Episcopal Diocese of Chicago postpones consecration of bishop-elect after brain bleed

by Emily McFarlan Miller in the June 30, 2021 issue

(Photo courtesy of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago)

The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago has postponed the consecration and ordination of Paula E. Clark, both the first African American and the first woman elected to lead the diocese, after Clark suffered a brain bleed in April.

Clark was elected bishop in December and scheduled to be consecrated on April 24. Her consecration has been pushed back to August 28, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry announced in a May 21 video message to the Diocese of Chicago.

The delay will allow Clark to assume her role as bishop in “the healthiest and most wholesome way,” Curry said.

Clark experienced a brain bleed while exercising on April 10 and later underwent surgery, according to updates on the Diocese of Chicago’s website. —Religion News Service

This article appears in the June 30, 2021 issue.

Emily McFarlan Miller

Emily McFarlan Miller is a freelance journalist reporting on the spiritual and the supernatural.

All articles »

Against killing children

We have become a society of people who cannot prevent our own children from being killed in their classrooms—and who do not much mind the killing of other people’s children by weapons of war.

by Wendell Berry