Episcopal Bishop of Mississippi leaving diocese, wife to be rector at California church

The Episcopal Bishop of Mississippi, who recently led the diocese through the COVID-19 pandemic and Jackson water crisis, will be leaving the state once a replacement is elected.

Brian Seage, the diocese's 10th bishop, was elected in 2014 and succeeded Bishop Duncan Gray in 2015, upon Gray's retirement.

The move comes as St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Northeast Jackson announced that Kyle Seage, also an Episcopal priest and the bishop's wife, had accepted a job as rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Belvedere, CA. She had been the rector of St. Phillip's for 12 years. Brian Seage said his family wasn't looking for a move, but when they saw the profile listing for St. Stephen's, they felt like she had to apply.

"We first saw the profile for it back in July, and when she read the profile and when I read it, it just sounded like that parish was describing her and her gifts for ministry. We knew we'd have a move coming up within the next few years but didn't imagine that it would be taking place quite this soon. It was really a sense of calling for her."

Kyle Seage's last service at St. Philip's will be Dec. 11, and she will hold her first service at St. Stephen's one week later.

"It is an understatement to say that she will be very much missed and will always be in our memories," the announcement from St. Philip's Wardens Bill Burke and Aubrey Luke read.

An interim rector will be put in place "as soon as availability and time allows," and then the search for the church's next rector will begin, according to the announcement.

Brian Seage will remain in Jackson for longer, as the diocese and leaders of its parishes conduct a search for the 11th Bishop of Mississippi. That process, from the beginning of the search to the installation of a new bishop, can take up to two years. Once it is complete, the then-former bishop plans to join his wife in California.

Before he was elected bishop, Brian Seage was rector at St. Columb's Episcopal Church in Ridgeland. After his undergraduate education at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, he attended divinity school at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX.

He said he is excited by the possibilities that will open up with moving to the Diocese of California, in the Bay Area.

"I'm from California but I'm from Southern California, so the Bay Area is very much a mystery to me," the bishop said. "What it opens up for me is the possibility of assisting the Bishop of California, as an assisting bishop, or one of the other California dioceses. It also opens up the possibility of me doing ministry within a parish, similar to ministries I've practiced as a parish priest, probably in an interim basis. I have a lot of experience that I could bring into something like that where I think that I could be an asset to a diocese or a parish in that type of roll. We'll see where the spirit guides me and directs me to at this point."

Brian Seage acknowledged that a bishop leaving their diocese before retirement, other than to become another bishop or the church's presiding bishop, is rare.

"Usually, bishops serve in their diocesan role until retirement, and I am still a few years short of that," the bishop said. "Kyle was called by St. Stephen's because she's a great priest and has a real proven record of being a successful priest and a great pastor. This is an incredible moment for her, and I'm delighted to be able to be supporting her as she makes this change and begins this new ministry."

While his departure has been announced, Brian Seage has no plans to take a step back until his time as bishop officially ends.

"For me, in my ministry with the Diocese of Mississippi, I'm looking at these next two years as being ones where my foot is going to remain on the gas pedal," the bishop said. "And we're going to continue to push forward with some really important ministry that we've started as we've been coming out of the pandemic, and I'm looking to strengthen existing ministries before I leave so that I can leave the table set for the next bishop, and provide them with what I hope will be opportunities to be successful."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Episcopal Bishop of Mississippi Brian Seage leaving for California