Neil Alexander To Be Ordained
Ninth Bishop Of Atlanta 
In Festive Service July 7

   The Rev. Canon J. Neil Alexander will be ordained the ninth bishop of the
Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta in a festive service on Saturday, July 7, at 11
a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta. The service is open to the
public.

   Alexander was elected on the fifth ballot from among five candidates in a
special session of the Council of the diocese on March 31, also at the
cathedral. Since then, preparations have included the obtaining of the
required consents from the bishops and standing committees of the Episcopal
Church nationwide.

   Since the retirement of the eighth Bishop of Atlanta, the Rt. Rev. Frank K.
Allan, in April 2000, the diocese has been guided by the Standing Committee
and the assisting bishop, the Rt. Rev. Robert G. Tharp, retired bishop of
East Tennessee. Upon the ordination of Alexander, Tharp will return to his
home in Knoxville.

   Three bishops are required to ordain a new bishop, and this event will have
even more. Chief consecrator for the new bishop, and also the preacher, will
be the Most Rev. Frank Griswold, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.
The co-consecrators are Bishops Frank Allan, Judson Child and Bennett Sims
(Atlanta's eighth, seventh and sixth bishops, respectively), along with
Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina (representing Province IV, the
Southeastern dioceses); Bishop Onell Soto, former assistant in Atlanta; and
Bishop Ronald Warren of the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, whose presence marks the new relationship of full
communion between the two denominations. Assisting Bishop Robert Tharp will
also participate.

   The color red, which represents the fire of the Holy Spirit, will
predominate in the vestments and banners. Joining the procession, which will
number more than 400 people entering on all three aisles, are (not
necessarily in this order) the Standing Committee; the two Nominating
Committees; the two Transition Committees; the Executive Board; the
Episcopal Center staff; the Cathedral of St. Philip staff; the cathedral
chapter, dean and canons; priests, deacons and postulants of the Diocese of
Atlanta; visiting bishops, presidents of the DOK and ECW, and guests
representing governments and other denominations. There will also be a
plethora of acolytes, crucifers, thurifers, banner bearers from the
parishes, chalice bearers, lectors, vergers and so forth.

   There will be a choir of representatives from churches throughout the
diocese, under direction of the cathedral's new canon musician, Bruce
Neswick. The service will feature a brass quartet and music composed for the
ordination by David Hurd, professor of music and organist of General
Theological Seminary in New York.

   As a longtime colleague on the seminary faculty, Bishop-elect Alexander
asked Hurd, one of the most prolific composers of church music, to compose a
Psalm setting and an anthem, whose text is by Charles Ordination of Neil Alexander Wesley from a 1745 collection, Hymns on the Lord's Supper. Hurd has also written a hymn tune, "Alexander," to follow the sermon, with words written for the ordination of bishops by the Rev. Carl Daw, director of the Hymn
Society of America.

   A reception will follow in the Hall of Bishops, provided by the diocesan
Episcopal Church Women.

   The Rev. Canon J. Neil Alexander, whose title will become "the Rt. Rev."
upon his ordination as bishop, was the Norma and Olin Mills professor of
divinity (homiletics and liturgics) at the University of the South School of
Theology, 1997-2001. He was also priest in charge of St. Agnes' Church in
Cowan, Tenn. He taught liturgics and preaching at General Theological
Seminary in New York, 1989-97, and was director of the school's Chapel of
the Good Shepherd, 1987-97. He was priest associate at All Saints' Church in
New York City, 1988-92. Since 1992 he has been an adjunct professor in the
doctoral program in liturgical studies at Drew University in Madison, N.J.
Since 1996 he has been canon liturgist and theologian for the Diocese of
Bethlehem and was on the board of the Episcopal Evangelism Foundation,
1988-98.

   He received a B.A. from Moravian College in 1976; M. Mus. (organ performance and choral conducting) from the University of South Carolina in 1979; M. Div. from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in 1980; and Th.D. from General Theological Seminary in 1993. Formerly a Lutheran minister, he was ordained in the North Carolina Synod of the Lutheran Church in America in
1980 and served as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Murray Hill, N.J.,
1980-82, then chaplain and dean of chapel at Waterloo (Ontario) Lutheran
Seminary.

Alexander, 47, is a native of Winston-Salem, N.C., and has been married to
Lynn Tesh Alexander, a pediatric nurse practitioner, since 1976; their
children are John Jr., Kelly and Mary Catherine. The family now resides in
the Sandy Springs area north of Atlanta.

   The Diocese of Atlanta has more than 53,000 members in North and Middle
Georgia and is the 10th largest in the Episcopal Church.