Texas-Based Anglican Diocese Elects Paul Donison as Bishop After Months of Deadlock

Staff Writer

 

Rev. Paul Donison
The Rev. Paul Donison, bishop-elect of the Anglican Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast. | Screenshot: YouTube / Christ Church Plano

The Anglican Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast has chosen the Rev. Paul Donison as its next bishop, ending months of uncertainty following an inconclusive election in May. The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) announced Wednesday that the Texas-based diocese elected Donison on Nov. 7.

Pending consideration of his election by the ACNA College of Bishops in January, Donison will serve as ordinary-elect and bishop-in-charge. Bishop Ryan Reed, who assumed interim leadership in September, will continue serving the diocese as bishop consultant.

The election followed an unsuccessful attempt to select a bishop at a diocesan synod in May at St. Timothy’s Cathedral. Neither of the candidates, the Rev. Russell Martin and the Rev. Ben Sharpe, received the required majority after seven rounds of voting, prompting delegates to narrowly pass a resolution referring the decision to the College of Bishops.

According to Anglican Ink, ACNA leaders subsequently selected Donison as the only candidate for the November election.

Writing to the diocese following the election, Reed said clergy and lay representatives had supported Donison’s election as the diocese’s second bishop “in an overwhelming fashion.”

“I am leaving this synod with great joy and a new hope for the days to come for this diocese and for each of your congregations. We are in fact one church with one mission.”

Donison’s election comes as the diocese prepares to incorporate the Great Plains Missionary District, where he previously served as assisting bishop. The district includes congregations in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and northern Texas, with an online synod planned for early next year.

Donison’s online biography describes his journey from atheism to Christianity at age 17 in the 1990s. Following his ordination in 2004, he led several Canadian parishes as rector before taking up a leadership position in Texas in 2016.

 

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