Delegates to today's Diocesan Convention in Upper South Carolina elected Andrew Waldo, the 56-year-old rector of a small parish in the Diocese of Minnesota, as the eighth bishop of the 28,000-member diocese
Waldo was elected on the third ballot. The Alabama native and Sewanee graduate emerged early as a consensus candidate among delegates hoping to continue the moderate course set by retiring Bishop Dorsey Henderson. Waldo garnered substantial support on the first ballot, and built on that lead in the two consecutive rounds of balloting.
The outcome of the election was a blow to critics of the leadership of the Episcopal Church, hoping the convention would pull the diocese more to the right. Henderson has generally been in
the camp of moderate bishops from southern dioceses, like Henry Parsley
of Alabama, and Waldo appears comfortable continuing on that course.
The Standing Committee of the Upper Diocese will now ask the Episcopal Church's 110 Diocesan bishops and standing committees to "consent" to Waldo's election.
A majority of each group will be required before his consecration can proceed in May.
Two candidate "walkabouts" in November gave Waldo the edge.
Waldo was not well-known in the Diocese until two meet-the-candidates "walkabouts" sponsored by the search committee in November. Delegates attending those sessions - mocked as "beauty contests" - said his low-key, approachable manner and traditional Episcopal theology easily made him a favorite.
A
former professional musician, the Bishop-elect was ordained a priest in
1989. He and his wife, Mary, have three sons in their twenties.
Delegates contacted by SC Episcopalians said they wanted to continue the course set by Henderson, but not until the walkabouts did they decide Waldo was the best choice to do that.
The election was a blow to right-wing critics of the Episcopal Church and a rejection of the path recently taken by the Diocese of South Carolina.
Right wing critics of the Episcopal Church had hopes the Diocese would elect someone more in alignment with the bellicose Diocese of South Carolina and its outspoken bishop, Mark Lawrence. A recent convention in that diocese ratified steps proposed by Lawrence to "create distance" from the national Church without actually trying to leave.
Texan Neal Michell appeared to be their man Saturday as he gained strength against fellow arch-conservatives John Burwell and J. Stockton Williams in the second and third ballots. All
three appeared to have the blessing of leaders in the Diocese of South
Carolina. Burwell and Michell even attended a strategy session with
Lawrence and six other dissident bishops after they were
nominated.
However, it was clear from the first ballot that there was not a majority among clergy or laity to elect any of the three.
Upper
South Carolina has now become the third southern diocese in three months to
reject candidates aligned with Bishop Lawrence, and turn to more
traditional Episcopalians.
Just a week earlier the Diocese of
Louisiana elected the dean of the Cathedral in the moderate Diocese of
Lexington, Kentucky as its new bishop, while in October the Diocese of Georgia
elected the rector of St. Alban's parish in the Diocese of Washington
DC.
Waldo's support was significant from the start, but others saw him as the strongest choice and his support grew on subsequent ballots. Due to a voting error, results from the first ballot were invalidated. However, they suggested that the Waldo's support was substantial in both the clergy and lay orders. (A majority vote in each order is required for election.)
On the second ballot, delegates, who considered Waldo a consensus candidate, began migrating away from their first choices such that he ended up only a handful of votes short in both orders.
Waldo
was elected on the third ballot with 64 clergy votes (59 were needed)
and 129 lay votes (118 were needed). Philip Linder, Dean of Trinity Cathedral in Columbia, and Michell, Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Dallas, were the only
two of the other nominees to gain any serious traction against Waldo, but even they finished a distant second and third.
See the results of the voting
Learn more about Bishop-elect Waldo
[Previous pre-convention posting on this story (December 11, 2009) ....]
Upper South Carolina is something of a Rodney Dangerfield among Episcopal dioceses in the southeastern United States.
However, this week, things are different. It's getting a whole lot of respect... welcomed or not.
This Saturday, the 28,000-member diocese it will choose its eighth bishop in an election with implications far beyond its borders.
Outside the Diocese, Episcopalians are waiting to see if delegates elect a new leader who'd move them closer to right-wing critics of the Church, while those inside the Diocese are looking for a partner in ministry to keep them on an even course.
