The Diocese of North Carolina Remembers and Gives Thanks for the Life of the Rt. Rev. Peter Lee

The Diocese of North Carolina remembers and gives thanks for the life of the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, diocesan bishop (resigned) for the Diocese of Virginia and assisting bishop for the Diocese of North Carolina. Bishop Lee joined the saints on July 2, 2022. He died peacefully in hospice care, surrounded by the love of his family and the prayers of the Diocese.

“Bishop Lee was for many of this generation the epitome and embodiment of a bishop,” said the Rt. Rev. Sam Rodman, bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina. “Strong, clear authority coupled with a grounded sense of mission and purpose. He balanced the challenges of visionary leadership with personal attention and pastoral grace. And his passion for justice led him to invite the Rev. Pauli Murray, the first African American woman to be ordained to the priesthood in The Episcopal Church, to offer her first Eucharist at Chapel of the Cross, where her grandmother, who was born into slavery, was baptized and attended church throughout her life.”

Prior to his election first as Bishop Coadjutor in 1984 and then XII Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia in 1985, Bishop Lee served in the Diocese of North Carolina as rector of the Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, from 1971 until his election in the Diocese of Virginia. He retired as bishop diocesan in 2009, ultimately returning to North Carolina to reside once again in Chapel Hill after serving in several post-retirement positions, including a term as bishop provisional in the Diocese of East Carolina. In 2015, following the election of the Most Rev. Michael Curry as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Lee answered the call to serve once more in a leadership role, this time as assisting bishop for the Diocese of North Carolina. During his tenure, he shared his experience, wisdom and steadying hand as the Diocese went through the process of our search for our XII bishop diocesan.

“If ever there was a bishop who failed at retirement, it was Bishop Lee,” said the Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple, bishop suffragan of the Diocese of North Carolina. “I reached out to Peter in late summer of 2015 to see if he would consider coming back to the diocese as an assisting bishop while we discerned and called a new diocesan bishop. By then, he was finishing his fifth position since resigning as bishop of the Diocese of Virginia. After he had served in San Francisco, Paris, New York, East Carolina and Washington, D.C., I thought he might just be ready to be back at home in Chapel Hill. It was a blessing to the whole diocese that he and Kristy were enthusiastic about returning and jumping into the healthy and vibrant life of this diocese. It was pure joy as well as great comfort to share episcopal oversight of the diocese with Bishop Lee from summer of 2015 to summer of 2017. Our entire staff felt blessed by Bishop Lee’s wisdom and good humor.”

Following an early career in journalism, Bishop Lee was ordained first as a deacon in 1967 and as a priest in 1968. His ministry was one that created a lasting legacy that continues to impact countless numbers today. Among the notable highlights: After a visit at the request of the presiding bishop and archbishop of Canterbury to the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem, he became the founding president of American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. During that time, he also served as chair of the grants committee of the Presiding Bishop’s Fund for World Relief, now Episcopal Relief & Development. He served on the advisory committee to the Anglican Observer at the United Nations and on the board of trustees of the Church Pension Fund. He served on the board of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and as chair of the board of trustees of the Virginia Theological Seminary. Bishop Lee was the recipient of the Virginia Council of Church’s Lifetime Ecumenist Award (2009), Washington and Lee University’s Distinguished Alumnus Award (2010), several honorary doctorates, and in 2012 was honored with the creation of The Peter James Lee Fund at General Theological Seminary to recognize his contributions during his time as dean of the seminary.

“I will be forever grateful to Bishop Lee for his guidance and wisdom in my early days as bishop, for his frank feedback and for his gracious patience,” said Rodman. “I am also grateful to the Rev. Elizabeth Marie Melchionna and her team at Chapel of the Cross for their loving pastoral support of Peter and his family. We hold him, Kristy and his family in our hearts, even as we prepare to celebrate his life and ministry and the impact he has had on so many throughout our church.”

Bishop Lee is survived by his wife, Kristy, his two children and several grandchildren. Details of his funeral service are not yet known but are expected to be announced in the next few weeks.

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your

servant Peter. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of

your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your

own redeeming. Receive him into the arms of your mercy,

into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the

glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.

May his soul and the souls of all the departed, through the

mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.