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Prominent lay leader John Cannon dies in Florida
By Jan Nunley
2002-282
12/16/2002
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[Episcopal News Service]
A prominent lay leader in the Episcopal Church, John Kemper Cannon, died Sunday, December 15, at Fort Myers, Florida, after suffering a stroke at his nearby Sanibel Island home the previous Sunday. Cannon would have been 70 on his birthday December 20.
An attorney, Cannon held positions of influence and guidance with the General Convention of the Episcopal Church for a quarter of a century. He served as a deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of Michigan from 1976-1991; as parliamentarian to the House of Deputies from 1979-2000; as a member of the president of the House of Deputies' Council of Advice beginning in 1979, and as chancellor to the president of the House of Deputies from 1994.
He was a member of Executive Council from 1973-1985 and chaired several committees, including Social Responsibility in Investment, National Mission in Church and Society, and the Location Committee for Episcopal Church Center from 1982-1985. He also served on the Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop, the Joint Committee on Planning and Arrangements for the 1994 General Convention, the Committee on the State of the Church, the Standing Committee on Structure, the Presiding Bishop's Committee on the Ordination of Women, and the Joint Committee on Nominations.
In addition, Cannon served as chair of the board of the Church Pension Fund, the Board of Archives, and the Clergy Reflection, Education, Discernment and Opportunity (CREDO) Institute.
He held numerous positions in the Diocese of Michigan, and was its chancellor emeritus. A member of St. Michael and All Angels Church in Sanibel, he served as president of the board of the Southwest Florida Episcopal Church Foundation from 1996 to 2002.
'John Cannon was the quintessential church leader,' said the Rev. George L.W. Werner, president of the House of Deputies. 'Yet he always couched his leadership in terms of servant to the church. We shall miss him terribly. '
'John was not simply an involved lay person. In many ways, he helped to define the ideal of the ministry of the baptized faithful,' wrote Mark J. Duffy, canonical archivist and director of the Archives of the Episcopal Church. 'He understood better than most of us how important it is to nurture and protect the institutional life that binds us in this community, how power is a resource to be carefully linked to authority, and if we listen, how we can learn from the unique perspective that every human being brings to the situation. He practiced this ethic no matter if he was speaking about civil rights, the rights of the laity, the function of the Audit Committee, or the role of General Convention, or in countless other opportunities for giving thoughtful advice.'
'John Cannon's work and ministries had a profound impact nationally on the well-being of clergy and church lay professionals and their loved ones and survivors,' said the Rev. Donald Fishburne, rector of Saint Michael and All Angels Church, Sanibel, Florida.
Survivors include his wife Yolanda, known as 'Yo,' and his two sons and two daughters, all of whom were at his bedside at the hospital. There are five grandchildren. The funeral is tentatively scheduled for January 10 at Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where Cannon had twice served as senior warden.
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