New Episcopal bishop selected in Pittsburgh

Via VirtueOnline:

Kenneth Price, named temporary leader during convention

By Ann Rodgers,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Post-gazette.com
October 18, 2009

Bishop Kenneth Price gives his acceptance speech after being voted provisional bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh during a convention at Trinity Cathedral, Downtown, yesterday.

The convention of the formerly fractious Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh was a love fest yesterday as it chose a new bishop, gave emotional thanks to a departing one, adopted all resolutions unanimously and spoke graciously of people in the rival Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (Anglican).

The approval of Bishop Kenneth L. Price Jr. as provisional, or temporary, bishop received a standing ovation from 111 deputies in Trinity Cathedral, Downtown. In a brief acceptance speech, he praised the diocese for civility in hard times.

"This tone of conciliation, respect and transparency is totally in keeping with my own desires and intentions," he said..

A split into two dioceses occurred in October 2008 after a majority of voters at last year's convention decided that the Episcopal Church failed to uphold biblical doctrine on matters from salvation to sexuality. They voted to follow Archbishop Robert Duncan into the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America, which, like the Episcopal Church, is part of the global Anglican Communion.

The 28-parish Episcopal diocese recently won a lawsuit in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court regarding at least $18 million in centrally-held diocesan assets, but ownership of parish property remains to be resolved. The Anglican diocese has 58 parishes, most of which remain in buildings that the denomination's law says should revert to the Episcopal Church.

When clergy and laity yesterday began to applaud a report on the legal victory, the Rev. James Simons, president of the committee that ran the diocese until yesterday afternoon, quickly silenced them.

They gave thanks to Bishop Robert H. Johnson, the retired bishop of Western North Carolina, who as a part-time "assisting bishop" helped rebuild a diocese that had lost its headquarters, its records and most of its leaders.

The Rev. Simons fought back tears as he called Bishop Johnson "a wise counselor, a gracious pastor and a prayerful mentor." A resolution made him "assisting bishop emeritus."

Despite the split, the Episcopal diocese remains theologically conservative. In an interview, Bishop Price said he won't try to change that.

"I want to represent the theological position of this diocese, which is probably more conservative than maybe the rest of the church," he said.

He repeatedly referred to "Archbishop Duncan" -- some Episcopal leaders call him "Mr. Duncan" -- and said he hoped to renew an old friendship. In 1996 then-Father Duncan invited Bishop Price to assist in his consecration as bishop coadjutor of Pittsburgh. When Bishop Price interviewed here for his new position, he wore a diocesan lapel pin that Bishop Duncan had given him.

"I don't harbor any animosity toward Bob Duncan in any way, shape or form," he said.

He voted to depose Archbishop Duncan in September 2008 -- and signed the order as secretary of the House of Bishops -- because he believed that was the only option. But he felt terrible about it, he said. One reason that the Episcopal diocese has offered to "release" the Anglican clergy for ministry elsewhere without deposing them is that he wanted to find a better way to part ways.

"I wish that we had had a way to have dealt with him in the way that we're handling the clergy in this diocese now," he said. "Since that time we've had time to reconsider and realize that there are different ways to do that."

Leaders at Episcopal headquarters in New York, including the chancellor to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, have been supportive of a more concilatory approach, he said.

"I did not feel any interference or any obstacles coming out of New York," he said. "I think there's a level of trust here for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, for the leadership in Pittsburgh, and I think for me in coming here, too."

END