Each day during March, we celebrate the contributions 31 women have made and recognize their specific achievement as bishop in the Episcopal Church.
Today we celebrate retired Bishop Catherine Waynick of the Diocese of Indianapolis and retired Bishop of the Diocese of Eastern Michigan
“Bishop Catherine Waynick was consecrated on June 7, 1997 and became the first woman and tenth bishop of the Diocese of Indianapolis on September 10, 1997. She was also the seventh woman to be elected bishop in the Episcopal Church. She began her ordained ministry in the Diocese of Michigan, serving churches in Bloomfield Hills and Pontiac before being elected bishop in 1997. In addition to her ministry in Indianapolis, Waynick served on several General Convention legislative committees, on the abundance committee of the Church Pension Fund and on the task force to revise Title IV Disciplinary Canons. She continues to serve as president of the disciplinary board for bishops and as a governor of the Anglican Centre in Rome.”
After she retired in 2017, she was elected to “serve as bishop provisional of the Diocese of Eastern Michigan. With her election on October 20, 2017, Bishop Waynick achieved two more “firsts.” First, she became the first female bishop of any Episcopal diocese in the State of Michigan. Second, she became the first woman and third elected bishop in the Diocese of Eastern Michigan. A truly phenomenal feat!
“As bishop provisional, Waynick will serve half-time for one year, spending about two weeks per month in the diocese. She will perform all Episcopal functions including ordinations and confirmations, as well as all other traditional duties of a bishop, including staff supervision, pastoral care for clergy and more. She will also work closely with leaders of the diocese as they begin a formal study process of diocesan mission and ministry.”
Click here to learn more about Bishop Catherine Waynick.
“All bishops of the Episcopal Church, active or retired, make up the House of Bishops. Like the governing body of the United States, the governing body of Episcopal Church (called “the General Convention”) is comprised of two Houses: the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. They meet and act separately, and both Houses must concur to adopt legislation. General Convention meets every three years, and the House of Bishops meets twice a year between conventions in a non-legislative capacity. The Presiding Bishop is the president of the House of Bishops.”
Source: https://www.episcopalchurch.org/who-we-are/church-governance/house-of-bishops/; https://www.episcopalhistorians.org/bishops-award.html; https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2017/10/23/eastern-michigan-elects-bishop-cate-waynick-as-bishop-provisional/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episcopal_Diocese_of_Eastern_Michigan; https://episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/the_living_church/TLCarticle.pl?volume=214&issue=26&article_id=3; http://kiwix.demo.ideascube.org/wikipedia.en/A/Catherine_Waynick.html