Episcopal News Service December 9, 2006
Southwest Florida elects Dabney Smith as bishop coadjutor
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
[ENS] The Rev. Dabney Smith was elected on the first ballot December 9 as the bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida (http://www.dioceseswfla.org).
Smith, 53, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church
(http://www.trinitynola.com/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=183&srcid=-2) , New Orleans, was elected out of a field of six nominees at St. Peter's Cathedral in downtown St. Petersburg. Smith was elected with 133 lay votes and 50 clergy votes. An election on that ballot required 107 votes in the lay order and 45 in the clergy order. A total of 301 votes were cast.
Smith will become the fifth bishop of the diocese when Bishop John Lipscomb, 56, retires in 2009. Lipscomb has been bishop since 1997.
Under the canons the Episcopal Church (III.11.4(a)) (http://www.episcopalarchives.org/e-archives/canons/CandC_FINAL_11.29.200 6.pdf), a majority of the bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan Standing Committees must consent to Smith's ordination as bishop.
The complete ballot results are available at
http://www.dioceseswfla.org/search/ncballoting.htm.
Smith has been rector of Trinity Church, New Orleans, since January 2005. The church, with about 2,500 members and seven associate clergy, includes Trinity Episcopal School, and a counseling and training center.
Full story and photograph: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80381_ENG_HTM.htm
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