[Episcopal News Service] Rt. Rev. Skip Adams, a retired bishop from downtown New York, is now serving the dioceses of Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan as an auxiliary bishop, while the two dioceses await the outcome of a Title IV disciplinary action against Bishop Whayne Hougland Jr., who was suspended last year for 12 months after admitting an extramarital affair.
Rt. Rev. Skip Adams retired as bishop of downtown New York in 2016. Photo: Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan
Adams, who led the diocese of downtown New York from 2001 to 2016 and then served three years as a provisional bishop in the diocese of South Carolina, was received on February 1 as a consultant and then auxiliary bishop of the two dioceses in central Michigan.
The two dioceses finalized a partnership agreement in 2019, and part of that agreement was to share a bishop. Hougland, who has served as bishop of Western Michigan since 2013, was elected provisional bishop of Eastern Michigan in October 2019.
The two standing committees of the two dioceses announced on June 15, 2020, that Hougland had reached an agreement with Bishop President Michael Curry to comply with a one-year suspension after acknowledging having made “serious mistakes” in pursuing the matter. The other person involved in the case was neither an episcopal nor a staff member from any of the dioceses, and no state or federal law was violated, according to the dioceses.
At that time, the dioceses said that final disciplinary action was pending on the Disciplinary Board for Bishops. Hougland remains on a one-year suspension, according to the Episcopal Church’s Office of Pastoral Development.
The two permanent committee chairs said in a February 1 message to their dioceses that Adams would conduct his ministry from his home in New York during the pandemic. “We don’t know yet when his time with us will end,” they said. “It depends partly on the decision making that will take place later this year regarding Bishop Hougland’s suspension.”
Adams was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from Towson University and Virginia Theological Seminary. He was invited to serve in the Diocese of South Carolina in September 2016, after that diocese was plagued by doctrinal and theological disputes. In 2012, a former diocesan bishop led a group of South Carolina congregations to break with the Episcopal Church, sparking a long legal battle over church property. During Adams’ term, the continuing diocese won a number of victories in the courts, although a final resolution is still pending on the matter.
Rt. Rev. Whayne M. Hougland Jr. Photo: Diocese of Eastern Michigan
Eastern and Western Michigan approved the search for a part-time auxiliary bishop in their diocesan conventions in October 2020. An already consecrated bishop can serve as an auxiliary bishop to fill a specific role, as determined by the diocese’s ecclesiastical authority. Standing commissions in eastern and western Michigan remain the ecclesiastical authorities of the dioceses.
Adams joined East and West Michigan last month as a “consultant” bishop, under a plan for him to transition to an auxiliary bishop after the dioceses performed their standard background checks.
The Episcopal Church has four dioceses in Michigan. Eastern Michigan is based in Saginaw, and Western Michigan is based in the Grand Rapids area, both with congregations spread across rural communities, summer resort areas and smaller cities.
The Diocese of Michigan, in the southeastern corner of the state, encompasses large cities and suburbs, including Detroit, the capital of Lansing and the university city of Ann Arbor. The Northern Michigan Diocese, on the state’s sparsely populated Upper Peninsula, is geographically separated from the rest of the state by Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
– David Paulsen is an editor and reporter for the Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at [email protected].