Two Memorial Services Planned for the Rt. Rev. Alfred "Chip" Marble

By Diocesan House

Two memorial services are planned for the first week of May in remembrance of the Rt. Rev. Alfred "Chip" Marble, Bishop of Mississippi (resigned) and former Assisting Bishop of North Carolina, who died peacefully at home March 29, 2017. 

Episcopal Memorial

The memorial service held by the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina is taking place Thursday, May 4, at 2p.m. at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Greensboro. The Rev. Warren Pittman will preach.

The service is open to all who wish to attend; clergy are asked to vest.

In addition, any and all who want to wish to take part in a "mass choir" are welcome to bring their own vestments and join in. Please plan to be at the church by 1:15p.m. to ensure time to park, vest and get in line. For more information about the massed choir or other parts of the service, please contact the Rev. Warren Pittman.

Interfaith Memorial

There will also be an interfaith community memorial service held on Monday, May 1 at 7p.m. at New Light Baptist Church (1105 Willow Road, Greensboro, NC).

The service will include involvement from the Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Hindu communities; Cardes Brown will preach and New Light's choir will support the service. The City of Greensboro, Black Lives Matter, the Pulpit Forum and the Beloved Community will also participate. As with the Episcopal memorial, the event is open, and all are welcome.

 
Ecclesiastical Career

Bishop Marble’s long ecclesiastical career was marked by a passion for justice and racial reconciliation. As Bishop Coadjutor of Mississippi, 1991-1993, and later as Bishop of Mississippi, 1993-2003, he demonstrated courageous leadership. More recently, he continued the same work as Assisting Bishop in the Diocese of North Carolina from 2005 until 2013. 

During his time in North Carolina, Bishop Marble was very involved with Greensboro’s efforts to establish the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the United States to examine the “context, causes, sequence and consequences” of the November 3, 1979, shooting of five anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstrators by Klan members, all of whom were acquitted. His efforts came to fruition when the commission released its final report on May 25, 2006.

Bishop Marble was also a founding co-chair of Greensboro Faith Leaders Council, an intentional effort to be an interfaith, interracial community of faith leaders from all traditions joining their voices together on behalf of their city. He worked with the Beloved Community Center in Greensboro and the NAACP of North Carolina, and he reinvigorated the Racial Justice and Reconciliation Committee in the Diocese of North Carolina. Bishop Marble continued to remain involved in recent city-wide efforts at racial reconciliation. He was honored with the Bishop's Medal at the 198th Annual Convention in recognition of his work on behalf of the poor, immigrants, the LGBT community and all who are disenfranchised or ignored.

 “It’s something he dedicated his life to over the last several years,” said the Rev. Randall Keeney, vicar of St. Barnabas, where Bishop Marble worshiped during the last few years.

“If ever there was a saint who understood that the work of reconciliation is the work of evangelism, it was Chip Marble,” said the Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple, bishop diocesan pro tempore of the Diocese of North Carolina.

Before being elected Bishop Coadjutor of Mississippi, Bishop Marble served as a chaplain at the University of Mississippi and in parishes and missions throughout the state. He also served for eight years as Assistant to the Bishop of East Carolina (a role that today is usually considered a Canon to the Ordinary), the Rt. Rev. B. Sidney Sanders.

Bishop Marble will be remembered fondly for his deep devotion to God’s justice, his sparkling humor and straightforward sensibility, and the “Mississippi Rain Dance” that was always a hit with attendees at the annual Bishops’ Ball youth event.

Bishop Marble is survived by his wife, Diene, and his two sons.

The funeral will take place in the Diocese of Mississippi April 24-25.

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your 
servant Alfred. 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.