Bishop Sean Rowe of Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pa. elected to lead Episcopal Church

The Right Rev. Sean Rowe, bishop of the Erie-based Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania, was elected Wednesday to be the new presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.

Rowe also currently serves as bishop provisional of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, based in Tonawanda. He will begin leading the denomination this fall.

Rowe was elected to the top position during the Episcopal Church's 81st General Convention. The House of Bishops first voted for Rowe, after which the House of Deputies voted to confirm Rowe's election as the 28th presiding bishop. The House of Deputies vote was livestreamed.

Rowe will take over for the current Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who preached at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Curry is nearing the end of his nine-year term.

In a letter emailed to members of his Pennsylvania and New York dioceses shortly after he was elected presiding bishop, Rowe said, "I give thanks to God for the opportunity to serve the church in this role, and I am especially grateful to each of you who have supported and prayed for me during my discernment for this office. Our ministry together and your resilience and creativity in the face of change have prepared me for this new call, and I will always be thankful for your faithfulness and courage."

Who is Sean Rowe

Rowe, 49, was elected bishop of the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania in May 2007 when he was only 32 years old, making him the youngest bishop in the Episcopal Church. He held that distinction for nearly a dozen years.

He became bishop provisional of Western New York in 2019 as part of a first-of-its-kind experiment in the Episcopal Church to share a bishop and staff.

Rowe was born in Sharon and graduated in 1997 from Grove City College. He graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 2000 and was serving St. John's Episcopal Church in Franklin when he was elected bishop.

In 2010, he made public four claims of sexual abuse against a former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania, apologized for the abuse and asked other victims to come forward.

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In 2012, Rowe announced that he would allow clergy in the 13-county Erie-based diocese to bless the unions of same-sex couples.

Rowe and his wife, Carly Rowe, a Christian educator, have an 11-year-old daughter, Lauren Rowe, according to his biography on the website for the Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York dioceses.

The voting and aftermath

Episcopal bishops gathered Wednesday at Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral in Louisville for the election. A majority threw their support behind Rowe, who received 89 of 158 votes on the first ballot. He needed only 82 and the next closest candidate received 24, according to results announced Wednesday.

Those results were then sent to the Episcopal Church's House of Deputies, made up of priests and laypeople, which must vote to confirm or not to confirm the choice of presiding bishop. The overall vote was "aye" but the total wasn't announced during the livestream.

The bicameral General Convention typically meets every three years to set The Episcopal Church’s mission priorities, budget and policies.

The new presiding bishop will take office Nov. 1 and serve a nine-year term.

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Who else was nominated

The other nominees and the votes they received were the Right Rev. J. Scott Barker, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska, 24 votes; the Right Rev. Daniel G. P. Gutiérrez, bishop of the Norristown-based Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, 17; the Right Rev. Robert Wright, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, 19; and the Right Rev. DeDe Duncan-Probe, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, nine votes.

Rowe is the youngest bishop ever elected presiding bishop, according to the Episcopal News Service. He will follow Curry, the church's first Black presiding bishop, who succeeded its first female presiding bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Dana Massing can be reached at dmassing@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Episcopal Church selects Erie Bishop Sean Rowe as presiding bishop