News Release on arrival of the Rt. Rev. Keith Whitmore, new assistant bishop

 

NEWS RELEASE - The Diocese of Atlanta

Contact Nan Ross 404-601-5348 or nross@episcopalatlanta.org - ( jpeg photos available on request)

For immediate release - April 25, 2008

For Congregations of the Diocese of Atlanta and local print media

 

Diocese of Atlanta welcomes assistant bishop

The Rt. Rev. Keith B. Whitmore, former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has arrived at the invitation of Bishop J. Neil Alexander and begun serving as assistant bishop for the Diocese of Atlanta.

Whitmore, 62, a priest since 1977 and a bishop for nine years, took on his new role April 15. During his first week on the job, he participated in four liturgies, a convocational clergy meeting, a seminar offered by the diocesan Institute for Ministry and Theological Education, and the consecration of a new church in Covington. His first Sunday parish visitation will be May 11, Pentecost, at St. Clement's Church in Canton.

Whitmore was ordained bishop of Eau Claire in 1999. He is a Wisconsin native and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Nashotah House, Nashotah, Wis.  He has served congregations in Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas, where he was dean of Christ Cathedral, Salina, and he serves as a trustee for the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. He and his wife, Suzie, have been married 41 years. They have two grown children.

Whitmore said in an interview posted on the Diocese of Atlanta website, "I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to be a part of this diocesan family. First, I am grateful for the opportunity to work with Bishop Alexander, whom I have admired for many years. I look forward to being a part of all we have to offer to the wider church." To read more of the interview, visit www.episcopalatlanta.org.

Bishop Alexander is delighted to have an assistant bishop, particularly this one. "In our years together in the House of Bishops, I have come to deeply respect Bishop Whitmore for his integrity and his principled way of engaging the full life of the church," Alexander said. "He has been faithful over many years in his commitment to The Episcopal Church. He brings us gifts that are complementary to mine and will not just fill in around the edges. He will be able to join me in leading the mission and ministry of this great diocese."

The Very Rev. Douglas Hahn, chair of the Diocese of Atlanta Standing Committee and rector of St. Thomas, Columbus, first met Whitmore in January. He said the committee was "pleased to give unanimous support to Bishop Whitmore's call as our assistant bishop.  We were impressed with his forthrightness and his pastoral sensitivity, and believe he will be an important addition to our ministry in the diocese."

Hahn added, "We have long believed that the size and complexity of our diocese require the presence of an assistant bishop and believe that the gifts of Bishop Whitmore, along with his background from another region of our church, will broaden and deepen our common service to our Risen Lord."

The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta has 95 congregations, four campus chaplaincies and nearly 55,000 members in middle and north Georgia.