A New Presiding Bishop

And so the torch is passing! In a humbling yet anxious morning yesterday, the deputies, exhibitors, visitors, and bishops, all gathered in the Worship ballroom at the KICC and prayed and sang a mostly-Spanish service of Holy Eucharist (pics below). At one of the most moving moments, something of a ritual now every nine years, the entire House of Bishops departed after receiving communion to head to Christ Church Cathedral to privately pray and then elect the next presiding bishop. And in the end it was The Rt. Rev. Sean W. Rowe of the Episcopal Dioceses of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York who was elected the 28th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church on the first ballot Wednesday, June 26th, at the 81st General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky.

Rowe is 49 and will be the youngest primate of the Anglican Communion ever. A young Gen-X-er, Rowe was ordained a priest at 24 and was elected bishop of Northwestern Pennsylvania at age 32. He has a PhD in organizational structures, something he will apply to his leadership of a multi-pronged denomination to go along with his 17 years of experience as a bishop and serving in many churchwide governance roles, including as parliamentarian of the House of Bishops.

From the Diocese of Chicago’s announcement: "Rowe received 89 of 158 votes from the House of Bishops which gathered for the election in Christ Church Cathedral. His election was later confirmed by the House of Deputies in a vote of 778-43. Rowe’s nine-year term, succeeding Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry, begins November 1.” Continue Reading About the Election Here.