wfn.org | Seminary dean elected bishop coadju

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org (ENS)]

November 13, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-2000
Seminary dean elected bishop coadjutor of New York

       (ENS) The Very Rev. Mark S. Sisk, dean of Seabury-Western
Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, was elected bishop coadjutor
of the Diocese of New York on October 18 in the Cathedral of St. John
the Divine.
       Elected on the seventh ballot, the 55-year-old Sisk will succeed
Bishop Richard F. Grein, who plans to retire in four years. Sisk will be
consecrated and begin his duties next spring.
       Planning to lead the large, ethnically diverse diocese with "clarity
and conviction," Sisk said in a recent interview with the New York
Times that "the challenge for a church leader is to find a way to
galvanize the people" and to "lead in such a way that ordinary people are
enabled and encouraged to take the initiative, to lead from the ground
up."
       Sisk was elected from a field of four candidates nominated by a
search committee the Rev. Roger Frelo of Manhattan, the Rev. James
Lemler of Indianapolis, and the Rev. Nan Peete of Trinity, Wall Street.
Two candidates nominated from the floor: Assistant Bishop E. Don
Taylor of New York, and the Rev. Jonathan Coffey of Scarsdale. 
During the fifth ballot, a seventh candidate, the Rev. Burtner Ulrich of
Yonkers, also was nominated from the floor.
       Sisk, who has been dean of Seabury-Western seminary since
1984, served as a parish priest and as archdeacon in New York for 14
years, and for three years in the Diocese of Newark, following his
studies at General Theological Seminary in New York.
       In the Times interview, he credited the late Joseph Cardinal
Bernardin as his model for church leadership. "Bernardin very much
affected me," Sisk said. "I saw the way he was. He was just a very
approachable, direct guy and unafraid to admit that he didn't have all the
answers." Sisk indicated he wants to "be a bishop who tales people with
utmost seriousness." He also said he would "speak out of a deep
conviction of . . . tradition, while recognizing the reality, the deep
reality, of other traditions . . . with passion and respect."
       "The great issues that are before humanity are the issues that all
religions wrestle with," he said. "Life, death, purpose, meaning,
suffering, justice, those are the issues."
       The Diocese of New York, founded in 1785, has 201
congregations in the New York metropolitan area with 60,000 members.
       Sisk is credited with helping Seabury-Western recover financial
stability and develop new models for theological education.
       Sisk and his wife of 34 years, Karen, have three children.