Alabama elects John McKee Sloan as bishop suffragan

The Rev. John McKee “Kee” Sloan was elected September 30 as bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama.

Sloan, 52, rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Huntsville, Alabama, was elected on the third ballot out of a field of six nominees. He received 162 votes of 288 cast in the lay order and 63 of 114 cast in the clergy order. An election on that ballot required 145 in the lay order and 58 in the clergy order.

The election took place at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham. Sloan will succeed former Bishop Suffragan Marc Andrus, who was elected bishop of California on May 6, 2006.

Under the canons the Episcopal Church (III.16.4 (a)), a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan standing committees must consent to Sloan’s election and ordination as bishop within 120 days of receiving the consent request.

Sloan’s consecration will be held on January 12, 2008 at the Cathedral Church of the Advent.

The other candidates were:

* the Rev. William Marc Burnett, 39, rector, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Birmingham, Alabama;
* the Rev. Robert Childers, 52, rector, Grace Church, Anniston, Alabama;
* the Rev. Alicia Schuster-Weltner, 45, canon for congregational development, Diocese of Atlanta;
* the Rev. Andrew Waldo, 53, rector, Trinity Church, Excelsior, Minnesota; and
* the Rev. Patrick J. Wingo, 47, rector, St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Birmingham, Alabama.

Sloan will assist diocesan Bishop Henry N. Parsley in the oversight and care of the churches and ministries of the diocese. The suffragan will have specific ministry responsibilities in the areas of college campus ministry, small church congregational development, assisting with the pastoral care of clergy, and implementing the initiatives of a recent capital fund campaign in the Diocese of Alabama, according to a diocesan news release.

Sloan is married to Tina Marie Brown and they have two children.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1982, Sloan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mississippi State Univiversity, and an M.Div. from the University of the South in Sewanee.

Before becoming rector of St. Thomas’, Sloan was chaplain at the University of Mississippi, Oxford; rector of All Saints, Grenada; vicar of Incarnation, West Point; and curate of Holy Cross, Olive Branch, all in Mississippi.

The Diocese of Alabama encompasses 44 counties of northern and central Alabama with approximately 35,000 baptized members in 91 parishes and worshipping communities, campus centers, and special ministries.