Episcopal Press and News

VIRGINIA: Bishop Lee announces resignation

Episcopal News Service. January 23, 2009 [012309-03]

Lisa B. Hamilton

The Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, 70, bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, announced on January 23 that he will resign as the diocese's 12th bishop on October 1.

The Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, currently the diocese's bishop coadjutor, will succeed Lee. In January 2006, Lee called for the election of his successor, and Johnston was elected and consecrated the next year. Under the canons of the Episcopal Church, a bishop must resign either by age 72 or no more than three years after the consecration of a bishop coadjutor; both dates will occur in 2010.

Lee said that the economy played a role in his decision. "My resignation will occur several months earlier than I had originally anticipated but I believe it is an appropriate and necessary response to the realities we face," he said.

"Our desire for neat and tidy endings can trap us in a past that becomes illusion and that same desire can blind us to a future that could become a promise," he said. "So the final months of our ministry together will not be a time of tidy endings. But they can be a time of reaffirmation of where we stand, on the rock, on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ," Lee said.

Lee was born in Greenville, Mississippi and holds degrees from Washington and Lee and Duke Universities and the Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained a priest in 1968 and began serving at St. John's Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C. In 1971, Lee became rector of the Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and served there until his consecration as bishop in 1985.

Johnston said of Lee, "In all of his actions -- as a bishop, a colleague and a friend -- he has set the bar very high for me. I am honored to succeed him."

The Diocese of Virginia is comprised of 180 churches, six church schools, two conference centers, eight retirement communities, approximately 450 clergy and 80,000 members.