One of the original nominees in the Diocese of New York bishop coadjutor election has withdrawn her name less than a week before the diocese is due to vote.
The diocesan committee to elect a bishop announced Oct. 23 that it had received an e-mail from the Rev. Cathy Hagstrom George saying, in part, that “after prayerful consideration I have made the decision to withdraw my nomination.”
“I feel blessed by the friendships I have made across the communion of faith we share in Christ, and for the affirmation of my leadership,” she wrote.
The Rev. Carlye Hughes and Michael McPherson, committee co-chairs, said in statement that the committee “respects her decision and thanks her for her participation in the election process.”
The election is set for Oct. 29 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York.
In mid-September, the Rev. Canon Andrew Dietsche and the Rev. Canon Petero Sabune were added to the previously announced slate of five candidates. Sabune, 58, the Episcopal Church’s Africa partnerships officer, and Dietsche, 57, the New York diocese’s canon for pastoral care, were nominated by petition to stand for the election.
The other nominees are:
* the Very Rev. Peter Eaton, 53, dean of St. John’s Cathedral, Denver, Colorado;
* the Rev. Canon John Harmon, 47, rector at Trinity Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.;
* the Very Rev. Tracey Lind, 57, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio; and
* the Rt. Rev. Pierre Whalon, 58, bishop-in-charge of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe.
The consecration is scheduled for March 12, 2012, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Incumbent New York Bishop Mark S. Sisk on Nov. 13, 2010, called for the election of a bishop coadjutor who will eventually succeed him. According to the Episcopal Church’s constitution (Article II, Sec. 1), a bishop diocesan must retire within three years of the consecration of a bishop coadjutor. The mandatory retirement age for Episcopal clergy is 72. Sisk, 68, would reach that age limit on Aug. 18, 2014. [Episcopal News Service]