The Rt. Rev. Catherine Elizabeth Maples Waynick, who led the Diocese of Indianapolis for two decades, died October 30 at 76. She was an alumna of Madonna College (Livonia, Mich.) and St. John Provincial Seminary (Plymouth, Mich.), the seventh woman consecrated as a bishop of the Episcopal Church, and the 10th woman called to the episcopate in the Anglican Communion.
Waynick was ordained a deacon in 1985, the same year she finished her Master of Divinity, and she was ordained to the priesthood in 1986 in the Diocese of Michigan. After she retired as Bishop of Indianapolis, she served as Provisional Bishop of the Diocese of Eastern Michigan.
Soon after her election, Waynick talked with journalist Herb Gunn in The Witness, explaining her moderate approach on women’s ordination and the ordination of gay clergy.
“I realize that I have not always been in the same place with many of my sisters on some of these issues,” Waynick told Gunn in the March 1997 edition of The Witness. “I find myself in a real place of tension over actions like insisting that the remaining four dioceses [who do not allow women to be ordained] bring themselves up to speed right now.”
She added: “I think the most powerful witness about all kinds of issues that trouble us, like the ordination of women and the sexuality issue, is not to figure out exactly what the right answer is and try to force everybody to do the same thing. I think maybe our most powerful witness is to acknowledge that we have this tension—that some of us are going to do one thing and some of us are going to do another—and we are going to keep talking with each other and we will, by God, love each other.”
“She was known for her intellect, pastoral sensibility, and clear-eyed commitment to the mission of the Church,” a family obituary said. “She cherished ecumenical and interfaith relationships, working closely with Christian and Jewish laity and clergy throughout her ministry. For many years she served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Anglican Centre in Rome.
“She encouraged the diocese to strengthen lay and clergy formation, expand community partnerships, and embody a church that welcomed all people. She was especially committed to identifying, calling, and forming deacons for ministry in the Diocese and in the larger Church. She also initiated a unique three-way partnership in mission between the Diocese of Indianapolis, the Diocese of Bor in South Sudan, and the Diocese of Brasília.”
The Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple, Provisional Bishop of the Diocese of the Great Lakes, recalled Bishop Waynick fondly. She wrote to the diocese: “When I was a brand new bishop, Bishop Cate gave me a warm and personal welcome to the House of Bishops. In 2013, I was hardly among the first generation of women in the House, but there were still not many women; I think there were 15 of us at that time. When the bishops assembled for that Spring gathering at the Kanuga Conference Center in North Carolina, Cate and I shared a cabin and sang together in the HOB choir. She had a beautiful heart as well as a beautiful voice. Indeed, our loss is heaven’s gain.”
The family obituary added that Waynick and her husband, Larry, “sang in a folk trio together that performed in coffee houses and even opened once for Joni Mitchell in her early days.”
The Waynicks were married for 57 years. In addition to her husband, the bishop is survived by a daughter, a son, and two grandchildren.
A service is scheduled at Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis, at noon on December 12. The bishop’s body will be cremated, and her remains will rest in the columbarium of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Indianapolis.
Douglas LeBlanc is an Associate Editor and writes about Christianity and culture. He and his wife, Monica, attend St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Henrico, Virginia.
