The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Lee Jr. announces that he has retired as an assisting bishop in the Diocese of Pennsylvania:
In late June I informed Bishop Gutiérrez that effective July 1 I would be stepping down as an assisting bishop for the Diocese of Pennsylvania. My reasons are age (83), some nagging health issues, and the realization that after 13 years of being the Bishop Diocesan of Western Michigan (1989-2002), I have spent 15 years of my official retirement assisting in Pennsylvania. That’s 28 years of active episcopacy. They have been wonderful years but the time had come to step aside and embrace a slower pace of retirement.
… Assisting has been a dear privilege. The centerpiece has been Sunday parish visitations, around 20 a year. Baptizing, confirming and receiving is always gratifying for a bishop. And so are the meetings with vestries. For a while I also coordinated diocesan campus ministries and, with the Commission on Ministry, oversaw the ordination process on behalf of the Standing Committee. These all add up to lots of special time and engagement with good and caring people, clergy and laity alike.
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.