Upper South Carolina is an important diocese sometimes overshadowed by its rowdy neighbor. Sandwiched between older dioceses with much higher profiles, Upper South Carolina is politically moderate to conservative, and much more typical of the traditional Episcopal Church in the South than its more eccentric and vitriolic parent, the Diocese of South Carolina.
Spun off on its own in 1922, the Upper Diocese comprises the Midlands and Upstate of South Carolina, generally dividing the state in half along an axis from Aiken through Columbia to Rock Hill.
Even in colonial times, Anglicans in the Lowcountry had little use for their more Calvinistic upcountry neighbors, their Scotch-Irish work ethic, and plain-spoken ways. Similarly those in the Upcountry held their coastal neighbors in near contempt for their indulgent lifestyles, and peculiar obsessions with proper breeding, stuffy mannerisms, and the latest fashions from Europe.
When the Upper Diocese was created, there were few tears shed on either side.
Throughout its history, Upper South Carolina has elected bishops with a less dogmatic, more pragmatic sense of churchmanship.
They have provided significant leadership in the development of Church institutions like The University of the South at Sewanee, and Kanuga Camps & Conference Center in North Carolina. In fact, Kanuga was purchased for the Episcopal Church by the Diocese’s first bishop, and today serves as a spiritual gathering place for Episcopalians and Anglicans from around the world.
The Episcopal Church’s 22nd Presiding Bishop, John Elbridge Hines, who served during one of the most turbulent period of its history in the 1960s, was a native of the Upper Diocese.
The Diocese's current Bishop has kept it united despite its diversity and national controversies. The Diocese’s current Bishop, Dorsey Henderson, is described as Anglo-Catholic but has overseen a diocese that embraces the robust and diverse traditions and styles of worship of the broader Episcopal Church.
Consecrated in 1995, Henderson has carefully charted a course that has fostered growth and financial stability among his 64 congregations. His low-key style and focus on building up parish ministry has earned him high marks among clergy and lay leaders.
In the House of Bishops, Henderson has generally resisted more liberal trends, aligning himself with a coalition of moderates from the southern dioceses. He is often offstage, but very much at the heart of controversies, helping to shape compromises and policies in ways that would be more acceptable to moderates and conservatives.
Henderson, the seventh Bishop of the Diocese, was the first "outsider" to be elected without existing ties to the state. He is often described as a “Windsor bishop,” whatever that is.
Six candidates offer wide choices in style, theology, & experience, though they all are essentially conservatives. Delegates to next Saturday’s convention will choose Henderson’s replacement from among six candidates:
• The Very Rev. John B. Burwell, Rector of the Church of the Holy Cross, Sullivan's Island
• The Rev. David F.O. Thompson, Rector of St. Bartholomew's, North Augusta
• The Rev. Canon Dr. Neal O. Michell, Canon to the Ordinary, Episcopal Diocese of Dallas
• The Rev. W. Andrew Waldo, Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Excelsior, Minnesota
• The Rev. Jerre Stockton Williams, Jr., Rector, St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Kerrville, Texas
• The Very Rev. Philip Linder, Dean, Trinity Cathedral, Columbia
The overriding issue in this election is whether the Diocese will continue in the traditionalist direction set by Henderson or make a right turn toward dissenters opposed the current leadership of the Episcopal Church.
(Read more and see candidate's resumes and videos)
The two power centers in the Diocese are Columbia in the Midlands and the more conservative Greenville in the Upstate. They are home to the largest clusters of congregations and, if their delegates coalesce around the same candidate, he will likely win early.
That would constitute a divine intervention of Biblical proportions.
More likely they will split among several candidates, allowing delegates from smaller areas like Anderson, Spartanburg, Aiken, Gaffney, and Camden to emerge as equally influential.
Recent controversies in the neighboring Diocese of South Carolina lurk in the background. While not exactly on the ballot, recent actions by the Diocese of South Carolina and its controversial Bishop Mark Lawrence are factors as delegates sort through the qualifications and political leanings of the six candidates.
In October delegates to a special convention in that diocese approved four resolutions that Lawrence claims set new rules of “engagement” between the Diocese of South Carolina and the broader Church.
Lawrence says that the resolutions constitute a “protest” against “indiscriminant inclusivity” exhibited by recent General Conventions, but do not constitute a call for leaving the national Church.
