Episcopal bishop from Ohio nominated for Pittsburgh job
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Bishop Kenneth L. Price Jr. has been nominated to serve as a full-time interim bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh that remained in the Episcopal Church after last year's diocesan convention voted to secede.
Bishop Price, 66, is the suffragan -- assistant -- bishop of the Diocese of Southern Ohio. He's also a graduate of West Virginia University who was a priest in Wheeling for many years.
"Pittsburgh was the town we always escaped to," he said.
He has been a bishop for 15 years, with a higher profile than his suffragan status might imply. He is secretary of the Episcopal House of Bishops and in 2005 was appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury to a committee working toward the resolution of serious divisions in the 80 million-member global Anglican Communion. As secretary of the House of Bishops, he co-signed last September's order removing Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan from ministry in the Episcopal Church.
In October the diocesan convention voted to secede from the Episcopal Church, saying it had failed to uphold biblical teaching on matters ranging from salvation to sexual ethics. Archbishop Duncan now leads the 57-parish Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (Anglican), which is affiliated with the new Anglican Church in North America.
The diocese that Bishop Price has been nominated to serve has 9,833 members in 28 parishes. It is governed by a standing committee of clergy and laity, with the part-time assistance of retired Bishop Robert H. Johnson, who commutes from North Carolina.
If elected at the Oct. 17 diocesan convention, Bishop Price will be a "provisional" bishop, with the authority of a diocesan bishop. He will serve a few years until a permanent bishop is elected.
He has voted in favor of partnered gay clergy, who remain controversial in Pittsburgh. The Episcopal diocese is still conservative but includes a significant number of liberal Episcopalians who felt squelched by past leadership.
"What I hope to bring there is the attitude that there is room for everyone and that we need to respect one another's opinion," Bishop Price said.
"My main effort won't be to promote an agenda, be it conservative or liberal, but to help people once again feel included in the family of God, particularly the family of God as manifested by the Diocese of Pittsburgh."
The standing committee considered other candidates, but Bishop Price was the clear choice, in part because he has already been a provisional bishop in Southern Ohio, said the Rev. James Simons, standing committee president. His administrative skills and love of Pittsburgh were also important.
They discussed the uneasy balance of conservatives, moderates and liberals in the diocese.
"Bishop Price wants to respect the character of the diocese, and I think he will do that," said the Rev. Simons, who is theologically conservative.
His appointment was welcomed by Joan Gundersen, treasurer and administrator of the diocese. "He's had church development experience, which is a high priority for us," she said.
She is also president of Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh, and said she understood that he wasn't coming here to push her group's agenda.
"I think that the standing committee has tried to find someone like Bishop Johnson has been, who is able to reach across to everyone in our diocese, whatever their theological position. This continues the standing committee's trend and desire to work on creating a broad and inclusive community that is a good home for Episcopalians of differing beliefs. That is a positive for PEP, as well as others in the diocese," she said.
The Rev. George Werner, the former dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and a longtime leader in the national church, knows Bishop Price well.
"He loves Jesus, he loves the church, he loves his wife and family and he's one of the best pastors I've ever seen in the House of Bishops," he said.
If elected, Bishop Price will have authority immediately. But he and his wife, Mariann, won't move here until December.
Mrs. Price is a social worker specializing in international adoptions. One of her clients is Adopt-a-Child in Squirrel Hill.
First Published September 4, 2009 12:00 am
