WESTERN KANSAS: Bishop accepts vicar post in Central Florida
Episcopal News Service. October 30, 2009 [103009-01]
ENS staff
Episcopal Diocese of Western Kansas Bishop James Adams was recently elected vicar of Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church in Lecanto, Florida.
A notice on the congregation's website announced the election and noted that Adams is leaving Western Kansas after serving as diocesan bishop for eight years.
Shepherd of the Hills is a 16-year-old mission station in the north central section of Citrus County. It began with a gathering of people for Evening Prayer and fellowship, according to its website, and became an official part of the Diocese of Central Florida in January 1995.
The announcement about Adams' election said that "he and his wife, Stacey, have a strong calling to return to parish life and to work, where preaching, teaching, and pastoral care are again the emphasis of his ministry and their family may again be part of a congregation’s life and ministry."
In published reports about the move, Adams has said that Western Kansas is struggling with its finances and faces some serious decisions about its future. He suggested that those decisions might be more easily made without a sitting bishop. Western Kansas is one of the Episcopal Church's smaller domestic dioceses with approximately 2,100 Episcopalians.
Adams, a Texas native, served ministries in the dioceses of Fond du Lac, Kansas, Milwaukee and Rio Grande before being elected the fourth bishop of Western Kansas in October 2001.
He expects to begin his new duties on in mid-March, Shepherd of the Hills' announcement said.