[Episcopal News Service – Indianapolis] Three people were nominated July 9 to stand for election as president of the House of Deputies. They are:

• Martha Alexander, deputy from North Carolina;
• The Rev. Gay Jennings, deputy from Ohio; and
• The Rev. Frank Logue, deputy from Georgia.

The election will take place on July 10.

The position becomes vacant at the end of this General Convention. The incumbent, Bonnie Anderson, announced on May 23 that she would not run for a third three-year term.

Martha Bedell Alexander

Alexander is a trustee of the Church Pension Fund and also a North Carolina state legislator. She is serving on the World Mission legislative committee at this convention. She also is a member of the Diocese of North Carolina Standing Committee and is the companion diocese coordinator for Province IV.

She was nominated by Deputy Alice Freeman of North Carolina, who said Alexander’s life has been “about building bridges among people.” She said Alexander “is one who can lead in times of change” and in the Diocese of North Carolina “was able to help bring together various groups and perspectives to shape a common vision for a new way of being.”

Gay Jennings

Jennings left the staff of CREDO, a wellness program of the Church Pension Fund, in June. She just completed a six-year term on the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council and is co-chair of the General Convention’s Committee on Structure. She also is the clergy member of the Episcopal Church’s delegation to the Anglican Consultative Council, the communion’s main policy-making body, which next meets this fall in Auckland, New Zealand.

She was nominated by the Rev. Lowell Grisham, deputy from Arkansas, who said her “breadth of knowledge about the church is awesome, and that she knows how to get things done.” He said she “has a huge heart, a heart for wholeness, justice and reconciliation.” He added, “She is working toward the kingdom of God at all times, and she wants all of us there together.”

Frank Logue

Logue serves as canon to the ordinary for the Diocese of Georgia and previously was the founding rector of King of Peace Church in Kingsland, Georgia.

In his nominating speech, Deputy Matthew Hall of Arizona said Logue is “a proven leader who will bring a fresh perspective to the office” of president. He said he would be a “new, energetic, technically savvy president who embodies the change to which we are called.”

Following the election for president, nominations will be received for vice president, who must be a different order from the president. The vice president will be elected on July 11.

— Melodie Woerman is a member of the Episcopal News Service team at General Convention.