From New Hampshire-Douglas Theuner, the Episcopal Church’s eighth Bishop of New Hampshire and the mentor and direct predecessor to the church’s first openly gay bishop, died Friday in Concord. He was 74.
He had been in failing health for some time and had recently entered hospice care, church officials said in confirming his death.
Theuner led the state’s diocese from 1986 until 2003, at which point, amid a wave of global controversy, the rank passed to Bishop Gene Robinson. Robinson, who publicly disclosed his sexual orientation in 1986, had previously served as the state’s Canon to the Ordinary, a sort of chief of staff to the bishop.
“Doug Theuner is the reason I have a life in ministry,” Robinson said. “He was one of the boldest defenders of justice I’ve ever known.”
Originally from New York, Theuner was ordained in 1962 and went on to lead congregations in Ohio and Connecticut, before being consecrated as bishop of New Hampshire.
More here-
http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/9255700-95/mentor-predecessor-to-episcopal-churchs-first-openly-gay-bishop-dies
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