A News Release from the Communications Office of the Diocese of Virginia Bishop Calls for Election January 27, 2006 The Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, 12th Bishop of Virginia, called for the election of his successor during his pastoral address to the 211 th Annual Council of the Diocese of Virginia January 27 meeting at the Richmond Marriott Hotel. “I ask this council to authorize the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Virginia to appoint a nominating committee to bring before the 212th Annual Council next year several nominees for bishop coadjutor for election at that council and with plans to have the bishop coadjutor consecrated in the spring of 2007” said the Bishop toward the end of his 20 th pastoral address to the Council. Following the pastoral, the President of the diocesan Standing Committee, the Very Rev. Caroline Parkinson, introduced a resolution calling for the formation of a search committee and a transition committee. The resolution will be discussed in an open hearing tonight and acted on during the business session Saturday. Though not an announcement of retirement, the call for the election of a bishop coadjutor sets in motion a process that will ultimately culminate with Lee’s retirement and with the coadjutor succeeding him as diocesan. Under the current Episcopal Church canons or laws, a diocesan bishop must retire by age 72 or no more than three years after the consecration of a bishop coadjutor. Provided Lee’s successor is elected and consecrated in 2007, both deadlines would coincide in this scenario. Lee, who turns 68 in May of this year, will turn 72 in 2010. “I am committed to serving this diocese with all the gifts that I have and to continue that service until the time comes to turn the leadership of the diocese to another,” said Bishop Lee. Lee was elected bishop coadjutor in 1984 to succeed then Diocesan Bishop Robert B. Hall. He served one year and one week as coadjutor before becoming diocesan upon the death of Bishop Hall in 1985. “This is a large and complex diocese,” said Lee. “I wish I had had more time as bishop coadjutor.” The resolution calls for the Standing Committee to appoint two committees. The Search Committee would conduct the search process to identify nominees for bishop coadjutor. The Transition Committee will help the newly elected bishop transition into his or her new role. “This is a very joyous time in our life in the Diocese of Virginia,” said Parkinson. “On the other hand,” she added, “it identifies that there is coming a time when we will no longer have Peter James Lee as our Bishop. That will be a very difficult time for many of us, young and old.” Organized in 1785, The Diocese of Virginia is a community of over 90,000 members worshipping in 195 congregations in 38 counties throughout one-third of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The diocese’s $4.2 million budget supports work in priority areas of Church Planting, Congregational Development, Youth Development, and Outreach. The Diocese also operates two conference and retreat centers: Roslyn, in Western Richmond, and Shrine Mont in the Shenandoah Valley north of Harrisonburg.
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