Minnesota diocese elects Brian Prior as next bishop
Episcopal News Service. October 31, 2009 [103109-01]
Mary Frances Schjonberg
The Rev. Brian Prior, vice president of the Episcopal Church's House of Deputies, was elected Oct. 31 to be the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota, pending the required consents.
Prior, 50, rector of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Spokane, Washington, won election on the fifth ballot out of a field of two remaining candidates. He received 153 votes of 233 cast in the lay order and 118 of 205 cast in the clergy order. An election on the fifth ballot required 117 in the lay order and 103 in the clergy order. The results of all five ballots are available here.
The election took place on the second and final day of the diocese's 152nd annual convention at the Marriott City Center in Minneapolis.
"I feel overwhelmed and blessed at this moment for the opportunity to come and serve in a place with such a rich history and with so many saints both past and present," Prior said in accepting the election.
Under the canons of the Episcopal Church (III.11.4), a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan Standing Committees must consent to Prior's ordination as bishop within 120 days of receiving notice of the election. The ordination and consecration is set for February 13, 2010 with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori as chief consecrator.
"Our process has been filled with prayer, discernment, and the movement of the Spirit in our midst," said Scott Crow, chair of the diocesan Standing Committee, which oversaw the election, adding that "it has been a powerful experience to witness the church at work."
Prior will succeed Minnesota's 8th bishop, James Jelinek, who has served the diocese since 1993. Jelinek will retire when Prior is ordained and consecrated.
Prior, who holds a master of divinity degree from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, was elected to a second term as vice president of the House of Deputies during the July 8-17 meeting of General Convention in Anaheim, California.
Before being called to serve Church of the Resurrection in 1996, he worked on the Spokane diocesan staff as director of education and development, and as executive director of its camp. He was ordained deacon in June 1987 and priest in April 1989, and served as associate rector at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Spokane from 1987 to 1990. During his time at Church of the Resurrection, he helped complete a $1.25 million building campaign.
Prior has been married to Staci Hubbard Prior for 21 years. They have two teenage sons.
The Diocese of Minnesota encompasses the entire state and includes 106 congregations with approximately 22,000 baptized members. The bishop serves as the chief pastor to the 303 clergy in the diocese.
After the results of the third ballot were announced October 31, both the Rev. Bonnie Perry, 47, rector of All Saints' Episcopal Church in Chicago and the Rev. Doyle Turner, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Park Rapids, Minnesota, withdrew from the election. The Rev. Donald Sparks, 53, rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Rochester, Minnesota, withdrew after the results of the fourth ballot were announced. The Rev. Mariann Budde, 49, rector of St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Minneapolis remained on the ballot with Prior for the fifth round of voting.
When Perry was included as part of the slate of candidates for the Minnesota seat August 1, she became the first openly gay candidate in a bishop election since the General Convention in July affirmed the openness of the church's ordination process to all the baptized. The day after Minnesota's list of candidates was made public, the Diocese of Los Angeles announced its slate for two bishops suffragan due to be elected during its diocesan convention December 4 and 5. Two openly gay and partnered priests are among the candidates.
More information about all of the Minnesota candidates is available here.