The Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory and Power

 

Funeral for the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee Friday, July 15, 2:00 p.m. Chapel of the Cross 304 E. Franklin St. Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Clergy are invited to vest and process Funeral will also be broadcast via livestream Gifts in memory of Bishop Lee may be made to: Virginia Theological Seminary, the Peter James Lee Endowment for Small Church Revitalization in the Diocese of Virginia, or the Peter James Lee Organ Fund, Chapel of the Cross. Condolences may be sent to: The Lee Family, 511 East Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514. ______________________________________________________

The Right Reverend Bishop Peter James Lee, 12th Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, passed away in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on July 2, 2022. He was 84. Bishop Lee served for 25 years as Bishop of Virginia, from 1984 to 2009.    During his tenure as Bishop, Peter Lee ordained more than 200 people to the priesthood; helped to strengthen the Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia; oversaw major capital improvements to the two diocesan conference centers, Roslyn in Richmond and Shrine Mont in Orkney Springs; developed a partner relationship with the Diocese of Christ the King in South Africa; and established a program to give financial assistance to diocesan youth to make mission trips. He also helped to establish the Triangle of Hope, a covenantal relationship between the Dioceses of Virginia, Liverpool, England and now the Diocese of Kumasi, Ghana. The Triangle of Hope promotes reconciliation and healing from the three dioceses’ shared history in the slave trade.   One of the hallmarks of Bishop Lee’s episcopate was his vote in 2003 to confirm the first openly gay bishop in The Episcopal Church. That decision prompted 11 churches to break away from the Diocese, which led to a legal battle over property ownership. The Diocese ultimately won the legal dispute in 2012 when the courts ruled that the seceding churches’ buildings and land were the property of the Diocese.   Bishop Lee said that some of the highlights of his career were meeting Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and being presented to the Queen of England.   Another legacy he leaves to the Diocese of Virginia is a fund established in his name, the Peter James Lee Fund for Small Church Revitalization. The endowment fund was established in 2001 and its purpose it to assist small churches in their revitalization, preservation and expansion primarily of their facilities.     While Bishop Lee eventually found his way to seminary, ordained ministry was not his first career. Prior to his call to ministry, Bishop Lee served as an Army Intelligence Officer (61-62), then as a journalist for several newspapers, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch.   He enrolled in Duke University Law School in 1963, but it was during his first year that he felt his call to ordained ministry. It was also the year he met his wife, Kristy Margaret Knapp.    Bishop Lee graduated from VTS in 1967 and was ordained a deacon that same year. In 1968, he was ordained a priest. From 1968-1970, he served as Assistant Rector of St. John’s Lafayette Square, then became rector of Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC, where he served from 1971 – 1984. He was elected Bishop CoAdjutor of the Diocese of Virginia in 1984.     While Bishop of Virginia, he served in many leadership positions in the wider Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, including as President of the Presiding Bishop’s Fund for World Relief (1987-1993); President, American Friends of the Diocese of Jerusalem (1989-1996); Chairman, Board of Trustees, VTS (1993 – 2009); Chaplain, Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, Washington, DC (1994-2000) and Chairman of The Friends of Canterbury Cathedral in the United States (2003 – 2018).   Though he resigned as Bishop of Virginia in 2009, he continued a distinguished career in ministry. He went directly from Virginia to San Francisco where he served as Interim Dean of Grace Cathedral from 2009-2010. From 2010-2011, he served as Interim Dean of General Theological Seminary in New York City. From New York, Bishop Lee moved to Paris, where he served as Interim Dean of The American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (2012-2013). In 2013, he was elected Provisional Bishop of the Diocese of East Carolina, where he served as an Interim Bishop until 2014. He served in a variety of other ministries including Interim Rector, Christ Church, Georgetown, (2015 – 2017); Assisting Bishop, Diocese of North Carolina and Bishop-in-Residence, Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC.   Bishop Lee is survived by his wife, Kristina Knapp Lee, daughter Stewart, son James, and several grandchildren.   Please keep the Lee family in your prayers.

18 December 2007 Ordination to the Priesthood

 

Diocese of Virginia celebrates Bishop Peter J. Lee's 25 years

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia will celebrate Bishop Peter James Lee’s 25 years of ministry on Saturday, September 19, with a silver jubilee and service of leave-taking at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia, at 10:30 a.m.

