Episcopal Press and News
RIO GRANDE: Sixth candidate added to bishop slate
Episcopal News Service. March 23, 2010 [032310-02]
The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Rio Grande has added the Rev. Leander S. Harding to its previously announced slate of five candidates to be the diocese's next bishop.
Harding, 61, was nominated by petition. He is an associate professor of pastoral theology and the dean of church relations and seminary advancement at Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania.
The other candidates are:
- the Rev. Ellis Tucker Bowerfind, 51, rector, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Alexandria, Virginia (Diocese of Virginia);
- the Rev. James Harlan, 43, rector, Church of the Ascension, Denver, Colorado (Diocese of Colorado);
- the Rev. Jedediah D. Holdorph II, 51, rector of St. Mark's Church, Medford, Oregon (Diocese of Oregon);
- the Rev. John Nieman, 50 rector, Holy Trinity Church, Clemson, South Carolina (Diocese of Upper South Carolina); and
- the Rev. Dr. Michael D. Vono, 61, rector, St. Paul's Within the Walls, Rome, Italy, (Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe).
The election will take place April 24 at the Cathedral of St. John, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The consecration of the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Rio Grande is expected to take place Oct. 22 during the diocesan convention in Albuquerque. The bishop will be seated at the Cathedral of St. John the following Sunday.
The diocese has been without a bishop since Jeffrey Steenson announced in September 2007 that he was leaving the Episcopal Church and wanted to be released from his ordination vows to become a Roman Catholic. The Rt. Rev. William C. Frey, retired bishop of the Diocese of Colorado, is serving Rio Grande as assisting bishop.
Steenson was elected the eighth bishop of the diocese on Oct. 24, 2004. He was consecrated as the 1,000th bishop in the Episcopal Church on Jan. 16, 2005.
