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Father Swing Elected Bishop Coadjutor Of California

Episcopal News Service. May 3, 1979 [79140]

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Rev. William Edwin Swing, 42, rector of St. Columba Episcopal Church, Washington, D. C., since 1969, was elected Bishop Coadjutor of California at a special convention here on April 28.

Father Swing, a native of Huntington, W. Va., was elected by acclamation on the 16th ballot after the Rev. George Nelson Hunt III, executive officer of the Diocese of California, withdrew.

Other nominees still on the 15th ballot were the Rev. Roswell O. Moore, 52, rector of Trinity Parish, Menlo Park, Calif., and the Rev. George F. Regas, 48, rector of All Saints', Pasadena, Calif.

The bishop-elect will succeed the current bishop of California, the Rt. Rev. C. Kilmer Myers, when he leaves the post at the end of 1979.

The election must now be ratified by the bishops and standing committees of the dioceses of the Episcopal Church.

In the electing process, the six persons proposed by the nominating committee were asked to respond to questions, such as why they wanted to be a bishop and specifically, Bishop of California. Father Swing had answered: "I am not hungry to be a bishop, and I have turned down two offers to run in episcopal elections in other dioceses this year. But what excites me most about California is that you appear to be ready for growth, and I am a builder. If you really want to build up your diocese starting at the parish level, I have some gifts to give that would be helpful to you."

The bishop-elect served congregations in three West Virginia communities -- Chester, Weirton, and Wheeling -- following his graduation in 1961 from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. Earlier, he had received his B.A. degree from Kenyon College, Gambler, Ohio.

He is a founding member of the Episcopal Foundation for Drama and has served as its president. Mental health and issues of aging have been two of the major concerns of his ministry. In Washington he has been a member of the Diocesan Council, the Standing Committee, and the Task Force on Women.

He is married to Mary Willis Taylor and they have two children, Alice, 16, and William E., Jr., 14.