Nominees for the election of the Tenth Bishop of Oregon
Presented by the Bishop Search Committee to the Standing Committee August 6, 2009
Michael Joseph Hanley
Rector, St. Christopher Episcopal Church, Roseville, Minnesota
Michael was born in 1954 and grew up in Oklahoma and in New York City. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1976 and a M.Div. from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, in 1981. He also holds a D.Min. in Congregational Development from Seabury-Western (2005). Michael has served parishes in Oklahoma, Missouri, and, for the past nineteen years, Minnesota. In the Diocese of Minnesota he has served in a variety of elected and appointed leadership positions and is currently a trustee of Seabury-Western. He is known as a supportive mentor to people of all ages and stages of life, with a deep spiritual center. In a recent sabbatical he completed the 500-mile walking pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella, Spain, with his daughter. In his spare time he has been a storyteller, performing for schools, churches, and other civic groups. He is married to Marla Martin Hanley, an associate academic dean at St. Catherine University in the Twin Cities. Michael and Marla are the proud parents of two adult daughters. About our search process Michael wrote:
I am excited by the challenges and joys of walking collaboratively with you and pioneering news ways of being a bishop. I believe the Anglican Communion is in need of such leadership. The values you claim—tolerance, diversity, independence, love of Mother Earth and a commitment to social justice—I find wonderfully refreshing.
Download Michael Hanley's answers to the nominees' four questions.
Download Michael Hanley's resume.
Andrew Jeffrey MacBeth
Rector, Calvary Church, Memphis, Tennessee
Andy was born in 1949, and is a 1971 graduate of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. He earned his M.Div. from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., in 1975, and since then has served churches in Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Virginia Beach, Virginia (where much of his ministry was with military families). He is currently rector of a large urban parish in Memphis. Shared ministry, justice, outreach, and growth are threads woven throughout his experience. In 2000, he earned a D.Min. from Virginia Theological Seminary. He is the author of Dearly Beloved: Navigating your Church Wedding. Sabbatical study has taken him to St. George’s College in Jerusalem and to a small parish in an Athabascan village on the Yukon in the Diocese of Alaska. He is married to Sybil MacBeth, author of Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God, and they have two sons, one of whom lives with his wife in Seattle. Here’s what he wrote about being part of our search process:
I am intrigued by Oregon’s desire to forge a new kind of relationship with its bishop. I feel called to a ministry of support and encouragement for clergy and lay leaders in congregations. My gift is to help people discern and celebrate what God is doing in their midst, strengthening their discipleship and encouraging their ministry.
Download Andrew MacBeth's answers to the nominees' four questions.
Download Andrew MacBeth's resume.
Britt Elaine Olson
Canon to the Ordinary, Diocese of Northern California
Britt was born in Alaska in 1959, and at the age of seven settled in Oregon with her family. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 1981. She earned her M.Div. from Church Divinity School of the Pacific in 1996. While in seminary, she also studied at Ripon Theological College in Oxford, England. She has served parishes in Oregon (as a laywoman at St. Michael and All Angels, Portland, and as Assistant Rector at Christ Church, Lake Oswego) and Nevada. In 2006 she began her current ministry as Canon to the Ordinary in Northern California; before that she was Canon for Evangelism and Congregational Development in the Diocese of El Camino Real. She is married to Bryon Hansen, who is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Auburn, California. Britt has travelled extensively, and led pilgrimages to England. Throughout her professional life in the church she has stayed active in community organizations outside the church. She is enjoys hiking, snowshoeing, sailing, and the great outdoors. She writes about her participation in our process:
Oregon is my heart’s home. I believe that the diocese is poised for a new, vibrant and hope-filled future and I would be honored to be part of that Spirit-led development. Certainly my experience has prepared me for this vocation, but more importantly, my heart sings when I read the profile and consider what may be possible if I am called to serve with you as your Bishop.
Download Britt Olson's answers to the nominees' four questions.
Download Britt Olson's resume.
