Loading...Updated August 2016
The Standing Committee announces the appointment of members of the Search Committee for the 5th bishop of the Diocese of East Tennessee. The members of the Standing Committee thank everyone who stepped forward with a willingness to serve and ask your continued prayers as we all discern a call to our next bishop.
Below are the members of our newly-formed Bishop Search Committee as well as the chair of the Transition Committee:
Mr. John Bellamy, St. Paul, Kingsport
The Rev. Robert Childers, Good Shepherd, Lookout Mountain
Ms. Jennifer Dunn, Good Samaritan, Knoxville
The Rev. Kim Hobby, Christ Church, South Pittsburg
The Rev. Kathy Johnston, St. Timothy, Kingsport
The Rev. Josh Hill, St. John's Cathdral, ESK, Chaplain
The Rev. Ron Morton, St. Thomas, Knoxville
The Rev. RJ Powell, St. James, Knoxville
Mr. Walter Puckett, Thankful Memorial, Chattanooga
Ms. Tammy Randolph, St. Luke, Cleveland
Ms. Kim Smith, Southside Abbey, Chattanooga
Ms. Marjorie Thigpen-Carter, Good Shepherd, Knoxville
Mr. John Thomas, St. Thomas, Elizabethton
Mr. Joseph Vrba, Ascension, Knoxville, Search Committee Chair
The Rev. Brad Whitaker, St. Paul, Chattanooga
The Rev. Maggie Zeller, St. Christopher, Kingsport
Ms. Linda Graydon, Nativity, Ft. Oglethorpe, GA, Transition Committee Chair
The Standing Committee and Transition Committee Chair Linda Graydon will be consulting about selecting other members of the Transition Committee in due time.
The Search Committee will hold its initial meeting on June 24 with our search consultant, the Rev. Dr. Diane Vie. A first task for the committee will be the development of a profile of this diocese. You’ll be hearing from them soon as they’ll be seeking your input to the profile! Later, the committee will share how the name of a potential nominee may be submitted. Be sure to look for regular communications and updates from the Search Committee as it goes about its work.
- Please note that the Rev. Claire Keene found that she needed to resign from the committee and the Rev. Josh Hill accepted an invitation to serve on the committee.
A Prayer for the Search Committee and our Diocese
Holy Spirit, who broods over the world, fill the hearts and minds of your servants on the Bishop Search Committee for the Episcopal Church in East Tennessee with wisdom, clarity and courage. Work in them as they examine and recommend candidates to serve as the 5th bishop of East Tennessee. Help them propose candidates who will effectively proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ, to challenge our diocese to seek and serve Christ in all persons – loving our neighbors as ourselves and to be a blazing light for the kind of justice and peace that leads to all people respecting the dignity of every human being. Be with our diocese that we all may be open to the challenges that this process will bring to us – and help the whole church to discern your will for our future. In the name of Jesus Christ our Mediator, on whose life this Church was founded. Amen.
(adapted from TREC – The Episcopal Church’s Taskforce on Reimagining the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Southeast Florida)
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Links to letters from Bishop Young and the Standing Committee:
