A special electing convention Nov. 22 in Lubbock chose a local rector to be the next Bishop of Northwest Texas. The Rev. James S. Mayer, rector of Church of the Heavenly Rest in Abilene, Texas, since 1995, was elected on the second ballot from a field of four nominees.
 
Fr. Mayer was just six votes shy in the lay order of being elected on the first ballot. Needing 71 votes, he received 65. In the clergy order, he needed 24 votes and received 34. On the second ballot he received 90 votes in the lay order and 38 clergy votes.
 
The Rev. Ronald D. Pogue, rector of Trinity Church, Galveston, Texas, was second on the first ballot with 33 lay votes and eight clergy. The Rev. J. Christopher Roberts, rector of St. Martha’s, Papillion, Neb., came in third with 26 lay votes and four in the clergy order. The Rev. Stephen F. Zimmerman, rector of the Chapel of St. Andrew in Boca Raton, Fla., received 17 lay vote and one clergy vote in the first ballot. A fifth nominee, the Rev. C. Christopher Thompson, rector of Eastern Shore Chapel, Virginia Beach, Va., withdrew from the election about 10 days ago.
 
Fr. Mayer is a graduate of Texas Tech University and the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest. He was ordained priest by the Bishop of Dallas in 1993 and served as assistant at St. James, Texarkana, 1992-1994. He was associate rector at Heavenly Rest for about a year before accepting a call to be rector. He and his wife, Katharine, have two grown children and one grandchild.
 
In one of his last official appearances before the entire diocese as bishop, the Rt. Rev. Wallis Ohl presided over the election. He previously announced his intention to resign effective Jan. 1. Assuming that a majority of standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction consent to his election, Fr. Mayer will be consecrated March 21 in Lubbock.
 
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