“Bishop Lee’s 25 years of ministry have been marked by a gracious wisdom and an ability to help build the church’s broad and welcoming center,” said Bishop Coadjutor Shannon S. Johnston of Virginia. “This is evident in the strength of our churches, our conference and retreat centers, the diocesan schools, and our clergy, who are marked by their diversity, both in their theological and liturgical dispositions, as well as in the breadth of their range of age and talents.”

Beginning October 1, Lee will continue his ministry in the Episcopal Church as interim dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, the largest Episcopal cathedral on the West Coast. He and his wife, Kristy, will move to San Francisco in the coming weeks. Johnston will succeed Lee and become the 13th bishop of Virginia on October 1.

Bishops of the Diocese of Virginia offer comment on General Convention on youtube

From "Center Aisle", you need to click the links below as they cannot be embedded in blogs...

Straight from the Bishops: Timely Conversations with Center Aisle

Hear what the Virginia bishops have to say on a variety of issues in these YouTube videos. More to come!

Bishop Lee discusses Archbishop of Canterbury’s Convention Involvement

Bishop Jones discusses Archbishop of Canterbury’s Convention Involvement

Bishop Johnston explores the Anglican Communion

Check out VTS graduation online - Bishop Barbara Harris at Virginia Theological Seminary

Click HERE or go to www.vts.edu

Bishop Barbara Harris to Address Class of 2009 at Virginia Seminary's 186th Commencement

5.18.09

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Susan Shillinglaw
Tel: 703-461-1764
Email: sshillinglaw@vts.edu


Alexandria, VA - Bishop Barbara Harris will address the Class of 2009 at Virginia Theological Seminary’s 186th Commencement ceremony on May 21, 2009. Sixty-one graduates will receive degrees of either Master in Divinity, Master in Theological Studies, Master of Arts in Christian Education/Youth Ministry, Doctor of Ministry, Post-Graduate Diplomas in Anglican Studies, or Certificate of Work Accomplished.

When she was consecrated as bishop in 1988, Barbara Harris became the first African American woman to be ordained bishop in the Anglican Communion. She has previously served as Bishop Suffragan in the diocese of Massachusetts before retiring in 2002, and as an Assisting Bishop in the Diocese of Washington after retirement. For more details on Bishop Harris’ background, please visit http://www.edow.org/diocese/bishops/harris_bio.html.

For the second year in a row, Virginia Seminary will be streaming the commencement ceremony in its entirety through the VTS website (www.vts.edu). If you are unable to be present on Thursday, please join us online at 10:00 a.m.

Founded in 1823, Virginia Theological Seminary is the largest of the 11 accredited seminaries of the Episcopal Church. The school prepares men and women for service in the Church worldwide, both as ordained and lay ministers, and offers a number of professional degree programs and diplomas. Currently, the Seminary represents more than 40 different dioceses and five different countries, for service in the Church.

"Putting flowers in his hair?"...Bishop Lee going to Grace Cathedral, San Francisco to serve as Interim Dean...

from The Diocese of Virginia today...

A Letter from Bishop Lee

March 6, 2009

Dear Friends,

When I announced my resignation as bishop at January’s Annual Council, I said I was considering new steps in my ministry. I have now accepted the call of Bishop Andrus of California to serve as interim dean of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, after I have resigned as Bishop of Virginia on October 1, 2009.

While I will depart Virginia with sadness at leaving so many whom I love, I am excited and challenged by the call to serve at one of the nation’s primary urban cathedral churches.

I began ordained ministry at an urban cathedral, St. John’s in Jacksonville, Florida, and I have spent many years emphasizing the diversity and continuity of our Anglican tradition which are so well expressed in a cathedral’s ministry.

After a year or so of cathedral ministry, Kristy and I expect to retire in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where we were living when I was elected Bishop in Virginia.

I look forward to these next seven months together as we all prepare for the next chapters of our service to the Lord and the church.

Faithfully yours,

Peter James Lee

Video of Bishop Lee at the Diocese of Virginia Annual Council

Jan. 23, 2009.
Reston, VA.
Bishop Peter James Lee announces the timing of his retirement.




And here is the text of the announcement:



From the Diocese of Virginia
To read the entire release, click Read more

RICHMOND, Virginia (January 23, 2009) – The Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee announced today that on October 1, 2009, he will step down as bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, leaving the Diocese in the capable hands of his successor the Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston.

In January 2006, Bishop Lee called for the election of his successor, and Bishop Johnston was elected and consecrated the next year. Under the canons of the Episcopal Church, a bishop must retire either by age 72 or no more than three years after the consecration of a bishop coadjutor; both dates occur in the next year.

