FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 30, 2016
RETIRING EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF CENTRAL NEW YORK NOMINATED AS PROVISIONAL BISHOP FOR SOUTH CAROLINA
As members of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York prepare to elect the diocese’s eleventh bishop at a special convention on August 6th, the Right Reverend Gladstone B. “Skip” Adams III, retiring Bishop of Central New York, has announced that he has been nominated to serve as the next Provisional Bishop of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina.
After 15 years as the 10th Bishop of Central New York, Bishop Adams will retire on October 31st of this year. In a March 2015 letter announcing his retirement plans, Bishop Adams had stated that he would be “available to the Church in any way that God’s Spirit may call forth.”
Bishop Adams will be leading the South Carolina diocese as it continues to move forward following a major split several years ago. South Carolina’s current Provisional Bishop, the Right Reverend Charles V. vonRosenberg, has served since January 2013. He was elected during a special convention called to reorganize the Diocese after a breakaway group and a majority of the congregations in the Diocese announced they had left The Episcopal Church. Thirty-one parishes, missions, and worshiping communities and an estimated 7,0000 members now remain in the Diocese. On September 10th, the South Carolina diocese will hold a special convention at Grace Church Cathedral in Charleston, South Carolina. Delegates to that convention will vote on installing Bishop Adams as Bishop vonRosenberg’s successor.
Bishop Adams was the unanimous choice of the Standing Committee of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina, said the Committee’s President, the Reverend Jean McGraw. The Standing Committee’s nomination of Bishop Adams follows a four-month search process and interviews with several potential nominees, coordinated with help from Bishop Clay Matthews of the Episcopal Church’s Office of Pastoral Development.
“We are looking forward to welcoming Bishop Skip to lead us into the next chapter in our life as Episcopalians in this diocese,” President McGraw said. “He has the gifts and skills to help us continue building on the strong foundation we have created together under the leadership of Bishop vonRosenberg.”
“I am excited by the opportunity to serve the people of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina,” Bishop Adams said. “Seeking to be as openhearted as possible to the Holy Spirit’s movement, I said to the Standing Committee that this seems like a call from God. I was greatly energized by our conversations and believe that working together in Christ we will build on the good work already being done by God’s people in South Carolina.”
In a letter to the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, Bishop Adams expressed gratitude for his time as their bishop. “One of the main reasons The Episcopal Church in South Carolina has called me to this special ministry is because of you and the ways I have been formed as a bishop through our work together in the service of Christ,” he stated. “I will always be grateful to [the people of Central New York] for the mission and ministry we have shared.”
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Established in 1868, The Episcopal Diocese of Central New York is made up of faithful Christians worshipping in 87 Episcopal congregations and chapels, including one college chaplaincy. The diocese is part of The Episcopal Church in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese extends to 14 counties in the center of New York State: Broome, Cayuga, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Seneca, Tioga and Tompkins.
PRESS CONTACT: Meredith Kadet Sanderson, (315) 569-3767 (cell), mksanderson@cnyepiscopal.org.
