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Episcopalians: Spring episcopal elections include church's first Gen-X bishop


From dmack@episcopalchurch.org
Date Tue, 20 May 2003 10:59:02 -0400

May 19, 2003

2003-110

Episcopalians: Spring episcopal elections include church's first 
Gen-X bishop

by Jan Nunley

(ENS)According to the definition used by Gathering the neXt 
Generation, the Rev. Johncy Itty, elected ninth bishop of the 
Episcopal Diocese of Oregon on May 17, will be the Episcopal 
Church's first Generation X bishop.

Born in Bhopal, India, in 1963, Itty falls squarely within the 
1961-1981 time frame that defines Gen Xers. Currently he is 
canon residentiary of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden 
City, New York. He served as social justice officer on the staff 
at the Episcopal Church Center 1998-2000 and as human rights 
officer in the office of the Anglican Observer at the United 
Nations 1995-98. 

Itty was ordained a priest in Madhya, Kerala, in 1993 and 
received into the Episcopal Church from the Church of South 
India in 1995.

He was elected on the fifth ballot to succeed Bishop Robert 
Ladehoff as the spiritual leader of 78 congregations and 21,000 
Episcopalians in western Oregon. Pending the required consents, 
he will be consecrated in a service September 20 in Salem.

"Generation X leaders in the church have spent many years in 
ministry and have taken their place in the councils of the 
church. While much progress needs to be made to make discernment 
processes for ordination in every diocese open to GenXers, there 
are now many experienced GenX priests who are well qualified to 
serve as bishop," said the Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, 
president of Gathering the neXt Generation (GtNG), the national 
network of GenX Episcopalians, and director of alumni/ae and 
church relations at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in 
Berkeley, California. 

"I'm pleased that someone with such a passion and love for 
Jesus, for the church, and for evangelism and renewal has been 
chosen to lead this diocese," added the Rev. Tom Sramek, GTNG 
Core Team member and vicar of St. Alban's Episcopal Church in 
Albany, Oregon. "I'm especially excited about the fact that he 
is a member of my generation--Generation X--and look forward to 
having someone nearer my own age and life stage as my bishop."

"Johncy's election is an exciting choice," said the Rev. Brian 
Grieves, director of the church's Peace and Justice Ministries 
program. "He brings strong pastoral skills and a zeal for 
justice that will serve the church well."

New Jersey: Think again'

Two dioceses wracked by controversy over their bishops in recent 
times also elected bishops this month.

In the Diocese of New Jersey, the bells of Trinity Cathedral 
rang out after the Rev. George Edward Councell, rector of the 
Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, Illinois, was elected 
on the third ballot May 3 to be the eleventh bishop of New 
Jersey. 

Councell succeeds Bishop Joe Morris Doss, who resigned in 1999 
after questions about his handling of diocesan finances and the 
erosion of trust in his leadership. "We know what you're 
thinking. Think again," read the diocesan profile, which was 
refreshingly honest about the diocese's struggles. 

"I'm honored and humbled and hopeful about the call to this new 
ministry," Councell told the Associated Press. "I'll give the 
job my heart and mind and soul. The rest is up to God."

"I am delighted that the clergy and people of the diocese have 
chosen the Rev. George Councell as their next bishop," commented 
Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold who knew Councell while serving 
as bishop of Chicago. "His wise and thoughtful perspectives and 
his deeply understanding and compassionate heart have made him 
an effective parish priest. At the same time, he is no stranger 
to diocesan responsibilities, having ably served on the diocesan 
staff in Western Massachusetts.

"I am glad that a new chapter in the life of the Diocese of New 
Jersey has begun, and immensely grateful for the wonderful way 
Bishop David Joslin served during this time of transition and 
discernment," Griswold said.

Montana Episcopalians elected the Rev. C. Franklin Brookhart Jr. 
of West Virginia as their ninth bishop during a convention held 
May 17 at the Church of the Incarnation in Great Falls. Rector 
of Lawrenceville Parish Church in Wheeling, West Virginia,  he 
will oversee 43 parishes and missions in Montana.

He follows Charles I. "Ci" Jones III, bishop of Montana since 
1986, who resigned in February 2001 following a  decision by the 
Court for the Trial of a Bishop deposing Jones for sexual 
misconduct. The charges stemmed from an extramarital affair 
Jones had with a woman parish employee while Jones was a rector 
in Kentucky in the early 1980s. The Court of Review for the 
Trial of a Bishop reduced Jones' sentence from deposition to a 
five-year suspension.

Retired bishop for the Armed Forces Charles L. Keyser has served 
as assisting bishop for the Diocese of Montana until a new 
bishop could be elected. Pending consents, Brookhart will be 
ordained and consecrated on September 27 at the Cathedral of St. 
Helena in Helena.

In the Diocese of Florida, the Rev. Samuel Johnson Howard was 
elected May 16 as bishop coadjutor on the fourth ballot. Howard 
has been vicar of New York's Trinity Church, Wall Street since 
December 1997. He will succeed Bishop Stephen Jecko, who has 
served as diocesan bishop since 1993.

"It is time for Episcopalians to once again expect to change 
lives and make a difference. It is time for Episcopalians to 
expect the miraculous and to be bold for the sake of the 
Gospel," Howard told the diocese's search committee. Howard's 
consecration is scheduled for All Saints' Day, November 1, 2003, 
pending consents.

The Diocese of Nebraska elected the Rev. Joseph Burnett on the 
first ballot May 9 to be its next bishop. He is a professor of 
pastoral theology, pastoral care, and congregational leadership 
at the School of Theology of the University of the South in 
Sewanee, Tennessee, and priest associate at the University's All 
Saints Chapel and at Otey Memorial Parish. He succeeds Bishop 
Edward Krotz, a native Nebraskan who was elected in 1989. There 
are 45 priests and 25 deacons serving 59 congregations in 
Nebraska.

------

--The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of Episcopal News 
Service. This report was compiled using material from the 
Associated Press, Oregon Live, the Helena Independent Record 
State Bureau, and the Billings Gazette State Bureau.


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