In making the announcement, Bishop Lee said, “I cannot refer to these plans to leave the Diocese of Virginia without placing them in the context of thanksgiving for you, the clergy and the lay leadership of the Diocese of Virginia. I thank God daily for you and I am grateful for the privilege of serving among you.”

Press Release from the Diocese of Virginia
Bishop Lee to Resign October 1, 2009

RICHMOND, Virginia (January 23, 2009) – The Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee announced today that on October 1, 2009, he will step down as bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, leaving the Diocese in the capable hands of his successor the Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston.

In January 2006, Bishop Lee called for the election of his successor, and Bishop Johnston was elected and consecrated the next year. Under the canons of the Episcopal Church, a bishop must retire either by age 72 or no more than three years after the consecration of a bishop coadjutor; both dates occur in the next year.

In making the announcement, Bishop Lee said, “I cannot refer to these plans to leave the Diocese of Virginia without placing them in the context of thanksgiving for you, the clergy and the lay leadership of the Diocese of Virginia. I thank God daily for you and I am grateful for the privilege of serving among you.”

Bishop Lee noted that being a responsible steward in light of the economic realities faced by parishes in the Diocese played a role in his decision. He stated, “My resignation will occur several months earlier than I had originally anticipated but I believe it is an appropriate and necessary response to the realities we face.” He noted in conclusion, “Our desire for neat and tidy endings can trap us in a past that becomes illusion and that same desire can blind us to a future that could become a promise. So the final months of our ministry together will not be a time of tidy endings. But they can be a time of reaffirmation of where we stand, on the rock, on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ.”

Bishop Lee was installed as the 12th bishop of Virginia on May 27, 1985. He was ordained to the diaconate in June 1967 and to the priesthood in May 1968. From 1968‑1971, he served as the assistant minister at St. John's Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C. In 1971, Bishop Lee became rector of the Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, N.C., and continued as rector there until he was elected bishop of the Diocese of Virginia in 1984.

Bishop Johnston will assume responsibility for pastoral oversight of the Diocese, which includes 180 churches, six church schools, two conference centers, eight retirement communities, approximately 450 clergy and 80,000 members.

“Bishop Lee’s decision to leave at this time is characteristic in that it exemplifies the selfless service to God, to the Episcopal Church and to the people of the Diocese of Virginia that he has exhibited throughout his tenure as Bishop of Virginia,” said Bishop Johnston. “Over the years he has been a visionary leader and bishop. Part of that leadership has meant making tough decisions, but all of them were made to strengthen the vitality and potential of the Diocese of Virginia—this latest decision is no different. In all of his actions—as a bishop, a colleague and a friend—he has set the bar very high for me. I am honored to succeed him.”

“Although it is with tremendous sadness that we will say goodbye to Bishop Lee after 25 years of faithful, steadfast service, it is also with a strong affirmation of the grace of his ministry,” said the Rt. Rev. David Colin Jones, bishop suffragan of the diocese of Virginia. “Bishop Lee has led the Diocese and served the Episcopal Church through times of great change and has deepened the bonds between us within the Diocese. I look forward to working with Bishop Johnston in continuing to build on Bishop Lee’s tremendous legacy.”

Bishop Peter James Lee's address at Annual Council

Bishop Peter Lee gave what I thought was an excellent and inspiring Pastoral Address at this year's Annual Diocesan Council meeting on Friday. Some excerpts are below. I am proud to be serving in this diocese in this Episcopal Church and believe that the work of Christ is being done here with great passion, care, and dedication. Amidst what some would call a "time of turmoil" in our church, there are wonderful things happening, and I am glad to be serving in this place, at this time.

I've included the conclusion of Bishop Lee's address, but you can read it all HERE.

Peter+

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last Sunday, at an evensong at St. James’s Church, Richmond, celebrating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., the celebrated Norfolk State University Concert Choir sang that beautiful old spiritual “There is a balm in Gilead.” It speaks of what I have experienced in this last year.

“Sometimes I feel discouraged, and think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.
If you cannot sing like angels, if you cannot preach like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus, and say, ‘He died for all.’

It is the abundance of God’s love for all that we proclaim. You and I may not have the gifts either of the angels or of Paul, but all of us can tell the abundant love of Jesus and demonstrate by our lives and our words that he died for all.

