The Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple was elected on Friday, January 25, as Bishop Suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, pending the required consents.
From the Diocese of North Carolina web-site:
Hodges-Copple, rector St. Luke’s, Durham, was elected on the fourth ballot out of a field of five nominees. She received 182 votes of 262 votes cast in the lay order and 123 of 183 votes cast in the clergy order. An election required 158 votes in the lay order and 123 votes in the clergy order.
The election was held during the Diocese’s 197h Annual Convention at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem. Pending a successful consent process, Hodges-Copple will become the Diocese’s first bishop suffragan since the Rt. Rev. Gary Gloster retired in 2007. She will be charged with joining Bishop Curry in leading the DIocese further into Galilee. She will perform regular ecclesiastical duties like parish visitations and confirmations, while focusing especially on Galilee ministry initiatives, young adult ministries, diaconate expansion and diocesan outreach ministries.
“for the Church and for the Church here in North Carolina,” the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry, Bishop Diocesan of the Diocese of North Carolina, said. “I look forward to serving with the Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple as our Bishop Suffragan and doing things for God in this Diocese that will make a difference and realize God’s dream in this world. We are so thankful for all five nominees who offered themselves and allowed themselves to be considered. It’s an offering, and it was an offering on their part. We are deeply, deeply grateful. So to God be the glory, and may God’s dream be realized in our Diocese, in our Church, in our lives and, in turn, in this world.”
Under the canons (111.11.4) of the Episcopal Church, a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan standing committees must consent to the bishop-elect’s ordination as bishop within 120 days of receiving notice of the election.
The other nominees were the Rev. Susan Buchanan (Diocese of New Hampshire), the Rev. Canon Amy Real Coultas (Diocese of Kentucky), the Rev. Lisa Fischbeck (Diocese of North Carolina) and the Rev. Matthew Heyd (Diocese of New York).