The Rev. Canon C. Andrew Doyle took the title after winning the May 24 election in Houston.
Doyle served as curate, fulfilling the duties of assistant priest at Christ Episcopal Church in Temple from 1995-1997.
Parishioners who remember Doyle’s service at Christ Episcopal are pleased with the election outcome.
“I truly believe Christ is the leader of the Church and through the delegates of the council, He chose (Doyle) to be bishop,” said Bill Carberry of Moody. “(Doyle) is easy to get along with. That’s one of his strong points. I think he’ll use that to bring young people to the church. That’s something the Diocese needs.”
Wishes of good luck to Doyle are also coming from David Alwine, the Temple pastor who too was in the running for the rank of bishop.
“I’ve only met him a few times, so I don’t know that much his views,” said Alwine, pastor at Christ Episcopal. “But I can say he is a pleasant, very smart person who will be here a good long time. He has worked with the bishop’s for five years, so he knows what’s going on. It’ll be interesting to see how he fills the role.”
Doyle served as Canon to the Ordinary, or chief of staff for the bishop.
At 41, Doyle is the second-youngest bishop serving the Episcopal Church. The youngest is Sean Rowe at age 33 from Northwestern Pennsylvania. He was elected May 19.
Doyle’s first reaction to the news of his appointment, he said, was “to reach over and hug ... a dear, dear friend and partner in ministry.”
He said his being was then overwhelmed with thought and emotion.
“I was excited and humbled,” Doyle said. “It was hard to believe in that moment.”
To be nominated for bishop, a person must secure at least three nomination letters, one from a lay person, one from a priest and one from another church. All nominators must be from within the Episcopal Diocese.
One of Doyle’s nomination letters came from Dr. Jim Key of Palmer Memorial Church. At the May 24 election, he gave a speech in support of Doyle as bishop.
“The calling of a bishop has at its heart a servant leader who is able to maintain the close pastoral ties that are necessary for cohesive, effective mission,” Key said. “(Doyle) is such a person. His character has been shaped by his prayerful submission, and it reflects the virtues of charity, humility and stability.”
The son of an Episcopal priest, Doyle said he wrestled with his call to the priesthood, not wanting to follow in his father’s steps because it was easy and expected. Active in youth ministries in the diocese while growing up, Doyle said the Bishop Maurice Benitez provided him with opportunities for leadership. So after graduating from the University of North Texas in 1990, Doyle returned to the diocese and worked at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin before going to Virginia Theological Seminary.
Doyle met his wife, JoAnne, at Camp Allen; they were married in 1990. They served at Christ Church in Temple and at St. Francis in College Station before going to Houston.
A self-described moderate, Doyle said, “Our work is to grab the vision God has for us and take that word to others. With Jesus Christ, we are about reconciliation and renewed relationships.”
Doyle succeeds Bishop Don Wimberly who faces mandatory retirement in June 2009 at the age of 72. Wimberly had called for the election of a bishop coadjutor, or bishop-in-training, in February at the 159th annual diocesan convention in Galveston.
--tlunsford@temple-telegram.com
