May 19, 2003
by Jan Nunley

According to the definition used by Gathering the neXt Generation, the Rev. Johncy Itty, elected ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon on May 17, will be the Episcopal Church's first Generation X bishop.

Born in Bhopal, India, in 1963, Itty falls squarely within the 1961-1981 time frame that defines Gen Xers. Currently he is canon residentiary of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York. He served as social justice officer on the staff at the Episcopal Church Center 1998-2000 and as human rights officer in the office of the Anglican Observer at the United Nations 1995-98.

Itty was ordained a priest in Madhya, Kerala, in 1993 and received into the Episcopal Church from the Church of South India in 1995.

He was elected on the fifth ballot to succeed Bishop Robert Ladehoff as the spiritual leader of 78 congregations and 21,000 Episcopalians in western Oregon. Pending the required consents, he will be consecrated in a service September 20 in Salem.

"Generation X leaders in the church have spent many years in ministry and have taken their place in the councils of the church. While much progress needs to be made to make discernment processes for ordination in every diocese open to GenXers, there are now many experienced GenX priests who are well qualified to serve as bishop," said the Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, president of Gathering the neXt Generation (GtNG), the national network of GenX Episcopalians, and director of alumni/ae and church relations at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California.

"I'm pleased that someone with such a passion and love for Jesus, for the church, and for evangelism and renewal has been chosen to lead this diocese," added the Rev. Tom Sramek, GTNG Core Team member and vicar of St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Albany, Oregon. "I'm especially excited about the fact that he is a member of my generation - Generation X - and look forward to having someone nearer my own age and life stage as my bishop."

"Johncy's election is an exciting choice," said the Rev. Brian Grieves, director of the church's Peace and Justice Ministries program. "He brings strong pastoral skills and a zeal for justice that will serve the church well."

New Jersey: Think again'

Two dioceses wracked by controversy over their bishops in recent times also elected bishops this month.

In the Diocese of New Jersey, the bells of Trinity Cathedral rang out after the Rev. George Edward Councell, rector of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, Illinois, was elected on the third ballot May 3 to be the eleventh bishop of New Jersey.

Councell succeeds Bishop Joe Morris Doss, who resigned in 1999 after questions about his handling of diocesan finances and the erosion of trust in his leadership. "We know what you're thinking. Think again," read the diocesan profile, which was refreshingly honest about the diocese's struggles.

"I'm honored and humbled and hopeful about the call to this new ministry," Councell told the Associated Press. "I'll give the job my heart and mind and soul. The rest is up to God."

"I am delighted that the clergy and people of the diocese have chosen the Rev. George Councell as their next bishop," commented Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold who knew Councell while serving as bishop of Chicago. "His wise and thoughtful perspectives and his deeply understanding and compassionate heart have made him an effective parish priest. At the same time, he is no stranger to diocesan responsibilities, having ably served on the diocesan staff in Western Massachusetts.

"I am glad that a new chapter in the life of the Diocese of New Jersey has begun, and immensely grateful for the wonderful way Bishop David Joslin served during this time of transition and discernment," Griswold said.

Montana Episcopalians elected the Rev. C. Franklin Brookhart Jr. of West Virginia as their ninth bishop during a convention held May 17 at the Church of the Incarnation in Great Falls. Rector of Lawrenceville Parish Church in Wheeling, West Virginia, he will oversee 43 parishes and missions in Montana.

He follows Charles I. "Ci" Jones III, bishop of Montana since 1986, who resigned in February 2001 following a decision by the Court for the Trial of a Bishop deposing Jones for sexual misconduct. The charges stemmed from an extramarital affair Jones had with a woman parish employee while Jones was a rector in Kentucky in the early 1980s. The Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop reduced Jones' sentence from deposition to a five-year suspension.

Retired bishop for the Armed Forces Charles L. Keyser has served as assisting bishop for the Diocese of Montana until a new bishop could be elected. Pending consents, Brookhart will be ordained and consecrated on September 27 at the Cathedral of St. Helena in Helena.

In the Diocese of Florida, the Rev. Samuel Johnson Howard was elected May 16 as bishop coadjutor on the fourth ballot. Howard has been vicar of New York's Trinity Church, Wall Street since December 1997. He will succeed Bishop Stephen Jecko, who has served as diocesan bishop since 1993.

"It is time for Episcopalians to once again expect to change lives and make a difference. It is time for Episcopalians to expect the miraculous and to be bold for the sake of the Gospel," Howard told the diocese's search committee. Howard's consecration is scheduled for All Saints' Day, November 1, 2003, pending consents.

The Diocese of Nebraska elected the Rev. Joseph Burnett on the first ballot May 9 to be its next bishop. He is a professor of pastoral theology, pastoral care, and congregational leadership at the School of Theology of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, and priest associate at the University's All Saints Chapel and at Otey Memorial Parish. He succeeds Bishop Edward Krotz, a native Nebraskan who was elected in 1989. There are 45 priests and 25 deacons serving 59 congregations in Nebraska.

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of Episcopal News Service. This report was compiled using material from the Associated Press, Oregon Live, the Helena Independent Record State Bureau, and the Billings Gazette State Bureau.