Non-seceding Episcopalians hold South Hills convention

Post-Gazette report on the convention in The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh yesterday.

Tribune Review Report is the second link below-

Leaders of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh that remained in the Episcopal Church after a majority of the diocese seceded, named retired Bishop Robert Hodges Johnson, formerly of the Diocese of Western North Carolina, to serve as its interim spiritual leader with limited powers.

"He is, we believe, the right person at the right time," the Rev. James Simons, president of the diocesan Standing Committee which governs the diocese, told a convention of 71 laity and 42 clergy yesterday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Mt. Lebanon.

Bishop Johnson, who did not attend, is expected to arrive soon, and serve two weeks per month through July.

The announcement came at a special convention to elect new leaders to replace the many who voted Oct. 4 to realign with the more theologically conservative Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America. It represented 27 churches.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08349/935122-85.stm

From the Trib

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_602943.html

Bishop Jones to Make Visit to Pittsburgh

The Rt. Rev. David Colin Jones will visit St. Andrew’s Church, Highland Park, on Sunday, November 9 — his first Episcopal Visit to a parish since being named “Consulting” Bishop to the reorganized Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Bishop Jones will preside and preach at St. Andrew’s 9 a.m. Holy Communion service and also preach at the 11 a.m. Choral Morning Prayer. He also will be the guest at a 10 a.m. "Coffee and Conversation" adult forum.

Members of the wider diocesan family are invited to meet Bishop Jones during a gathering at St. Andrew’s from 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Sunday. He will be speaking about his role in our diocese during this transitional period, and those attending can share their thoughts and concerns.


http://www.episcopalpgh.org/jones-first-parish-visit/#more-681

Local Papers on Bishop David Jones

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette

"Bishop Jones' experience in Virginia, especially his pastoral care for congregations that continued with the Episcopal Church, provides us a great resource and guiding hand," said the Rev. James Simons, president of Pittsburgh's diocesan Standing Committee, which will continue to govern the diocese until another bishop becomes the ecclesiastical authority. One of Bishop Jones' duties will be to help search for an interim bishop to serve here for a year or two.

Bishop Jones was born in Youngstown and raised in West Virginia. In his youth he often shopped in Pittsburgh and "rooted for the Pirates and the Steelers," he said.

More here-

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08298/922467-85.stm

And The Tribune Review

Jones will have no ecclesiastical authority in Pittsburgh. He may, on occasion, be asked to perform sacramental duties. Jones will continue as Virginia's bishop suffragan and maintain his residence there, spending time in Pittsburgh as needed.

Jones has close connections to the Pittsburgh area, but never had an official tie to the diocese. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, and raised in West Virginia, he often visited Pittsburgh.

"I bought my first suit at Kaufmann's ... and rooted for the Pirates and Steelers," he said.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_594912.html

Bishop David Jones to be "Consulting" Bishop for Pittsburgh

This just in -

The Rt. Rev. David Colin Jones, the bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, has accepted an invitation from the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh to serve as a “consulting bishop” as it rebuilds.

Bishop Jones will provide the Pittsburgh diocesan Standing Committee — the current leadership team — practical advice on the details of diocesan administration, clergy deployment, and support for congregations remaining in the Episcopal Church in the United States.

“Bishop Jones’s experience in Virginia, especially his pastoral care for congregations that continued with the Episcopal Church, provides us a great resource and guiding hand,” said the Rev. James Simons, President of Pittsburgh’s Standing Committee.

The Diocese of Virginia, like Pittsburgh, has seen a handful of parishes seek to “realign” with other Anglican churches outside of the United States. As the bishop suffragan, or assisting bishop, in Virginia, Jones’s primary responsibility is for missions and church planting, and he is known to be passionate about church growth.

More here-

http://www.episcopalpgh.org/bishop-to-advise/

And from ENS

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_101879_ENG_HTM.htm