Loading...In just two ballots, a little under an hour after the first ballot was cast, Bishop Ted Gulick announced, "we have an election," and within minutes the 133 clergy and lay electors learned that the Very Rev. Terry Allen White was elected the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Kentucky.
The electing convention was held in the nave at Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville. It has been 17 years since the diocese last elected a bishop. The electing convention was webcast live for the first time in diocesan history, but the final election results were withheld until each of the nominees had been notified and White had been contacted by the bishop by phone from the convention floor, so all could hear his acceptance.
A simple majority is required from each order to announce an election. White received 35 clergy votes and 40 lay deputies' votes.
The bishop-elect is currently the dean of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, in the Diocese of West Missouri, where he has served since 2004 (www.ghtc-kc.org).
He has also served as rector of Trinity Church, Highland Park, Ill., from 1995-2004; associate rector, Christ Church, Winnetka, Ill., from 1991-1995;and vicar of St. Paul's Church, Plymouth, and St. Boniface, Chilton, Wis., from 1987-1991. He was curate of Christ Church, Winnetka, Ill., from 1985-1987.
White was born in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in 1959. He received a Master of Divinity from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in 1985 and a Bachelor of Arts in religion and philosophy from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1982. He was ordained a priest in 1986. He is married to Linda Sue White. They have two children.
The electing deputies consisted of representatives from each of the 36 congregations in the Diocese of Kentucky as well as its clergy members. They chose the new bishop from a slate of four nominees. The other nominees were the Rev. David Allen Boyd, the rector of St. David's Episcopal Church, Austin, TX; the Very Rev. John Paul Downey, the dean of the Cathedral of St. Paul in Erie, PA; and the Very Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely, the dean of Trinity Cathedral, Phoenix, AZ.
Bishop-Elect White is replacing the retiring Rt. Rev. Edwin F. "Ted" Gulick, who has served the diocese as bishop since 1994. The search for a bishop began in Fall 2008 after Bishop Gulick announced his plans to retire in two years. In early 2009, a Search/Nominating Committee was appointed by the Standing Committee of the diocese to determine the qualities wanted in the next bishop and to locate four or five suitable candidates for nomination. In February 2010, following a careful search process, the committee presented four nominees to the Standing Committee.
The consecration will take place on Saturday, September 25. The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, is scheduled to preside at the consecration.
Additional information about the search process and electing convention can be found at www.bishopsearch.episcopalky.org
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