South Dakotans Tap Sewanee Professor
Episcopal News Service. March 15, 1984 [84049]
HURON, S.D. (DPS, Mar. 15) - Delegates of the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota, meeting at a special election convention in Grace Episcopal Church, Huron, S.D., March 3, elected The Rev. Craig Barry Anderson, Sewanee, Tenn., to be Bishop of South Dakota. Election came on the seventh ballot.
The election was held within the context of the Eucharist, with the names of the nominees presented at the offertory. After everyone had received communion the balloting began. The post communion prayer of thanksgiving followed the electing ballot. The Rt. Rev. Harold Jones, South Dakota's retired suffragan bishop, pronounced the blessing.
The Episcopal Church in South Dakota has been without a diocesan bishop, since March, 1983, when the Rt. Rev. Walter H. Jones resigned to become Bishop of Rupert's Land, Canada. An election convention held in June, 1983, ended in deadlock.
Anderson is professor of pastoral theology at the School of Theology, Sewanee, Tenn. He is also priest-in-charge of Christ Episcopal Church, Alton, Tenn.
Anderson was born in 1942 in Glendale, Calif. He received his BA from Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind., in 1963. Prior to studying for the Episcopal ministry, Anderson was an executive with Proctor and Gambel Company in the western United States.
In 1975, Anderson earned a M.Div. degree at the University of the South, Sewanee. He was ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church in 1974; and priest in 1975. He has earned MA and PhD degrees from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
Anderson has led retreats, consultations, and camps for youth and adults in eight states. He is a board member of the Appalachian People Service Organization.
Anderson's wife is Lizbeth Johnston, a Colorado native. They have three children, a son and two daughters, ages 11, 7, and 2. Anderson has ties to South Dakota through his parents and grandparents.
The date for the consecration of Anderson as Bishop of South Dakota has not yet been set. It is anticipated that the consecration will be held in late August.