Peter James Lee (11 May 1938 - 2 July 2022) was an American

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the Episcopal Church.

Ministry

Lee, a former newspaper reporter, was ordained deacon in 1967 and priest in 1968. He served as deacon at

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Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

from 1967 till 1968, and then as assistant minister at St John's Church in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

till 1971. He served as Rector at the Chapel of the Cross (

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North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

) from 1971 to 1984. Elected

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

in the

Diocese of Virginia The Diocese of Virginia is the largest diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing 38 counties in the northern and central parts of the state of Virginia. The diocese was organized in 1785 and is one of the Episco ...

, the largest Episcopal diocese in the country, Lee was consecrated and served from 1984 to 1985, until the retirement of Bishop Robert Bruce Hall. Lee then served as bishop from 1985 until his own retirement in 2009, having Shannon Sherwood Johnston as Coadjutor Bishop in his final years. Beginning early in Lee's episcopate, several conservative congregations stopped paying diocesan dues, citing objections to the ordination of women priests, as authorized by the

General Convention The General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority ...

. The controversy metamorphosed, with the stated primary objections changing to matters of sexuality with the consecration of bishop

Gene Robinson Vicky Gene Robinson (born May 29, 1947) is a former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. Robinson was elected bishop coadjutor in 2003 and succeeded as bishop diocesan in March 2004. Before becoming bishop, he served as Canon to th ...

of the

Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire The Episcopal Church of New Hampshire, a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA), covers the entire state of New Hampshire. It was originally part of the Diocese of Massachusetts, but became independent in 1841. ...

in 2003, and the election of

Katharine Jefferts Schori Katharine Jefferts Schori (born March 26, 1954) is the former Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church of the United States. Previously elected as the 9th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada, she was the first woman elected ...

as Presiding Bishop in 2006. Two large Virginia parishes attracted national attention by attempting to leave the Diocese and associate with an African diocese while keeping their Virginia churches and other property. Lee sued to have the facilities declared the property of the Diocese, and was ultimately successful, although that resolution only happened under his successor. From 2009 to 2010, Lee officiated as Interim Dean at the Grace Cathedral (

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). He served the

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of New-York in the same position from 2010 to 2011. Then he moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and became Interim Dean and Rector at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 2011 and 2012. From 2013 to 2014, he was Provisional Bishop in the Diocese of East Carolina. In November 2015, he was announced as the Assisting Bishop in the

Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina is a diocese of the Episcopal Church within Province IV that encompasses central North Carolina. Founded in 1817, the modern boundaries of the diocese roughly corresponds to the portion of North Carolina ...

Honors and awards

Lee was made a Commander (Brother) of the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

in 2015.

Personal life

Lee was married to Kristina Knapp (Kristy) Lee. They have two children, daughter Stewart and son James, and five grandchildren. Peter Lee passed away on July 2, 2022 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Peter James 1938 births 2022 deaths People from Chapel Hill, North Carolina American expatriates in France Episcopal Church in Virginia Episcopal Church in North Carolina 20th-century Anglican bishops in the United States 21st-century Anglican bishops in the United States People from Greenville, Mississippi Religious leaders from Mississippi Episcopal bishops of Virginia Episcopal bishops of North Carolina