The Bishop's Visitation

Thomas C. Ely, Episcopal Bishop of Vermont, visited St. Peter's Church on Sunday, June 3, 2007.

Thomas C. Ely, Episcopal Bishop of Vermont, visited St. Peter's Church on Sunday, June 3, 2007.
On Trinity Sunday, June 3, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 200 Pleasant St., Bennington, VT, welcomed the Episcopal Bishop of Vermont, the Right Reverend Thomas C. Ely. Bishop Ely confirmed, received, and reaffirmed a class of over 24 people into the Episcopal Church. Four of the confirmands were young people who have been part of the national pilot program Confirm not Conform. St. Peter’s Rector, the Rev. Anita Schell-Lambert, baptized two individuals as well. Bishop Ely was the celebrant and preacher at the 8 AM and 10 AM Eucharists.

The first Anglican (Episcopal) Bishop to be consecrated in the United States was Dr. Samuel Seabury of Connecticut who was consecrated bishop in 1784 at Aberdeen, Scotland, by bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church. In 1789 the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States confirmed Dr. Seabury’s position and he became presiding bishop. In 1989, Barbara Harris of the Diocese of Massachusetts was consecrated as the first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion, and in 1993 Mary Adelia McLeod became the ninth Bishop of Vermont, the first woman in the United States to head a diocese of the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Ely was consecrated as the tenth Bishop of Vermont in April of 2001 at Kreitzburg Arena, Norwich University, Northfield, VT. Prior to his consecration, Bishop Ely was missioner of the Greater Hartford Regional Ministry in Hartford, Connecticut, an association of five congregations. He also served as director of youth ministry for the Diocese of Connecticut.