Arkansas Chooses Donovan as Coadjutor
Episcopal News Service. May 22, 1980 [80187]
Little Rock, Ark. -- The Rev. Herbert A. Donovan, Jr., 48, a priest in the Diocese of Newark and a member of the Episcopal Church Executive Council, has been elected bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Arkansas.
He received the required majority in both the clerical and lay orders on the fourth ballot at a special election convention of the Diocese on May 10. If his election is consented to by the majority of the Church's standing committees and bishops, he will succeed the Rt. Rev. Christoph Keller as bishop of the diocese when Bishop Keller steps down next year.
Mr. Donovan is the son of a priest and a medical missionary and a native of Washington, D. C. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained deacon and priest in 1957.
After seminary, he served parishes in Wyoming until 1964 when he became executive officer of the Diocese of Kentucky and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville. He served there until he was called as rector of St. Luke's Church in Montclair, N.J., where he still serves.
He has been a deputy to the General Convention in 1967, 1969, 1970, 1976 and 1979. Last year he was elected to a six year term on the Executive Council where he sits on the Education for Ministry and Mission committee.
He was a member of the design team for the 1973 and 1977 national Church diocesan visitation programs, was co-author of "God Willing," the study guide for the 1973 Convention, and serves on the Diocese of Newark's standing committee.
Mr. Donovan is married to Mary Sudman Donovan, an historian and former dean of the School of Religion in the diocese. They have three children.
Bishop Keller, a former Marine Corps officer and businessman, was consecrated bishop coadjutor of the diocese in 1967 and succeeded as the Tenth Bishop of Arkansas in 1970. He also serves on the Executive Council and both he and Mr. Donovan have been key figures in the Church's Venture in Mission renewal and fundraising effort.