represents the shepherd is bound by the changing seasons of human life.
So it is a change of season for me, whom you have entrusted with this blessed ministry, and by extension it is a season of change for our beloved diocese. I believe that God is inviting us to give thanks for all that we have received, to look to the future in hope, and to trust in his unfailing love. May our ministry during this time of transition be a faithful response to this holy invitation.
I write this with enduring affection and gratitude.
Yours faithfully,
Geralyn Wolf
Bishop of Rhode Island
As a member of the Episcopal church, I am thankful for Bishop Wolf’s leadership. In many ways she has been an exemplary leader in a church where we continue to need more women in leadership roles!
Kmareka.com 
I had a serendipitous conversation with her in a supermarket about a year ago about my concerns with the growing prejudice/bigotry I see directed towards immigrants.
She said, ” I think people have issues with illegal (please imagine italics) immigrants…”
I hope she has kept an open mind on this.
The Catholic bishop made a few mild statements on behalf of immigrants, got flamed in the Journal letters and has been meek as a lamb ever since.
I was walking down Westminster Mall at 7pm on Sunday and heard the glorious peal of bells from Grace Episcopal church. They keep a sanctuary of art and beauty in the center of downtown.
I wish you two ladies could learn to differentiate between immigrants who are legal residents and illegal aliens who are here….well,illegally.
Going through life on emotional feelings in place of plain facts has to be frustrating.
My wife is Episcopal and according to her,the Bishop doesn’t support same sex marriage.
It came up because the priest in my wife’s church(he recently retired)was openly gay.I understand he was disappointed with her stance on the issue.
The congregation itself is mostly heterosexual and a few people left when he came on board but there really wasn’t any particular problem after that.
It’s more a matter of how you conduct yourself than orientation.
I don’t bother with things like church,synagogue,etc.
Observer, I truly appreciate your wording, especially the first sentence, but really the whole comment.
Many friends disagree with me on the issue.
I do want to give Bishop Wolf credit for her work on behalf of people who are homeless…
NY State had a program where one could live in subsidized housing and the rent was based on annual income from the Federal tax return.
My wife and I lived in a subsidized apartment for a few years.
Veterans got priority and that worked out for us pretty well.
All the empty units in providence are a good basis for an innoovative program for homeless families-having people living in a building stops deterioration and “stripping” by junkies.
I don’t see it as a giveaway-with income based rent,at least the property is salvaged to some degree and children ahve a stable location to attend school from.It will pay for itself in that respect.
I haven’t gone liberal-just using common sense.
BTW the Secure Communities program doesn’t jeopardize witnesses and victims,who aren’t getting printed and screened to begin with.
If someone is wanted by a Federal agency they shouldn’t be able to avoid detection for supposed “humantarian” reasons-and for those who have returned illegally after being removed from the US,often for criminal activity,let’s be honest-they already received due process and should bear the consequences of their actions.
I haven’t seen a valid argument to counter that.
“Profiling”never enters the picture,even tangentially,if every arestee is screened.
Believe it or not,a lot of previously deported aliens have no accent or anything else about them to single them out.
Many people I locked up had been residents since childhood and had never naturalized,and then got convicted for various offenses.
And they were certainly not all “brown”.
Observer,I have to mention that I’ve never heard a sentence that began ‘you ladies’ that ended well. Also the suggestion that everyone who has disagreements with the targeting of undocumented immigrants as the cause of social problems that exist whether or not they are here, such as crime–is acting from emotion rather than facts.
This kind of language makes it hard to listen to the rest of what you are saying, because it’s insulting.
You have good points sometimes, but I have to filter out the tone sometimes and it gets tiring.
I was actually trying to be courteous-not patronizing or sarcastic,but that might not occur to you.
I pointed out the emotional content of your argument only after we’ve gone back and forth so many times on this and you seem to shut out the legal basis of my position.We are a nation of laws and you seem very concerned that laws relating to the right to have an abortion and gun control be strictly observed.You want it both ways.
BTW if you can find ONE assertion by me that illegal aliens are the cause of crime,please refer to it.
We’d have crime wihtout ANY aliens,legal or otherwise here.
We just have the ability to get rid of alien criminals by deporting them,so why not avail ourselves of it?
I’m sorry you were insulted,but I guess you really don’t know me very well.
When I want to insult someone I avoid smarmy inuendos-I just get very direct and no one has to guess what I meant.
I think you and Nomi actually believe everything you say,unlike people who use illegal aliens as a tool,like certain “advocates”and politicians-in order to further their own interests.
As a result,I don’t think it’s fair to make you out as anything worse than somewhat unrealistic.
I had my nose rubbed in it for a few decades-I do know what I’m talking about.
It may surprise you to know that I feel very comfortable in a society with people from all over the place-I much prefer intermingly at every level to a “mosaic”which really means little isolated mutually distrustful pockets of people.
I meant “intermingling”.
One more thing-please show a comment I’ve ever made here or elsewhere that was dismissive of women.You won’t find it,I can guarantee you that because it just isn’t in my makeup to have that attitude.
There are women I admire and those I detest,just like men.
My wife didn’t stay with me for over 40 years because I treated her like chattel-you should have as good a marriage as we have.Not perfect,but good.