[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Mark Bourlakas, who has been bishop of the Roanoke-based Diocese of Southwestern Virginia since 2013, has announced that he is leaving to become an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Virginia.
Virginia Bishop E. Mark Stevenson announced that Bourlakas would begin work on June 1 and will have an office in The Falls Church, west of Arlington. The diocese’s headquarters is in Richmond.
Stevenson also said Bourlakas will join him and Assistant Bishop Gayle Harris in providing general support across the diocese but more specifically would work with the diocese’s Office of Congregational Vitality.
Bourlakas said he has met with Southwestern Virginia’s chancellor and diocesan staff, as well as with the members of the Standing Committee. That body will be responsible for overseeing the diocese after the bishop leaves and for preparing for the election of Bourlakas’ successor.
He also said he had several conversations with Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe, who in a statement called Bourlakas “a valued colleague in the House of Bishops” and noted that the diocese “is poised to go from strength to strength in this time of transition and discernment.”