Episcopal Press and News
Nevada Elects Zabriskie Bishop
Episcopal News Service. May 8, 1986 [86100]
ELKO, Nev. (DPS, May 8) -- The Rev. Stewart C. Zabriskie of Minnesota was elected to be the next Episcopal bishop of Nevada during the 16th annual diocesan convention held April 25-27 at the Elko Convention Center.
His first reaction, after receiving the news from secretary of convention James McGrew, was simply, "Oh, Wow!" He later said he accepted election "with a great deal of joy."
Zabriskie was elected on the first ballot and was one of three nominees from the diocese's Episcopal Election Process Committee, which had been elected at the 1985 diocesan convention.
The committee's other nominees were the Rev. James Blundell, rector of St. John's, Olympia, Wash.; and the Rev. Francis L. Winder, rector of Good Shepherd, Ogden, Utah.
Nominated from the floor were the Rev. Karl Spatz, rector of Christ Church, Las Vegas, Nev.; the Rev. Michael Garrison, regional vicar for southern Nevada parishes; and the Rev. David Schofield, rector of St. Columba's, Inverness, Calif.
On the first ballot, Zabriskie received 24 clergy votes and 97 lay; Spatz, five and 27; Schofield, three and seven; Garrison, two and five; Blundell, three and three; and Winder, two and four.
A total of 144 lay delegates and 39 clergy registered for the convention. They came from the diocese's 31 congregations with a total membership of around 5,500.
Zabriskie has been rector of Church of the Epiphany, Plymouth, Minn., since 1977. He is a member of Sindicators, a group working for development of new forms of ministry, and is chairman of the Diocese of Minnesota's Commission on Ministry. He was also chairman of the diocese's delegation to General Convention last year.
He served previously as rector of St. Andrew's, Cloquet, Minn.; priest-in-charge, Christ Church, Proctor, Minn; assistant minister at St. John's, Pleasantville, N.Y.; rector of St. Mary's, Scarborough, N.Y.; assistant minister of Church of the Incarnation, New York, N.Y.; and teacher at the Casady School, Oklahoma City.
He graduated from Yale in 1958 and received an S.T.B. from General Theological Seminary in 1963.
He is a native of White Plains, N.Y. He married Sarah K. Miller in 1963, and they have two children, Joanna Ellen, 20, and Michael Stewart, 17.
Zabriskie will succeed the Rt. Rev. Wesley Frensdorff, who resigned last September to accept appointment as assistant bishop of Arizona.
Zabriskie's consecration -- once all canonical consents are in order -- is tentatively scheduled to take place on Sept. 6, following the Province Eight Synod in Reno, which will be attended by Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning.
Exact site for the consecration will be determined by Diocesan Council and Zabriskie.
The candidates for bishop were presented to convention by means of written resumes and video tape presentations. The balloting was done on computerized punch-card ballots provided by the Elko County Clerk, who also provided four voting booths. Ballots were counted within five minutes after the close of voting.