While most voters in the country have been focusing the the presidential election of 2016, it’s safe to say the vast majority of church-going Episcopalians on the Eastern Shore are more interested on June 11 of this year when both lay members and clerics will cast their vote on who will be the 11th Bishop of The Diocese of Easton.
Serving the needs of 38 worshiping communities with nearly 10,000 members and served by 70 clergy, the Diocese of Easton has been existence 1868. More importantly, the Diocese has played an active role on the Eastern Shore in some of most pressing social issues of our time, including homelessness, hunger, and human rights.
The Spy was present when the four final candidates made presentations and answered audience questions at the Bishop Election Forum in St. Michaels last night.
The election will take place on June 11 at 10am at Trinity Cathedral, 214 North Street, Easton.
This video is approximately 90 minutes in length
The final four candidates are:
The Rev. Kathryn Andonian is the rector at Church of the Holy Spirit (COHS), which began as a mission church planted by the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania; under her leadership, COHS was received as an independent parish in November, 2010. COHS is a growing, energetic parish that offers a wide variety of ministries that reflect her commitment to the ministry of all the baptized through the creative shared leadership of clergy and laity.
In addition to her ministry at COHS, Kathy is an active leader in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. She is the President of the Standing Committee and has served as a member of the Commission on Ministry, as Vice-Chair of the Diocesan Council, Chairperson of the Liturgical Commission, Fresh Start Facilitator, and other roles. Kathy is a member of the Board of Directors of the Keystone Opportunity Center. She received her M.Div. from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and completed a year of Anglican studies at the Virginia Theological Seminary.
Prior to entering seminary as a second-career student, Kathy enjoyed a first career that began with an undergraduate degree (University of Colorado) and graduate studies (University of Southern California) in the field of gerontology. Her professional career began as a program development specialist for a large health care organization, followed by many years as the legislative director for a large health care association in Sacramento, California, and as the Executive Director of a non-profit health education foundation. She was appointed by the Governor and Mayor to statewide and local boards and organizations. She served as a board member of Episcopal Community Services of Northern California and community development agencies. These professional and volunteer positions provided a strong foundation in strategic visioning, organizational leadership, communications, community outreach, development, and financial management.
Kathy has been married since 1985 to her husband, Marc. They have an adult daughter, Caitlin, who lives in Philadelphia. Kathy is an avid quilter and bird-watcher. They also have four cats and an African Grey Parrot who says “God Bless You” and sings the “Sanctus.”
The Very Rev. Brian Grantz has served as dean of the Cathedral of Saint James in South Bend, Indiana for the past eight years. His path into ministry began shortly after graduating from college, first in a community living and youth ministry program at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and then finding employment in the Diocese of Northern Indiana as Diocesan Youth Ministries Coordinator. Following seminary, he first served as curate, then rector of Saint Anne’s Episcopal Church in Warsaw, Indiana for nine years before relocating to post-Katrina Louisiana to serve as rector of Christ Church, Slidell, for two years.
Fr. Brian and his wife, Tamisyn, will celebrate their 30th anniversary of marriage this year. They are parents to three sons – Nathan, Jesse, and Thaddeus – all of whom are in graduate or undergraduate studies at Indiana University, and a daughter – Rose – who is a high-school sophomore.
The Rt. Rev. Santosh K. Marray, 58, serves as the Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Alabama, a diocese of 90 congregations, campus ministries, and Camp McDowell. As bishop he shares collaborative and collegial ministry with the bishop, and diocesan staff and leadership. He was Bishop Assisting of the Diocese of East Carolina 2009-2012. From 2005-2008 he was the Bishop of Seychelles, Province of the Indian Ocean, and led the diocese through re-imagination, change, and clergy and laity empowerment. When the diocese returned to sustainability, he returned to his family in the US.
Prior to being elected bishop, he served a small parish in Florida, and multi-church parishes in his native country Guyana and the Bahamas, leading the revitalization of struggling congregations of various sizes. He has also planted new churches and carried out numerous successful capital campaigns. He taught for 10 years in the Bahamas Public School System.
Marray was the Province of the Indian Ocean’s representative on the Anglican Communion Covenant Design Group and was later appointed by Archbishop Rowan Williams as Commissary to the Anglican Communion.
Marray is a convert from Hinduism, the faith of his parents. His passion for Jesus and his Church is undergirded by his conviction that a loving Jesus who came looking for him in a small remote village in South America populated by majority Hindus and Muslims in Guyana deserves his love and devotion.
He was ordained to the diaconate and priesthood in 1981, and bishop in 2005. He holds a degrees from Codrington Theological College, Barbados; the University of the West Indies, Barbados; General Theological Seminary, New York; the University of Wales, UK, and Colgate Rochester/Bexley Hall Divinity School.
Marray is married to Nalini ‘Lynn’ since 1977. They have two grown children, Ingram and Amanda, and a granddaughter.
The Rev. John A. Mennell, a priest in the Diocese of Newark, is the rector of St. Luke’s in Montclair New Jersey, a diverse, vibrant community of faith that is joyfully seeking and serving Christ. While serving there, St. Luke’s has more than doubled in attendance and giving and expanded its feeding program, Toni’s Kitchen, to offer more than 52,000 meals each year. Mennell has led creative evangelical initiatives including Celebrate! (younger children’s worship), Worship Without Walls (outdoor community worship) and Journey with Jesus (diocesan walking pilgrimage). Mennell is president of the Standing Committee, a Trustee of the diocese and is President of the Foundation for the Community of St. John Baptist.
Before moving to New Jersey, Mennell was as assisting priest at St. Michael’s in New York City where he led growth in stewardship and membership. Prior to ordination, he worked for 15 years for Procter & Gamble, specializing in strategic planning, budgeting, team building and human resources.
Mennell was ordained to the diaconate and priesthood in 2005 from the Diocese of Southern Ohio. He earned his M.Div. from the General Theological Seminary in 2005, and is a 1987 graduate of the University of Notre Dame where he majored in American Studies. Mennell’s hobbies include softball, cooking, travelling and stone carving.
Mennell’s three children Jack, Sarah and Grace are currently in college (University of Virginia, Denison University and Connecticut College) and he is married to The Rev. Dr. Sonia E. Waters a professor of Pastoral Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.
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