The Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan elected the Rev. Whayne Houghland, Jr. to be the ninth bishop of the diocese on the eighth ballot.
Electronic voting was used in this election. The eight ballots were cast in less than an hour and half.
The Candidates were:
The Rev. Jennifer Adams, Rector, Grace Episcopal Church, Holland, Michigan
The Rev. Whayne Hougland, Jr., Rector, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Salisbury, North Carolina
The Rev. Canon Angela Shepherd, Canon for Mission, Diocese of Maryland
The Rev. Canon William Spaid, Canon to the Ordinary, Diocese of Western Michigan
PDF of candidate booklet is here.
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The interesting thing about this election was that nobody outside the diocese seemed to pick up on the fact that only one of the candidates was heterosexual. As a delegate to the electing convention, I sincerely doubt that sexuality was a decisive factor in the election. The runner up was a priest of the diocese in a long term committed lesbian relationship. I don’t think anybody expected her to do as well as she did.
I walked into the convention prepared to cast a couple ballots for her until she withdrew. Instead I cast all eight ballots for her without ever feeling that I was hindering consensus
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Freeman Gilbert – [added by ed.]