The Rev. Canon James R. Mathes will be consecrated the fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego March 5 during a 10:30 a.m. service at the Town & Country Resort and Convention Center, San Diego, which is expected to draw more than 2,000 people. A team of people, headed by the Rev. Canon Lee Teed of St. Paul's Cathedral, San Diego, will work throughout the night to create a sacred space from the convention center's ballroom.
The service will include a festival procession of more than 400 people, including Episcopal bishops from around the country, banners for all Episcopal churches in the diocese, a massed choir, and more than 100 clergy members. The choir will sing anthems and a local mariachi band will provide additional music. Bishop Richard Chang of Hawaii will be the chief consecrator, with more than 20 other bishops participating in the laying on of hands.
Mathes will replace retiring bishop Gethin Hughes, who has led the diocese for the past 12 years. Mathes was elected on the third ballot on November 13.
Prior to his election as bishop, Mathes served as Canon to the Ordinary for the Diocese of Chicago. He also served as director of Deployment and Congregational Development. He guided the strategic planning process for the diocese and was instrumental in securing a private $1.6 million grant for a new clergy mentor program.
Mathes was rector of the Church of St. James the Less, Northfield, Illinois. from 1994-2001. During his tenure, worship attendance doubled, church school attendance tripled, and a major community outreach program was founded to provide pastoral care to the indigent elderly and disabled residents. He also completed capital campaigns that funded expansion of the property, plus the renovation and expansion of church buildings.
Previously, Mathes served as assistant minister at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Belmont, Massachusetts. He was raised in Texas and earned his bachelor's degree at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He received his masters of divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria in 1991. Before ordination to the priesthood, Mathes worked in boarding schools as a teacher, coach and development officer.
He, his wife Terri, and children Lee (18) and Sara (15) have already moved to San Diego.
