Virginia Elects P.J. Lee As Bishop Coadjutor
Episcopal News Service. February 16, 1984 [84030]
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (DPS, Feb. 16) -- The Rev. Peter J. Lee, rector of the Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, N.C., has been elected bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.
Lee, 45, was elected on the 11th ballot at a special meeting of the diocesan council (convention) here Feb. 11. As bishop coadjutor, he will succeed Bishop Robert B. Hall when the latter retires.
Lee's election followed an increasingly popular, although still unusual, process of introducing candidates to a diocese through videotape. Taped interviews of the six finalists were shown around the diocese in the months before the election. In addition, all six, and their wives, were present for all of the diocese's regular council meeting earlier this year.
From the early balloting, Lee had a plurality in the lay order which developed into a majority by the eighth ballot. By the 11th ballot, his vote tallys in both orders were significantly higher than needed for election.
The diocese has tentatively scheduled the consecration for May 19 at the National Cathedral. That date will be confirmed after the required canonical consents are received from the bishops and standing committees.
Lee, a native of Mississippi, was raised in Florida and received his undergraduate degree from Virginia's Washington & Lee University in 1960. He was an intelligence officer in the Army and also a journalist before going to Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained priest in 1968 and served for three years as assistant at St. John's, Washington, before being called to his current parish. He has held numerous diocesan and national church posts and has lectured in homiletics at Duke University Divinity School.
Hall was elected bishop coadjutor in 1966 and has served as diocesan bishop for ten years. The diocese includes about 78,000 baptized members.