The Right Reverend William H. “Chip” Stokes, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, is a lifelong Mets fanatic. In honor of his upcoming retirement at the end of June, the congregation of Trinity Cathedral in Trenton—one of 134 congregations in the diocese—presented him with a “Mets Mitre,” the traditional headwear of a bishop, emblazoned with a very nontraditional Mets logo and baseball stitching.
Bishop Stokes’ retirement will take effect with the ordination and consecration on June 24 of the Rev. Dr. Sally French as the XIII Bishop of New Jersey. The Rev. French will be the first woman to serve as bishop of the second-oldest Episcopal Diocese, founded in 1785.
The Very Rev. René John, Dean of the Cathedral, presented Stokes with the mitre near the end of the final official church visitation of his nearly 10 years as bishop of the diocese. “This is fabulous,” the bishop exclaimed as he modeled the mitre for the congregation.
The mitre was handmade by the Rev. Rachel E. Tyler and her mother. Stokes ordained Tyler to the priesthood on June 1, and she will be the new priest-in-charge of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Perth Amboy.
The Ordination and Consecration of the XIII Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey will take place at Trinity Cathedral on June 24 at 10:00 a.m. The public is invited, though advance registration is required. The service will also be carried live on diocesan social media channels—YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter—and the diocesan web site at dioceseofnj.org/live
The event was featured in an article in the Bergen Record newspaper and on northjersey.com
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The congregation of Trinity Cathedral offers gifts (including a Mets-themed bishop’s mitre) to Bishop Chp Stokes and Mrs. Susan Stokes at the conclusion of his final official visitation as Bishop of New Jersey
Bishop Chip Stokes delivers the sermon for “Trinity Sunday” at Trinity Cathedral in Trenton on June 4. In the sermon, Stokes stresses his gratitude for his ministry and for the blessed oneness of God.