Episcopal Life Online notes that two more nominees have been added to the list for Bishop Suffragan for Federal Ministries, the Very Rev. Richard James Martindale and the Rev. Dr. Robert Certain.
Certain preached at the funeral of President Gerald Ford and gave the invocation at the Republican National Convention:
Two nominees have been added to the slate of six candidates for the next Episcopal Church’s bishop suffragan for federal ministries.
The bishop suffragan for federal ministries, formally known in the church’s constitution as the bishop suffragan for the Armed Forces, is responsible for the pastoral care and oversight of U.S. Armed Forces chaplains, military personnel and families; chaplains in federal hospitals, prisons and correctional facilities; and for the eucharistic communities related to military installations.
Current Bishop Suffragan for Federal Ministries George E. Packard is scheduled to retire in May.
Nominated by petition, pending successful background checks, are:
The Rev. Dr. Robert G. Certain, 62, rector, Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Marietta, Georgia, and founding president, Care For The Troops Inc., Atlanta, Georgia; and
The Very Rev. Richard James Martindale, 53, rector, Trinity Episcopal Church, Columbus, Georgia
.
They join the original slate that was announced Feb. 8 and is also pending successful completion of background checks. That slate includes:
The Rev. Carl Andrews, 61, U.S. Air Force colonel and chaplain stationed at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas;
The Rev. James Magness, 63, canon for mission and diocesan administration, Diocese of Southern Virginia;
The Rev. Babs Meairs, 59, field coordinator, Office of the Bishop Suffragan for Federal Ministries;
The Rev. C. Christopher Thompson, 56, rector, Eastern Shore Chapel Episcopal Church, Virginia Beach, Virginia;
The Rev. John Weatherly, 58, Joint Force Headquarters chaplain and rector, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Alexandria, Virginia; and
The Rev. Carl W. Wright, 50, U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and Air Force Global Strike Command chaplain stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Bossier City, Louisiana.