Hopkins Elected Bishop Of North Dakota
Episcopal News Service. October 18, 1979 [79293]
Williston, N.D. -- The Ven. Harold A. Hopkins, Jr., Archdeacon of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine, has been elected Bishop of the Diocese of North Dakota.
Archdeacon Hopkins was elected on the ninth ballot, near midnight, on Oct. 6 at a special diocesan convention at St. Peter's Church, Williston. He will succeed the Rt. Rev. George T. Masuda, head of the diocese since January, 1965, when he retires Dec. 31, 1979.
His consecration is expected to take place in early January, 1980, when the required consents have been received from diocesan bishops and standing committees.
Other leading contenders in the election were the Rev. George C. Harris, Mobridge, S. D., director of the Dakota Leadership Program, and the Rev. L. Jerome Taylor, Jr., Diocese of Newark. Other nominees were the Rev. Richard Hayes, Las Vegas, Nev., and the Rev. Herman Page, Liberal, Kans. No nominations were made from the floor.
The bishop-elect was born in Philadelphia in 1930 and received his education at the University of Pennsylvania and General Theological Seminary in New York City.
His pastoral experience includes a curacy in a large suburban New York parish, and a medium and larger parish in Maine, in addition to ministry in a number of small missions.
From 1969 to 1978 he was assistant to the bishop of Maine, serving as Canon Missioner for the last four years in that position. He has been Archdeacon of Maine since 1978. He was the editor of the diocesan paper, The Northeast, for eight years.
His major responsibilities in the Diocese of Maine have been with the Commission on Ministry, clergy deployment and congregational development and support. He has also been executive secretary and treasurer of the Synod of Province I and has held various national positions.
Archdeacon Hopkins and his wife, Nancy, have six children between ages 13 and 22.
After his retirement, Bishop Masuda will assume episcopal duties for four months in the Diocese of Bethlehem while Bishop Lloyd Gressle is on sabbatical.