San Diego Diocese Announces Candidates for Election of Next Bishop
Episcopal News Service. September 2, 2004 [090204-2-A]
Jan Nunley
[Note to readers: In its continuing work to expand coverage, the Episcopal News Service will regularly carry announcements of episcopal elections and reports on the naming of candidates. This release on the Diocese of San Diego will be followed soon by a report from the Diocese of the Rio Grande, where an election is scheduled for October 16. Also, the call for election of a bishop in June 2005 has been issued in the Diocese of Southern Ohio.]
Four priests and a Canadian bishop have been nominated as candidates for election to succeed Bishop Gethin Hughes as the fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego.
The five nominees are Bishop Anthony Burton of the Diocese of Saskatchewan in Canada; the Rev. Jonathan B. Coffey Jr., rector of St. Anthony on the Desert in Scottsdale, Arizona; the Rev. Kent S. McNair, rector of Faith Episcopal Church in Cameron Park, near Sacramento, California; the Rev. James R. Mathes, Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Chicago; and the Rev. David A. Stenner, rector of All Saints' in Reisterstown, Maryland, near Baltimore.
The slate was decided unanimously by the diocese's nominating committee, according to the Rev. Tom Phillips, chairman. But additional candidates may emerge through a petition process that closes on September 13. "This is the way of balancing out the power of the Nominating Committee," Phillips told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The electing convention will be held November 13 at St. Paul's Cathedral, San Diego, with November 20 set aside should an additional day be needed for balloting.
The nominating committee received the names of 37 persons; 27 chose to continue in the process and ten candidates were visited and interviewed before five finalists were agreed upon. Full background checks have been conducted on all the candidates, and will also have to be conducted on candidates nominated by petition. "Walkabouts" with all the final candidates are scheduled for the week of October 25.
Bishop Hughes announced his intention to retire in September 2003. Hughes voted against the confirmation of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson, but has not joined efforts to "realign" American jurisdictions with overseas primates and has urged local parishes to stay focused on their common missions.
Burton, born and raised in Ottawa, was the youngest bishop in the Anglican Communion at his election in 1993, and is still the youngest of the Canadian bishops. He is chair of the Council of the North, which oversees Canada's ten missionary dioceses, and episcopal visitor to the South American Missionary Society. He and his wife Anna have two children, Caroline (9) and Peter (7).
Coffey, eldest of four, grew up in Miami where his father served as a mission priest and then rector. His grandfather was a Canadian Anglican missionary. Over a 27-year span of ministry, he has served churches in Michigan, Florida, Arkansas, and New York before coming to Arizona six years ago. He and his wife Julie have two children, Kate (22), and Spencer (19).
Los Angeles native Kent S. McNair, the son and grandson of Episcopal bishops, was a college dropout who had a "powerful re-conversion experience" and lived in a Christian commune in San Francisco for over five years. Finishing college at Temple University, he also holds degrees from the Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Philadelphia and Princeton Seminary. He served as Archdeacon of Northern California for five years and started Faith Episcopal Church in Cameron Park at the end of 1991. McNair is married to Kathy and has two children, Ashley (19) and Cameron (15).
Mathes has been the Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Chicago, serving as chief operating officer, director of deployment and of congregational development, since 2001. Prior to that appointment, he was rector of the Church of St. James the Less in Northfield, Illinois, and assistant minister at All Saints' in Belmont, Massachusetts. Raised in Texas, Mathes, along with his wife Teri, has two children, Lee (18) and Sara (15).
The Oakland-born Stenner had a successful career in retail management and lay involvement as a eucharistic minister, vestryman, and part-time lay pastor before receiving his M. Div. from Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in 1988. After seminary he was appointed vicar of St. Francis Church, Fortuna, California. He currently serves as rector of All Saints', Reisterstown, Maryland. Married to Janet in 1972, he has three children -- Sarah, Jonathon and Julia -- and two grandchildren.
Phillips told the Union-Tribune that the nominating committee focused on characteristics with "bridge builder" at the top of their list. Candidates were asked a list of eight questions, including such issues as their relationship with Jesus Christ, the basic tenets of their theology, and the spiritual disciplines they follow. All but Mathes reported leaving the church, then returning to Christian faith in late adolescence or young adulthood.
They were also asked about their experience in a diverse, multi-cultural setting such as that of San Diego, including any foreign language skills. Burton, Coffey, and Mathes indicated some acquaintance with Spanish as well as other languages; McNair and Stenner speak English only at present but said they would be willing to learn Spanish.
Their ideas of the role of evangelism, ministry development and youth ministry in church growth were solicited, as were views regarding the authority of scripture and its application to daily life, and how to deal with issues of social justice. Candidates' views on the blessing of same sex unions and ordination of non-celibate homosexuals were also addressed. Burton and Stenner said "no" but called for pastoral understanding of those who disagree; McNair said "not yet." Coffey seemed willing to follow the church's consensus, while Mathes called for finding "some meaningful way" to celebrate same-sex relationships characterized by "fidelity and monogamy."
The ordination and consecration of the new bishop is set for Saturday, March 5, 2005.