ALABAMA: Two petition nominees added to suffragan bishop slate
Episcopal News Service. August 23, 2007 [082307-01]
Matthew Davies, Mary Frances Schjonberg
The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama's Standing Committee has received two nominations by petition for its next suffragan bishop, adding to the slate of four announced July 15.
The two petition candidates are:
- the Rev. Robert Childers, rector, Grace Church, Anniston, Alabama; and
- the Rev. Andrew Waldo, rector, Trinity Church, Excelsior, Minnesota.
The two petition nominees bring the total number of candidates to six. The four original nominees are:
- the Rev. William Marc Burnett, 39, rector, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Birmingham;
- the Rev. Alicia Schuster-Weltner, 45, canon for congregational development, Diocese of Atlanta;
- the Rev. John McKee Sloan, 52, rector, St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Huntsville, Alabama; and
- the Rev. Patrick J. Wingo, 47, rector, St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Birmingham, Alabama.
A "walkabout" question and answer session will be held on September 8 at St. Luke's Church in Birmingham, providing an opportunity for members of the diocese to meet the six nominees.
The electing convention will meet September 30 at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, beginning at 3:30 p.m. The person elected will succeed former Bishop Suffragan Marc Andrus, who was elected bishop of California on May 6, 2006.
The consecration of Alabama's next bishop suffragan will be held on January 12, 2008 at the Cathedral Church of the Advent.
The next bishop suffragan will assist diocesan Bishop Henry N. Parsley in the oversight and care of the churches and ministries of the diocese. The suffragan will have specific ministry responsibilities in the areas of college campus ministry, small church congregational development, assisting with the pastoral care of clergy, and implementing the initiatives of a recent capital fund campaign in the diocese of Alabama, according to a diocesan news release.
The Diocese of Alabama encompasses 44 counties of northern and central Alabama with approximately 35,000 baptized members in 91 parishes and worshipping communities, campus centers, and special ministries.