Bishop Furman Stough Returns to Alabama to Begin 'New Ministry'
Episcopal News Service. February 24, 1993 [93034]
Bishop Robert Miller of Alabama has announced that his predecessor, Bishop Furman Stough, will return to the Diocese of Alabama as assistant bishop beginning July 1.
"I am overjoyed that Bishop Stough will be coming back to the diocese and that he has accepted my invitation to be assistant bishop," Miller said. "Bishop Stough will assist me in parish episcopal visitations and the diocese will rely on his experience and knowledge to support our programs in stewardship and planned giving."
Stough served as bishop of Alabama from 1971 until 1988, when he received an appointment at the Episcopal Church's national headquarters in New York City. For five years, Stough was senior executive for planning and deputy for the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief. "I have accomplished, to a large extent, what I was called to do in New York," Stough said. "I feel good about what has happened."
Stough said that he will continue his work for national church on a part-time basis, primarily working on the Episcopal Legacy Fund, the church's national effort to provide scholarships to ethnic minority college students.
Stough was instrumental in the early support for the Legacy Fund which was established in 1991 as a tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "The Legacy Fund is extremely important because it is absolutely critical that minority young people be given as much opportunity as possible for higher education," Stough said. "I see this as a very integral part of the church's mission."
In addition, Stough will continue to serve as special advisor to Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning and will continue to develop the church's efforts with major donors for the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief. Stough said that he will return to New York for one week each month until the Episcopal Church's General Convention in September 1994.
Stough said that his experience of the national and international church would "help me to share a vision of the worldwide church to the people of Alabama with more conviction than I have ever done before." He said that, in addition to the personal dimension of the Christian message, "the Gospel must also speak to the world's needs -- that is what mission is all about."
Stough will return to his home in Birmingham and will work out of the diocesan offices there.