The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson was elected the 10th bishop of Albany on Sept. 9 during a special electing convention. Photo: Diocese of Albany

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Diocese of Albany elected the Rev. Jeremiah Williamson as its 10th bishop on Sept. 9.

Williamson was elected on the fourth ballot with a 65-22 vote in the lay order and 56-54 among clergy. Pending the required churchwide consents, he will be consecrated and installed on Feb. 24, 2024.

The bishop-elect was chosen from a slate of four nominees during a special electing convention held at the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany. The other nominees were the Rev. Geoffrey Ward, rector of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, River Hills, Wisconsin; the Very Rev. Neal Longe, rector of Saint Ann’s Episcopal Church, Amsterdam, New York; and the Rev. Scott Garno, rector of Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Delmar, New York.

Williamson has been rector of Grace and Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, since 2016. Before that, he served churches in Youngstown and Toledo, Ohio. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Drew Theological School and a diploma in Anglican Studies from the General Theological Seminary in New York City. He was ordained a priest in 2009. He and his wife, Jennifer, a United Methodist pastor, have two sons, Oscar and Isaiah.

In remarks delivered via Zoom after the election results were announced, Williamson thanked the convention “for trusting me to be your shepherd, your bishop,” and said he was a “man consumed by hope,” including hope for the future “that I know in my bones God is writing for us.”

The standing committee has been serving as the diocese’s ecclesiastical authority since the resignation of the Rt. Rev. William Love in February 2021. The previous October, Love agreed to resign while facing disciplinary action over his ban on same-sex marriage. In March 2021, Love left The Episcopal Church and now serves as a bishop in the Anglican Church in North America.