Delegates to the Diocese of Virginia’s annual council sprang to their feet many times during the election of a bishop coadjutor on Jan. 26. The Very Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, rector of All Saints’, Tupelo, Miss., was elected to succeed the Rt. Rev. Peter Lee on the third ballot.

In the case of three of nearly 20 congregations in which the majority recently voted to align with other provinces of the Anglican Communion, persons who wish to remain with The Episcopal Church elected and sent delegates to the council. The start-over congregations are: St. Stephen’s, Heathsville; St. Margaret’s, Woodbridge; and The Falls Church.

Bishop-elect Johnston is the president of the standing committee in the Diocese of Mississippi and dean of the diocesan convocation. He has served his present cure since 1994. A native of Florence, Ala., the bishop-elect has earned degrees from the University of the South and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. He also attended Westcott House at Cambridge University.

Many of the 1,000 delegates and visitors present gave a standing ovation when the Rt. Rev. Peter Lee announced that both the standing committee and the executive board of the diocese voted unanimously to take legal action over property ownership in the departing parishes.

They applauded vigorously when the Rt. Rev. John Paterson, Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand, said, “If the Episcopal Church needs a strong and united Diocese of Virginia, it is no less true that the Anglican Communion needs a strong and united Episcopal Church, and The Episcopal Church needs the Anglican Communion.”

They gave a standing ovation when the Rt. Rev. David C. Jones, bishop suffragan, read a statement of unqualified support for Bishop Lee by nearly all the active and retired bishops in Province III of The Episcopal Church (with the notable exception of Pittsburgh’s bishops).

Bishop Jones said the departing congregations had shifted their emphasis “from belonging to Christ through baptism” to “adhering to one point of view.” When he added, “That is not an Anglican development,” delegates rose again, applauding and cheering.

They applauded again when treasurer Michael Kerr said that he had approved extending the medical benefits of clergy in the departing congregations through the end of January. “This is an example of grace,” he said.

In a letter delivered to Bishop Lee at the council and copied to all delegates, the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns protested that the diocese’s treatment of these clergy appeared uncharitable. “Maintaining adequate healthcare coverage during times of employment transition has been a government mandate for all employees through programs such as COBRA,” he wrote. “It does not cost the previous employing agency—in this case the Diocese of Virginia—a penny, and yet you have deliberately denied it.”

Delegates voted in the episcopal election using optical character recognition ballots.

The first ballot occurred before lunch. Results were announced at 1:45 p.m., and the second ballot occurred after a brief time of small-table discussions. A third ballot occurred within the next hour.

The longest delay in ballot results occurred after the third ballot, as Bishop Lee spoke with bishop-elect Shannon Johnston by telephone.

“I have spoken to the Rev. Johnston and he has accepted the election,” Bishop Lee announced. Delegates stood for their most boisterous standing ovation of the day. Then Bishop Lee led them in singing the Doxology.

The tentative date for the consecration is May 26 at Washington National Cathedral. Bishop Lee has not announced a retirment date, but by canon he must retire within three years of the consecration of a coadjutor.

Council delegates will vote on a $4.3 million annual budget, as well as a series of resolutions, when Council continues on Saturday. These include a resolution supporting the establishment of a site for day laborers; a resolution confirming the diocese’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals; a resolution calling for a “local option” at the parish level concerning the blessing of same sex unions; a resolution supporting faithful Episcopalians in congregations within which a majority have voted to leave The Episcopal Church; and a resolution supporting negotiations with departing congregations.

Douglas LeBlanc

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