‘A true pastor’: Episcopal Diocese of Spokane mourns death of Bishop Jim Waggoner

Those who knew Bishop Jim Waggoner Jr., who headed the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane for 17 years, said he will be best remembered for the love he had for others.

Waggoner, the eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, died on Feb. 27. He was 77 years old.

“He just loved being with people. He was a true pastor,” said Gretchen Rehberg, current bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane. “Sometimes, when you get into the role of bishop, you don’t see that as much. With him, he never doubted it.”

Recalling Waggoner’s leadership, many spoke of the turmoil that he helped the diocese weather.

When Waggoner stepped into office in Spokane in October 2000, he was there to pastor a grieving congregation. The seventh bishop, Bishop Frank Terry, had died while undergoing surgery, according to the Living Church, an Episcopal and Anglican publication.

“He came when the diocese was in many ways grieving the loss of their previous bishop,” Rehberg said. “That’s a pretty difficult thing for a diocese to face.”

Mallory Davis, who works as the grant program director for the diocese and served as an office assistant under Waggoner, said the diocese seemed to need “somebody that had a pastoral nature that could really carry them through their grief and shock.”

“That was Bishop Jim,” she said. “He was that person.”

‘Be bold in Christ’: Navigating a church in turmoil

During the early days of Waggoner’s leadership, he also helped the diocese handle conversations about the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people.

In 2003, three years after Waggoner began his service in Spokane, Bishop Gene Robinson was appointed Bishop Coadjutor of New Hampshire.

Robinson was the first openly gay priest to serve as bishop in the Episcopal Church. His consecration set off “quite a stir,” according to Karen Heaton, Waggoner’s Canon to the Ordinary, essentially a sort of chief of staff or coach for the bishop.

“A lot of congregations were discerning, ‘What does that mean to us?’ ” Heaton said. “So there was just a lot of turmoil during that time.”

Heaton said that Waggoner’s mentality during that time was to “be bold in Christ.”

“He wanted to say yes more than to say no,” she said. “To be open to people’s ideas, to people’s points of view.”

That mentality helped carry the diocese through the tough conversations that followed Robinson’s consecration, Heaton said.

While Waggoner was clear that he was supportive of Robinson and inclusion of LGBTQ+ people, she said “he was also very supportive of people who had a different point of view, and being able to express it and still feel welcome and be part of the church.”

“That’s the kind of leadership he had,” Heaton said.

Waggoner also practiced a policy called “radical hospitality,” Heaton said. For Waggoner and his wife, Gloria, that meant hosting events and always welcoming community participation.

Heaton said she also remembered how supportive Waggoner was of his wife, who helped the diocese by raising money, hosting events and protecting the environment – including by turning the diocese’s garden into an organic space.

“I can’t tell you how many times I would come over on the weekend to do some work, and Jim would be out there in his jeans with Gloria, pulling weeds and supporting her in what she wanted to do,” Heaton said. “They were such a team together.”

Dallas Hawkins, senior verger at the Cathedral of St. John in Spokane (the mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane), said Waggoner was “a kind and caring person, and served the diocese well as our bishop.”

“He was friendly, kind and professional in his dealings with other people,” Hawkins remembered.

Waggoner retired from the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane in 2017, but his retirement didn’t last long. In 2019, he stepped into leadership as the assisting bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada.

He served in that role until 2022.

Prior to coming to Spokane, he also served in the Navy and spent 21 years with the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia, according to the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada.

Waggoner is survived by his wife and their two children, Peter and Jimmy, according to Heaton.

Davis, Waggoner’s former office assistant, said she thinks he will be best remembered “as the smiling, kind bishop.”

“People remember him with kindness and joy,” she said. “He was a very joyful man.”

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