Spokane priest to lead Minn. Episcopalians
The Rev. Brian Prior chosen to be bishop
MINNEAPOLIS – Delegates at the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota named the Rev. Brian Prior as their next bishop on Saturday, passing over other candidates who included a Native American and two women, one of whom is a lesbian.
Prior, 50, who is currently pastor at the Church of the Resurrection in Spokane, is tentatively set to be ordained and consecrated Feb. 13.
“I feel overwhelmed and blessed at this moment for the opportunity to come and serve in a place with such a rich history,” Prior said in a statement.
His closest competition came from the Rev. Mariann Budde, the pastor at St. John the Baptist in Minneapolis. She would have been the first female bishop in the diocese’s 152-year history.
In the final vote, Prior received 271 votes to Budde’s 167.
Two other candidates would have been more radical picks.
The Rev. Bonnie Perry, who specializes in growth at her 600-member church in Chicago, would have been the second openly gay person to serve as an Episcopal bishop. Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire became the first when he was consecrated in 2003, triggering a long-running controversy in the Episcopal Church.
The Rev. Doyle Turner, a member of the White Earth band of Ojibwe, would have been the first Native American in the post.
Prior, who is married with two teenage sons, has been pastor of his church since 1996.
A fifth-generation Episcopalian, he told members of the Minnesota Diocese that, “while bishops are called, they also ‘grow into the office.’ I am not certain I am called to be a bishop. I am certain that I am called to be faithful to the gifts and experiences God has given me for ministry.”