The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia will decide this week who will succeed Bishop Peter Lee, choosing among five candidates to steer the religious body in the aftermath of a high-profile church split late last year.
Lee, who has not yet announced the date of his planned retirement, will reach the age of 72 in May 2010, the mandatory retirement age for his position, according to Diocese spokesman Patrick Getlein. A council will convene in Richmond on Friday to choose a “bishop coadjutor,” essentially a bishop-elect.
“The canons of our church provide for an orderly transition,” he said.
Getlein said Lee’s decision to retire is not tied to the 11 conservative congregations that have split from the Episcopal Diocese since December. It’s clear, however, that whoever inherits the leadership role in the Diocese will take the helm in a time of great change; the Episcopal church’s presence in Northern Virginia has been dramatically weakened by the schism.
On Dec. 17, eight Northern Virginia churches announced they would split from the Episcopal Diocese and align with the Anglican Church in Nigeria, the largest group of congregations to leave at one time. The rift stemmed from long-standing theological differences with the national church, fueled in part by the ordination of a gay bishop in 2003.
The candidates to follow Lee are the Rev. Dr. Robert S. Dannals, the Rev. Gay C. Jennings, the Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, the Rev. Irwin M. Lewis and the Rev. Caroline Smith Parkinson.
