Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

By ENS staff

The Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld was elected on May 19 as bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire.

Hirschfeld, 51, rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst, Massachusetts (Diocese of Western Massachusetts), was elected on the first ballot out of a field of three nominees. The election was held at St. Paul’s Church in Concord.

Because the election occurred close in time to the 77th meeting of the General Convention in July, Episcopal Church canons provide (in Canon III.11.3) for the required consents to be sought from the bishops and deputies at convention.

Assuming that consent is received, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is scheduled to consecrate Hirschfeld on Aug. 4 at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord.

On Jan. 5, 2013, the bishop coadjutor will be installed as the 10th diocesan bishop at St. Paul’s Church, succeeding the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, who was elected as bishop in 2003 and is retiring.

Prior to becoming rector of Grace Church, Hirschfeld was vice chaplain at St. Mark’s Chapel at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, and was assistant priest at Christ Church, New Haven. He spent a year as pastoral assistant at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris, France. A current member of the board of examining chaplains, he served on diocesan council and as a regional dean in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts.

He is a 1983 graduate of Dartmouth College, where he received his B.A. in Literature. In 1991, he completed a Master of Divinity degree at Berkeley Divinity School, Yale University in New Haven. Born in Minnesota, he moved to Connecticut in childhood.

Hirschfeld is married to Polly Ingraham, a teacher and writer, and has two sons and a daughter. He enjoys painting and outdoor activities, including cycling, rowing, hiking, and skiing.

The other nominees were: 

• the Rev. Penelope Maud Bridges, 53, rector, St. Francis Episcopal Church, Great Falls, Virginia (Diocese of Virginia); and 
• the Rev. William Warwick Rich, 59, senior associate rector for Christian formation, Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts (Diocese of Massachusetts).

Information about all the nominees is available here (http://search.nhepiscopal.org/images/stories/nh%20bishop%20nominee%20presentation.pdf ).

The Diocese of New Hampshire comprises about 15,000 Episcopalians worshiping in 47 congregations.