Senate Resolution 73

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE LEGACY OF SERVICE OF THE RIGHT REVEREND A.C. "CHIP" MARBLE, JR., BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF MISSISSIPPI, AND CONGRATULATING HIM ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT.

WHEREAS, The Right Reverend Alfred Clark "Chip" Marble, Jr., retired as the Eighth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi on February 28, 2003; and

WHEREAS, Bishop Marble served as Bishop Coadjutor from June 15, 1991, and has served as Diocesan Bishop since October 1, 1993, and

WHEREAS, Bishop Marble was born in Oneonta, New York, on April 4, 1936; he and his family moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, when he was three years of age; he is the son of Alfred Clark Marble, Sr., and Charlotte Elizabeth Humbarger. His father was a well-known musician in Vicksburg; and

WHEREAS, he was nurtured in the Christian faith at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Bovina, Mississippi, where he had his first job as janitor of the church; he graduated from the Vicksburg Public Schools, attended the University of Mississippi, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology in 1958, where he was a member of the "Ole Miss Hall of Fame"; after graduating from Ole Miss, he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy, where he served four years, two years aboard the Destroyer U.S. Hawkins (DDR-873); he entered the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, to begin seminary education and received his Bachelor of Divinity Degree in 1967; he studied at the Theological College of Edinburgh, Scotland; and

WHEREAS, Bishop Marble was ordained as a Deacon in 1967 at his home church of St. Alban's in Bovina, and in 1968 he was ordained Priest at St. James Church in Jackson; Bishop Marble served congregations in Jackson, Olive Branch, Southaven, Oxford and Meridian. In Oxford he served as University Chaplain at Ole Miss and later as Rector of St. Peters Church; and

WHEREAS, while in Oxford, he met and married Helen Nadine (Diene) Harper. They are the parents of two grown sons, Matt and Jonathan; and

WHEREAS, he served as Assistant to the Bishop in the Diocese of East Carolina for eight years. He was elected Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi on February 23, 1991, by a vote of lay and ordained leaders of the Diocese. He returned home to Mississippi to assume the new position; and

WHEREAS, hallmarks of his tenure as Bishop have included: support for children and families in crisis; support of racial reconciliation and the eradication of racism; outreach to the rapidly-growing Hispanic population in Mississippi; the recognition and full implementation of the distinctive Order of the Diaconate for service to community; support of youth ministry and the Diocesan camping program; the formation of Earth Lab at Gray Center, a center for environmental education in Mississippi; and worked tirelessly with Methodist and Roman Catholic Bishops to develop an ecumenical approach to solving problems and addressing issues; and

WHEREAS, Bishop Marble has retired to Meridian, where he and his wife have a home, and we are grateful for Bishop Marble's legacy of service to the Diocese of Mississippi:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend the legacy of service of Right Reverend Alfred Clark "Chip" Marble, Jr., longtime Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, and congratulate him and his wife, Diene, and extend to them the best wishes of the Legislature as he returns to private life.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Bishop Marble and his family, be forwarded to the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.