Lawrence and his Diocese have taken these resolutions as a green light to distance themselves from the national Church and engage in aggressive organizing (aka, “missionary relationships”) with dissident Episcopalians around the country and the Anglican Communion.
Buoyed
by these developments, the Church’s right-wing detractors hope Saturday's election in the Upper Diocese will be an opportunity to install one of
their own in a diocese that has not yet fully bought into their
agenda.
They
need of some kind of victory to fuel their efforts to replace the Episcopal Church with
themselves as the sole Anglican presence in North America. Generally, these folks would consider the election of Michell, Burwell, or Williams as a win.
Two candidates join Lawrence at meeting of dissident bishops in Charleston.
In an odd development, two of the candidates - Michell and Burwell - actually attended a strategy session with seven dissident bishops, convened in Charleston last month by Bishop Lawrence. The
expressed purpose of the gathering was to begin to organize rebellious
congregations and dioceses into a more cohesive movement within the
Episcopal Church. read more
It is unclear what the intended message was for delegates to Saturday's convention, but Lawrence's staff seemed most eager to post photos of the participants with Lawrence and the others on the Diocese's website. enjoy the photos
The participation of Michell and Burwell was somewhat surprising in that candidates for bishop generally stay away from high visibility events that might be perceived as political or a distraction from the discernment process. It's also a bit risky for a bishop to try to influence an episcopal election in a neighboring Diocese, if in fact that is what Lawrence was hoping to do.
No clear favorite emerges after two walkabouts.
After an initial period of disappointment in the slate of candidates, the Upper Diocese held two “walkabouts” in Columbia and Greenville on November 21 & 22.
Most delegates got their first look at the candidates at these two events. SC Episcopalians has spoken with some of those who attended, and detected some general trends.
• Delegates approve of Bishop Henderson’s leadership style and the direction he has taken as their leader. They are cautious about those candidates that might take the Diocese too far in another direction. “All of a sudden, everybody’s a moderate,” complained one parish leader wanting to see someone more like Lawrence elected.
• There is no clear front runner. More conservative delegates appear to be gravitating toward Michell. More liberal delegates are leaning toward Linder. Those who seemed to have benefited most from the two candidate walkabouts were Waldo and, to a lesser extent, Thompson.
• Those in the Upper Diocese who want the Diocese to more closely align itself with Bishop Lawrence and the Diocese of South Carolina are significant, but appear to be in the minority.
The slate of candidates was something of a surprise to many in the Diocese because it lacked familiar names, including that of former Cathedral Dean, Sam Candler. Even members of the search committee were surprised at how difficult it was to find more prominent candidates willing to be considered for the job.
However, initial misgivings diminished as delegates and parish leaders learned more about the candidates. The search committee saw its mandate as giving the Diocese a broad selection of experience and leadership styles, and that appears to have happened.
Delegates at the walkabouts also had very positive comments about the process the Search Committee used to introduce them to the candidates.
Anti-Church conservatives appear to be lining up behind Lawrence ally.
If there is a “Lawrence candidate” in the race, it appears to be Canon Michell from the right-leaning Diocese of Dallas. Critics of the Church's leadership see him as their best chance to add the Upper Diocese to their diminishing numbers.
Delegates at the walkabouts gave Michell mixed reviews in our highly unscientific survey. They felt his experience in parish work and expertise on broader issues of churchmanship were impressive, but they worried that he might be a bishop wanna-be in search of a diocese.
They also weren’t convinced that his anti-Church politics wouldn't be at the center of his episcopate. None were aware that he had met with Lawrence and six other dissident bishops in Charleston after he was nominated.
Also, like Lawrence, Canon Michell’s previous writings might come back to haunt him. In a somewhat confusing commentary on the right-wing blog, Standing Firm, he appeared to liken the “reprobate” Episcopal Church to a famous prostitute:
"We don't want to be associated with the reprobate TEC, and so we will reject the primates' plan and preempt their timetable because we are so ashamed of TEC. It may be that God wants to shame us just as he shamed Hosea by calling him to marry a prostitute. It may be that God wants us to endure the embarrassment of TEC and trust the authority that God has placed over us—the primates—to bring a God-ordained order out of the chaos that the leadership of TEC has brought about.”
