The Rev. Anne B. Jolly Elected Bishop Coadjutor of Ohio: First Woman to Be Elected a Bishop in The Episcopal Diocese of Ohio
The Rev. Anne B. Jolly was elected as Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio during the 206th annual convention on November 19, 2022, at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Tower. She was elected on the second ballot after receiving a majority of both clergy and lay votes. The election concludes the year-long process of seeking a successor for Bishop Mark Hollingsworth, Jr., who began his service in the diocese in 2004.
Jolly is the first woman to be elected a bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio. She was one of three nominees. The other nominees were the Rev. Dr. Elaine Ellis Thomas and the Rev. Diana L. Wilcox, both from the Diocese of Newark.
Currently serving as the Rector of St. Gregory’s in Deerfield, IL, in the Diocese of Chicago, Jolly feels her call is to shape the church so that God’s people are equipped to live lives of faith and share the love and justice of Christ’s “Kin-dom.” As the President of the Standing Committee in the Diocese of Chicago (since 2019), she served as the head of the ecclesiastical authority for two years while the diocese was in an interim period between bishops. She has previously served at Good Shepherd in Austin, TX; St. Paul’s in Chattanooga, TN; and Christ Church in Greenville, SC.