The Diocese of Oklahoma has announced a slate of three nominees to become the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Oklahoma: the Rev. Scott Gunn, the Rev. Greg Methvin and the Rev. Poulson C. Reed.
Gunn is currently the executive director of Forward Movement, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Methvin is currently the rector of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Frisco, Texas. And the Reed is currently the rector of All Saint’s Episcopal Church and Day School in Phoenix, Arizona.
The election will take place on Dec. 14, and consecration as bishop coadjutor will follow April 18. Current Bishop Edward J. Konieczny will retire on January 1, 2021.
The Rt. Rev. Shannon MacVean-Brown is now the 1,122nd bishop of The Episcopal Church and the first African-American to serve as Bishop of Vermont. Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry served as chief consecrator. Among the co-consecrating bishops were the Rt. Rev. Thomas C. Ely, tenth bishop of Vermont; the Rt. Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, bishop of Indianapolis; the Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris, bishop suffragan of Massachusetts; the Rt. Rev. Chilton Knudsen, eighth bishop of Maine and assisting bishop of Washington; and the Rt. Rev. Stewart Wood, ninth bishop of Michigan.
MacVean-Brown was accompanied by her husband Phil, daughters Annalise and Indira, and family and friends from all over the country.
The Diocese of West Texas announced that the Rt. Rev. Jennifer Brooke-Davidson has resigned as bishop suffragan to accept a call to serve as assistant bishop in the Diocese of Virginia and will leave West Texas in early October.
The Rt. Rev. David Reed, diocesan bishop of West Texas, said the diocese will not rush to select a successor at the upcoming February 2020 Diocesan Council meeting. “We could not accomplish this task well in the few months between today and February 2020. Further, we believe that waiting will allow the Diocese to be fully attentive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and to ‘wait upon the Lord’ when we seek a second bishop,” he said.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