Aside from the unflattering comparison to Mrs. Hosea, Michell’s comments appear to suggest he’s in a camp that wants to see the Episcopal Church surrender its autonomy to foreign clerics. Since the American Revolution, Episcopalians have not been under the “authority” of any Primate of the Anglican Communion, much less the whole lot of them.
If Michell should win, the Diocese will be in for a nasty consent process by which the other 110 dioceses in the wider Church will be asked to agree to his election. Many in those other dioceses feel that Lawrence misled them about his loyalty to the Church during his consent process three years ago, and they are determined not to let that happen again. (SC Episcopalians disagrees with that allegation against Lawrence.)
Most likely, Michell has enough support to be a significant factor in early balloting, but his base doesn’t have much room to grow beyond that. His candidacy does seem to have sucked the air out of that of fellow Texan, The Rev. Mr. Williams.
On-again-off-again candidacy of Cathedral's dean is a question mark. A key figure in the election – or not -- is Trinity Cathedral’s Dean and petition candidate, The Very Rev. Philip Linder, who is popular among the parishes in the Columbia area and other more mainstream Episcopalians.
His leadership of Trinity's 4,000+ congregation and its programming and multimillion renovations attest to his effective leadership style and the confidence of his parish in his abilities. Many feel he would be a bishop in the mold of those in Western North Carolina, Atlanta, and North Carolina.
However, Linder’s entry into the election by petition has turned into a problem. He originally was among those under consideration by the search committee, but withdrew very publicly, recommitting himself to his ministry at the Cathedral.
Subsequently, he changed his mind and is now allowing his name to be entered by petition. That ruffled some feathers among those on the search committee who had painstakingly sought to develop a balanced slate of candidates with whom its members could then more deeply explore their vision and calling.
Petition candidates generally have a hard time in episcopal elections for this very reason. The perception that they skipped out on what has become a rigorous vetting process in most dioceses seems unfair to the candidates that stuck with it.
On the other hand, Linder has been at the Cathedral for ten years and is hardly an unknown in the Diocese.
At the walkabouts, Burwell seemed to be "running from the Diocese of South Carolina." The Rev. Mr. Burwell, a native of the Upper Diocese, is a successful parish priest who has overseen a multi-campus expansion of what was once a sleepy congregation by the ocean.
In different times, he would be a natural choice for the Upper Diocese.
However, his candidacy appears to be losing steam, largely due to his association with Lawrence and an ill-advised vote in support of the most controversial of the four resolutions considered by the recent convention in the Diocese of South Carolina.
Even if the delegates elect a candidate more to the right of Henderson, it most likely won’t be Burwell. Burwell's support seems to lie more with lay delegates than clergy. The eventual victor needs to win a majority of both orders.
While those we spoke with don’t support the liberal trends of the national Church, they also don’t have the stomach for the kind of high-altitude turbulence Lawrence and his predecessors have visited on the Diocese of South Carolina ... and they aren’t sure that isn’t exactly what they will get with Burwell.
Thompson and Waldo may emerge as consensus candidates. The two candidates who appear most acceptable to the most delegates we spoke with are Thompson and Waldo.
Even if they are not among the leaders in early balloting, they seem to be second choices for most delegates and good bets to emerge as consensus candidates, should the election go past one or two ballots.
Thompson is a popular rector from North Augusta, well-known among the delegates because of his years of work in Diocesan activities and on committees. He seems to be a moderate, and likely to continue the low-key leadership style that worked for Henderson. He knows the Diocese and most of the players, such that if the convention wants to go for a safe and reliable choice not far from home, he’ll be elected.
However, in the election of Henderson, the Diocese took a gamble in electing a largely unknown candidate from the cold Midwest. In the view of those SC Episcopalians spoke with, it paid off.
While he currently lives in the Diocese of Minnesota and served in other dioceses outside the South, The Rev. Mr. Waldo also has roots in Alabama and Georgia such that he is no stranger to the world of Episcopalians in this region. He was probably the least well-known of the candidates going into the walkabouts, but seems to have made a very favorable impression.
If the early balloting does not result in an election, Waldo very likely will emerge as a dark horse winner… much like Bishop Henderson did almost 15 years ago.
Let us know what you think about this article at scepiscopalians@aol.com.
