1) I've camped several times in a row in order to get the inventories of shopkeepers to change. By doing this many times over the course of the full game (which btw I'm not very far into) will this have any effect on your characters... I can forsee me adding many many days/weeks/months onto my characters "life" just by multiple campings in order to change inventories of the shopkeepers.

2) I have in my party:

Samurai
Ninja
Monk
Bard
Bishop
Alchemist

Now the Ninja/Monk were sorta doing the same thing and I was lacking severely on Scouting/Rangering...so I switched my Monk to Ranger at about level 5.

I'm debating hard on switching my Bishop to Priest, cause I just don't have the patients to baby-sit my bishop through all those spell skills and realms.

My question is, since my party is mostly level 7/8 now, should I just start my Bishop over as a true priest and maybe move him to Bishop way later in his life, and also, should I just start my Monk/Ranger over as well...and start a true Ranger?

Any input on these thoughts?

I don't think that resting has any affect on your characters or the game since the storyline is not tuned to the amount of time you spend anywhere. You will see enemies change as you level up though to keep you challenged as you go along.

I can't really offer you much advice on your characters since it is a matter of preference as to whether or not you would want to start with new guys to replace the older ones.
I used a Bishop in my first game and although he seemed lacking a lot of the time, by around level 10 you'll see your characters take on more characteristics of their true roles.
Using your spells as often as possible does give you points as you go along and by level 18 a Bishop can really rock. By level 22 he can be outright deadly. A lot of people say to focus one one or two spell realms in order to gain the most power in limited areas as opposed to trying to max them all...the choice there is yours but I have to admit/agree, it is good advise if you want the highest level spells in some areas. :D

I never used a Ranger except for the one for hire in the game, so I can't be of any help to you there, sorry!

I would keep the Bishop as he is. He does not need that much babysitting as long as you specialise. He is the only one able to cast psionic spells in your party.

I would ditch the Monk and start with a fresh (Mook) ranger. He will level up quickly and catch up with the other characters.

No point in having a Ranger-Monk, the psionic and critical strike skill will be frozen at a low useless, value.

My €0.02

If you've got some decent points built up in stealth and crit from your monk, I'd just stay with the ranger/monk. Both those skills will carry over and since there isn't the best selection of armor for a ranger, 2-3 extra points of AC can be a nice advantage.

The Bishop I'd leave a Bishop, if you want him to be more priest like, just focus more on the divine spells. It doesn't take long for the bishop to develope and being able to have access to all the spells is a major advantage even if you don't use them. (Each spell you learn adds spell points, if you find a book of psionic fire, even if you only plan on casting fireball, have your bishop use it to add spell points.)

hehe, wow. Same exact party as mine! I've left my monk alone, and by lvl 13 or so, he's started kicking very much @$$. my bishop at 13 is rocking right along too. specializing is key... i've specialized in psionic/divinity, in the mental and divine realms. very very powerful now, and through spell books, his other schools are moving right along now too. he can cast just about every buff spell there is i think. i switched my bard to a gadgeteer at 14 and 85 music skill, and between being able to use almost all the instruments and gadgets so far, he is quite a powerhouse.