The Diocese of Southwestern Virginia has announced a fifth nominee in a bishop’s election scheduled for March 9. The Rev. R. David Cox, priest in residence since 2006 at St. Luke’s Church, Hot Springs, is a nominee by petition.
In his profile, Cox mentions four questions “shared to various degrees by at least some around the Diocese”:
- Is there some value in having an “inside candidate,” who knowing from some experience of its personalities and wounds and achievements, its hopes and possibilities can lead the Diocese more quickly into its future? …
- What of the cares and concerns of smaller congregations? …
- Might this be a moment in the Diocese’s history for a shorter episcopate? …
- How can the Diocese proceed toward the the vision proposed by the Sustainability Committee and embraced by the 2012 Diocesan Council? …
Cox joins these nominees, announced by the diocese in December:
- The Very Rev. Mark Bourlakas (video)
- The Rev. Jeanne Finan (video)
- The Rev. Gail Greenwell (video)
- The Rt. Rev. David Rice (video)
The diocese has revised its report about the nominees to include Cox’s nomination (PDF).
David Cox from SWVA Diocese on Vimeo.
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.
