Stephen Hays Jecko (January 15, 1940 – June 7, 2007) was the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Florida and the 892nd bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

Early years

Stephen Jecko was born on January 15, 1940, in Washington, D.C. He learned to fly at an early age, unofficially soloed at 13 and was granted a private pilot's license at the minimum required age of 16.Simnacher, Joe
"Stephen Hays Jecko: Gave up engineering for Episcopal clergy"
Dallas Morning News, June 13, 2007 He graduated from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, married his wife, Joan and the couple had two sons, Sean and Bryan.The Right Reverend Stephen Hays Jecko
Episcopal Diocese of Florida Jecko was called to the ministry while working as a draftsman. His workspace was near a window that looked down on a church altar with a painting of Jesus, which was his inspiration to join the clergy.

Parrishes

New York

In 1967, the

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating Seminary in the Anglican Communi ...

granted Jecko a Master of Divinity degree and he began serving in Binghamton, New York as

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at Christ Church. Two years later, he moved to Plainview, New York at St. Margaret's Church for five years as priest-in-charge. He was then hired by St. James' Episcopal Church in Warrenton, Virginia as associate rector for three years, followed by eight years as rector at Zion Church in Rome, New York. During his time there, he finished his dissertation and was awarded a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1982 from Virginia Theological Seminary.Bjordal, Joe & Schjonberg, Mary Frances
"Bishops Stephen Jecko, Frederick Putnam die on same day"
Episcopal life online, June 8, 2007

Florida

Reverend Jecko was called to be rector St. Michael's Church in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

, in 1984 and served there until he was named Assistant to Bishop Cerveny in 1990. When Bishop Cerveny announced his plans to retire, Reverend Jecko was 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 ...

on December 11, 1993, and

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on May 7, 1994, as the 7th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida. Diocese of Florida, Previous Bishops-Frank Cerveny Soon after his consecration as bishop, he was awarded a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

from the General Theological Seminary and Virginia Theological Seminary, then a third D.D. from Sewanee: The University of the South less than a year later.

Episcopacy

During his 10 years as bishop of Florida, Bishop Jecko served as board chairman for ''Episcopal Children's Services Inc.'', board member for

Episcopal High School of Jacksonville Episcopal School of Jacksonville is an independent, coeducational private college preparatory school in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It was founded in 1966 by the Episcopal Diocese of Florida. The school has two lower schools, a middle sch ...

and Trustee at University of the South, the official

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

of the Episcopal Church, USA. He supported ''Christian Healing Ministries'', created by Doctors Francis and Judith MacNutt in 1981, which was nurtured by his predecessor, Bishop Cerveny."JCF Staff & Board, Trustees"
Community Foundation of Jacksonville The bishop has an obligation to visit every parish in the diocese each year. He used his pilot's license to help fulfill that duty by flying to distant parishes. Bishop Jecko was a member of the

Order of the Holy Cross The Order of the Holy Cross is an international Anglican monastic order that follows the Rule of St. Benedict. History The order was founded in 1884 by the Rev. James Huntington, an Episcopal priest, in New York City. The order moved to Mar ...

serving as a priest associate, and the International Order of St. Luke the Physician, volunteering as a chaplain. The election and consecration of Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest in the Episcopal church, was controversial, resulting in heated debate and intense feelings throughout the Episcopal Church in the United States. Bishop Jecko conducted a series of discussions and meetings for clergy, vestries and parishioners in an attempt to resolve the issue that was dividing conservative and liberal Christians. Privately, he was opposed the church's position on the issue, and decided to leave the diocese rather than enforce the will of the national church.

Retirement

In 2004, he "retired" as Bishop of Florida and moved to Plano, Texas, where he accepted an offer to be Assistant Bishop at the

Episcopal Diocese of Dallas The Episcopal Diocese of Dallas is a diocese of the Episcopal Church (United States) which was formed on December 20, 1895, when the Missionary District of Northern Texas was granted diocesan status at the denomination's General Convention the ...

. The

Jessie Ball duPont Fund The Jessie Ball duPont Fund, "Florida's leading national foundation", is a charitable foundation that issues grants to organizations that received support from Jessie Ball duPont during the years 1960-1964 inclusive. When she died on September 26, ...

named Bishop Jecko as their Clerical Trustee. He was also a member of the National Advisory Board for ''Christian Healing Ministries'' and assisted the

American Anglican Council The American Anglican Council began as an organization of theologically conservative Anglicans from both the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and The Episcopal Church in the United States. According to its membership brochure, it was found ...

by acting as liaison for congregations wanting to break away from the Episcopal Church and Global South Anglican bishops offering to provide oversight.ANGLICAN USA BRIEFS
Christian Challenge Bishop Jecko was also a leader in the creation of the

Anglican Communion Network The Anglican Communion Network (ACN; officially the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes) was a theologically conservative network of Anglican and Episcopalian dioceses and parishes in the United States that was working toward Angl ...

in 2004.Brumley, Jeff
"Bishop led without losing his humanity"
Florida Times-Union, June 9, 2007 Bishop Jecko was diagnosed with cancer in early 2007, and the treatments appeared to be successful. However, complications developed quickly and he died on June 7, 2007, at Baylor Regional Medical Center.

References

External links

Episcopal Diocese of Florida-Bishop JeckoJessie Ball duPont Fund
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jecko, Stephen Hays 1940 births 2007 deaths People from Washington, D.C. Syracuse University alumni General Theological Seminary alumni 20th-century American Episcopalians Episcopal bishops of Florida Episcopal bishops of Dallas 20th-century American clergy