In an overwhelming display of support for one of its own, the Diocese of Northern Michigan elected the Rev. James Arthur Kelsey, diocesan ministry development coordinator, to be its next bishop.

"What excites me most about this election is that it means we have made a choice to continue on together," said Fr. Kelsey in his comments after the election. "We have discerned that we are ready to affirm a shared leadership from within our midst ... We have been chosen to make a difference to our world and to allow our ordinary lives to be transformed into an offering of thanksgiving ... and to continue on together as an amazingly powerful ministering community."

The convention, held at St. Stephen's Church, Escanaba, Feb. 6, was the first at which a voting procedure, adopted in 1993, was used. Prior to this election, voting in matters considered particularly weighty, such as the election of a bishop, was done by orders. The new procedure calls for a two-thirds majority of all votes cast, and a simple majority vote of delegations present. Fr. Kelsey was elected on the first ballot with 82 percent of the delegates' vote and 85 percent of the congregations' vote, a clear sign that the vision of collaborative local ministry which he has supported in the diocese is one that is widely embraced. The remaining votes were split between the Rev. Katherine Glenn, vicar of the Episcopal mission in San Luis Valley in the Diocese of Colorado, and the Rev. Canon Meredith Hunt, canon at St. Paul's Cathedral, Detroit.

Fr. Kelsey, 46, went to Northern Michigan in 1989 from the Diocese of Oklahoma, where he helped establish a diocesan-wide strategy for cluster ministries. After graduating from General Seminary in 1977, Fr. Kelsey served in the Diocese of Vermont, first in the southwestern part of the diocese and then in the northwest until 1985 as rector of Holy Trinity, Swanton, and priest-in-charge of three missions. He and his wife Mary (Cruse) are the parents of three children: Nathan, 20; Lydia, 18; and Amos, 16. They reside in Marquette, Mich.

Fr. Kelsey will be consecrated July 24. He will succeed the Rt. Rev. Thomas K. Ray, with whom he has worked closely to support the ministry of the baptized in daily life through the development of local ministry support teams.