As I move around the diocese, I rejoice in the signs of that abundant love. Congregations are nourishing their young, caring for the disabled, celebrating the sacraments, and in all things, preaching the Gospel, all out of a love for the Lord Jesus Christ and devotion to his coming kingdom. It is an encouraging time to be serving the church in Virginia, especially when we focus on the positive rather than on the shadows that may accompany us. My prayer for the diocese in this coming year is that we can navigate our differences with grace, support those Episcopalians who have been abandoned by the majorities in their congregations, increase our support for the ministries we share, and emphasize the mission of God’s abundance that unites us more than any effort of darkness that seeks to overcome us. May God continue to bless and prosper the Diocese of Virginia.

Article on our ordination in Richmond Paper...

Va.'s Episcopal Diocese ordains 16 new priests
The infusion comes a year after 25 priests left with 15 splinter congregations

Saturday, Dec 22, 2007 - 12:08 AM

By ALBERTA LINDSEY
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

(Read the Richmond Times article here.)



RT. REV. PETER JAMES LEE Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

A year after 15 congregations left the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, taking 25 priests with them, the diocese is celebrating the ordination of 16 new priests.

The priests were ordained in three separate services this week. They made up the largest class to be ordained from the diocese since the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee became bishop in 1985. They will join the 450 priests in the Virginia diocese, which has had a net gain of 100 priests under Lee's leadership.

"We have a vibrant group of new priests in the last 48 hours," Lee said to applause from the congregation that packed St. James's Episcopal Church on West Franklin Street in Richmond for Tuesday night's ordination service for five priests.

Four other priests were ordained Sunday at Grace Church in Kilmarnock by the Rt. Rev. Shannon Sherwood Johnston. It was his first ordination since becoming bishop coadjutor in May. Seven more were ordained Monday at Church of the Good Shepherd in Burke by the Rt. Rev. David Colin Jones, suffragan bishop.

After the service, Lee said he felt very encouraged.

"It's especially encouraging since a number of these new priests are in their late 20s and early 30s. They bring a variety of life experiences and deep commitment. We have people from small churches. We have people in big churches. We have school chaplains," he said. "Working with newly ordained people is a highlight because they bring such energy."

At the same time that the diocese is celebrating the ordination of new priests, it is involved in a court fight over ownership of church property with 11 of 15 conservative congregations that pulled out of the denomination a year ago. The churches that left were upset about the national church's approval of an openly gay man for ordination as a bishop and other matters. A Fairfax County Circuit Court judge heard arguments in the case during a five-day trial in November but has not issued a ruling.

. . .

During Tuesday's service, the ordinands promised to obey their bishop and others with authority over them and affirmed their belief in the Old and New Testaments as the word of God. They also promised to love and serve the people with whom they would work, to preach and to declare God's forgiveness. They acknowledged a belief that they had been called by God to the priesthood.

Presbyterian layman E. Carson Brisson, associate professor of biblical languages, and associate dean for academic programs at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School for Christian Education in North Richmond, gave the sermon. He had taught some of the ordinands in seminary and they invited him to preach, said Louise "Weezie" Blanchard, a newly ordained priest who is associate rector at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on Grove Avenue.

Brisson likened the new priests to a Bedouin shepherd who took her 15 sheep one at a time across a rain-swollen creek. Once the flock was safely on the other side, the shepherd spoke to each one by name. Brisson quoted Jesus' words: "I am the good shepherd because my father wants me to love my sheep, and that's what I do."

For Whitney Bland Zimmerman, who was ordained Tuesday and is associate rector at St. James's, Brisson's message was clear. "You love first. Everything else is second," she said.

Being ordained makes Zimmerman feel "deeply engaged in the community in a way that is so intimate that it's hard to describe," she said. The service is a reminder to her that her role is about serving God, not about herself, she added.

. . .

This week's ordination was the second for the priests. They were ordained deacons last summer. Deacons serve six months to a year in servant ministry, meaning they keep the church informed about the needs of the world. That is a reminder to the priests that their ordination is rooted in servanthood.

Johnston, who will succeed Lee as diocesan bishop when Lee retires, attributed the size of the ordination class "to the sense of commitment to mission that is very much alive in Virginia."

He added: "The Episcopal Church is an exciting church, a church that has a lot of attractiveness to people because of its history. Young people are responding to that."

The church is also "very tolerant of broadly diverse points of view. . . . I think questions that are so pressing in our society are being addressed by the church in a way that cannot be addressed in other discourses," Johnston said. "I'm encountering and experiencing the church in Virginia as being extraordinarily vibrant."