Episcopal Press and News
SOUTHERN VIRGINIA: Five bishop nominees announced; election set for September 27
Episcopal News Service. June 5, 2008 [060508-03]
Carlyle Gravely, Editor of the Jamestown Cross
The 117th Annual Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia will convene in a special session at Powhatan High School on September 27 to elect its 10th bishop from among five nominees.
They are:
- The Very Rev. Edward H. Harrison, dean, St. John's Cathedral, Jacksonville, Florida;
- The Rev. Herman "Holly" Hollerith, IV, rector, Bruton Parish, Williamsburg, Virginia;
- The Rev. Canon E. Daniel Smith, canon to the ordinary, Diocese of Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri;
- The Rev. L. Murdock Smith, rector, St. Martin's Church, Charlotte, North Carolina; and
- The Rev. Canon Mary C. Sulerud, canon for deployment and vocational ministry, Diocese of Washington, Washington, D. C.
When confirmed and consecrated in February 2009, the new bishop will succeed the Rt. Rev. David Bane, who retired at the conclusion of the 114th Annual Council in February 2006.
More information about the nominees, as well as the nominee's answers to the questions considered by the committee in its process, is posted on the Bishop Search web page.
Additional nominees may be brought forward through a petition process that will be open until June 30.
More than 50 potential nominees from 36 dioceses were brought to the attention of the committee. "Through prayerful and careful consideration, the committee has selected the five whose gifts most closely matched the needs and hopes of our diocese as explained in the diocesan profile," a diocesan news release said.
"This is a most interesting and diverse group of clergy. Each one brings a variety of gifts and talents that both meet the needs of the diocese and bring the potential to enrich the life and ministry of the diocese," noted Bill Burleson, a member of Bruton Parish in Williamsburg and chair of the Nominating Committee. "The Nominating Committee was very aware of the work and presence of the Holy Spirit in this process. It has indeed been a blessing to serve the diocese in this way."
The Diocesan Walk Abouts, a series of meetings across the diocese for delegates to the council and other interested persons to meet and get to know the nominees as part of the discernment process leading up to the election, will begin on Friday, September 12 and conclude on Monday, September 15.
The Diocese of Southern Virginia stretches more than 200 miles from the Atlantic Ocean westward to Appomattox, and from the south side of the James River at Richmond to the North Carolina border. It includes about 37,000 Episcopalians, living from the large metropolitan areas of Hampton Roads and Greater Richmond to the small towns/rural areas of Virginia's Eastern Shore and Southside.