Bishop elected for Upper South Carolina

The Rev. W. Andrew Waldo, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Excelsior, Minn., and a native of Montgomery, Ala., was chosen as the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina on Saturday.

The election required clergy and lay delegates to cast three ballots before a majority settled on Waldo, though he was a clear favorite from the beginning of the process, coming close to winning the necessary number of votes (59 clergy; 118 lay) in the second round of voting.

Ultimately he won with 64 clergy votes and 129 lay votes.

The Rev. Canon Dr. Neal O. Michell, canon to the ordinary in the Diocese of Dallas and an "orthodox" critic of the Episcopal Church, received 22 clergy and 76 lay votes.

Before becoming a priest, Waldo was a musician. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, he studied Renaissance, baroque and avant-garde recorder and choral music and later became the director of the Early Music Program at Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Mass.

He was one of seven candidates, including the Rev. Robert Brown, who was nominated from the floor Saturday.

Other candidates were Michell; the Very Rev. John Burwell, rector of Church of the Holy Cross on Sullivan's Island; the Rev. David F.O. Thompson, rector of St. Bartholomew's Church in North Augusta; the Rev. Jerre Stockton Williams Jr., rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Kerrville, Texas; and the Very Rev. Dr. Philip C. Linder, dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia.

The election came as some parishes, including three in the Diocese of South Carolina, which encompasses the coastal half of the state, consider disassociating with the Episcopal Church because of controversies over same-sex unions, gay and lesbian clergy and various theological issues.

The Diocese of South Carolina called a special convention in October, during which four of five resolutions were passed, including one that calls on the bishop and standing committee "to begin withdrawing from all bodies of the Episcopal Church."

Burwell, citing allegiance to his bishop, said he voted in favor of this resolution, a move that likely influenced voters in the upper diocese. He received just one clergy vote and no lay votes on Saturday.

Waldo is a professed moderate who argues that fellowship in Christ is more important than being "'right' on a matter of doctrine."

"My approach as bishop would continue to follow this pattern, not permitting blessings until the church has come to one mind, but neither glossing over the depth and authenticity of the questions that are before us and the pain that brothers and sisters in Christ experience," he wrote.

Waldo's election must be approved by the Episcopal Church's 110 dioceses before he is consecrated on May 22. He would replace the Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson Jr., who retires on Dec. 31 after 14 years as bishop of the upper diocese.

Reach Adam Parker at 937-5902 or aparker@postandcourier.com.