On January 9, 2020, the Anglican Church in North America’s College of Bishops consented to the election of the Rt. Rev. R. Charles Gillin as the Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic (REC).
Gillin has served as the bishop suffragan of the diocese since September 2012 when he was consecrated. Based in southern New Jersey, just due east of Philadelphia, Gillin is centrally located to the majority of the congregations in the diocese that spans from Maine to Maryland with one outlier in Ontario, Canada.
Married for 47 years, Gillin and his wife, Jan, have two married children and four grandchildren. They have spent his entire 41-year clerical ministry in the Diocese of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic (REC), though it once had a different name.
Gillin succeeds the Rt. Rev. David Hicks, who announced his resignation in April 2019, noting he would return to congregational ministry as rector of St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Butler, Pennsylvania, a parish in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Commenting on the decision of the College, Hicks said, “Bishop Gillin is a godly man. We worked well together when I was in the diocese. I am sure he will do well as God leads him. He and the people of the diocese remain in my prayers.”
The Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) is a sub-jurisdiction within the Anglican Church in North America. In accordance with the REC Constitution and Canons, the Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Ray Sutton, became interim bishop upon Hicks’s resignation and will serve in such capacity until spring 2020 when Gillin will be installed.
“We are so very thankful for the Lord’s confirmation of Bishop Chuck by the College of Bishops. He has been a faithful bishop for many years. We know he will continue to bless the Church in his new sphere of call as Ordinary of the Diocese of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic,” said Sutton.
The Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach, Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, shared the gracious sentiment: “We are delighted to have Bishop Gillin active again in the College, but most importantly we are appreciative of his willingness to serve the diocese he already knows and loves in this new capacity. He’s a man of humility, devoted to the Lord. I believe he will continue to lead and serve the diocese well.”
In the moments following the bishops’ decision, Gillin offered “thanksgiving to God for His mercy and grace, to the Diocese of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, to the Standing Committees of the various dioceses of the REC, and for the confirming action of the Anglican Church in North America College of Bishops. I look forward to working with the College, with my fellow bishops in the REC, and especially with the clergy of the NEMA diocese in moving us forward in God’s power to accomplish His will in reaching the people within our diocese and the world with the transforming love of Jesus Christ.”
