[ENS] Diocese of Northern Michigan elects Rayford Ray as 11th bishop

From <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>
Date Mon, 6 Dec 2010 05:32:39 -0500

>Episcopal News Service
>December 4, 2010

Diocese of Northern Michigan elects Rayford Ray as 11th bishop

>By Pat McCaughan

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Rayford Ray was elected Dec. 4 as
the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan
(http://www.upepiscopal.org), pending required consents from a
majority of bishops with jurisdiction and standing committees of the
Episcopal Church.

Ray, 54, a member of the Episcopal Ministry Support Team in the
Diocese of Northern Michigan, was elected on the second ballot of a
special convention from a field of three nominees. A fourth nominee,
the Rev. Nigel Taber-Hamilton, rector of St. Augustine's in-the-Woods
Episcopal Church, Freeland, Washington had earlier asked that his name
be withdrawn from consideration.

"We are a life-giving people here in this diocese," said Ray, who
visited the convention after his election. "It is an exciting time as
we will partner together as we look at the possibilities that stand
before us. We have much to do, but we will do it together as we
proclaim the Gospel as we know in Jesus Christ."

Ray received 59 delegate votes and 16 congregational votes. With 88
delegates from 25 congregations present, 59 delegate votes and 13
congregational votes were required to elect at the special convention
held at St. Stephen's Church in Escanaba in the state's Upper
Peninsula.

According to the bylaws of the Marquette-based diocese, a nominee must
receive two-thirds of the delegate vote and a simple majority of the
congregational vote to be elected. To achieve a congregational vote,
delegates from a congregation meet and caucus--a simple majority of
those delegates is considered a congregational vote.

Ray, a four-time deputy to General Convention, has served in Northern
Michigan for more than 20 years, working as ministry development
coordinator, and collaborated with parishes across the Upper Peninsula
of Michigan. He was recently an adjunct instructor at Episcopal
Divinity School.

He was born in Heidelberg, Germany, on August 30, 1956, and became a
U.S. citizen on his 18th birthday, according to a personal statement
posted on the diocesan website.

He earned a bachelors degree in history and language arts from Cameron
University in Lawton, Oklahoma. He was confirmed at age 24 at St.
Andrew's Church in Lawton, Oklahoma.

A former middle school geography, social studies and American history
teacher, he is a 1986 graduate of Nashotah House. He served
congregations in Oklahoma until 1990, when he moved to Northern
Michigan.

He is married to Suzanne Ray, also a priest in the diocese. The couple
has three sons and four grandchildren.

Pending a successful consent process he will succeed Bishop James
Kelsey, who was elected in 1999 and died in an auto accident in 2007.

The consecration is planned for May 21, 2011 in Marquette.

In July 2009, the Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester was elected bishop but did
not receive the required consents from diocesan bishops and standing
committees as outlined in Canon III.II.4(a) from the wider church.

According to the canons, a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction
and diocesan standing committees must consent to the bishop-elect's
ordination as bishop within 120 days of receiving notice of the
election.

Bishop Tom Ray (no relation to Rayford Ray), who preceded Bishop
Kelsey, now serves as Northern Michigan's assisting bishop. "Bishop
Ray has been our rock through all of this," said Linda Piper, chair of
the diocese's Standing Committee in a letter posted on the diocesan
website.

>The other nominees were:

* the Rev. Dr. Susanna E. Metz, 60, executive director of the Center
for Ministry in Small Churches at Sewanee: University of the South in
Tennessee, and rector of St. John the Baptist Church, Battle Creek
Tennessee (Diocese of East Tennessee);

* the Rev. Jos Tharakan, 46, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in
Russellville, Arkansas (Diocese of Arkansas).

The Diocese of Northern Michigan, founded in 1895, encompasses 27
congregations and about 1,770 Episcopalians in the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan.

--The Rev. Pat McCaughan is a national correspondent for the Episcopal
News Service. She is based in Los Angeles.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_126024_ENG_HTM.htm