Stacy Sauls is a
native
of Atlanta, Georgia, where his family has lived since the 18th century,
before in fact there was an Atlanta, when the rolling hill country now
south of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was the American
frontier. He was born on December 9th, 1955 to Kenneth and
Joyce Ballard Sauls, now deceased.
Stacy moved with his family to the New
Jersey suburbs when his father was transferred to New York City in
1962. When he was 15, he and his mother moved back to Atlanta
to be closer to family after his parents’ divorce, an event
that shaped him pastorally in many ways. He graduated from
Headland High School in 1973 and went on to attend Furman University
where he majored in Political Science.
It was at Furman that Stacy was
introduced to the transformative experience of relationships with those
who were poor through volunteer experiences at an orphanage and a state
institution for the mentally disabled, and by starting a Cub Scouting
programs for children in distressed inner city neighborhoods. It was
also at Furman that Stacy met his future wife, Ginger Malone, of
Clinton, South Carolina, and that Stacy’s vocation to
priesthood began to take hold. Stacy graduated from Furman
summa cum laude in 1977 and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
In consultation with his bishop, he went on to attend the University of
Virginia School of Law, which was his other vocational interest, with
the intention of going to seminary following graduation. He
graduated from Virginia in 1980, a member of the Order of the Coif.
Ginger and Stacy were married on August 11, 1979.
Rather than following the original plan
and going immediately to seminary following graduation, Stacy decided
to practice law while continuing to wrestle with his sense of a
vocation to the priesthood. He accepted a federal court
clerkship with Judge Robert Hall and went on to practice in the
corporate law department of Delta Air Lines and briefly in the newly
formed firm of Phillips, Hinchey and Reid. Ginger and Stacy
adopted their first son, Andrew, from Korea in 1984. Stacy
left the practice of law to enter the General Theological Seminary in
1985 from which he graduated cum laude in 1988. At seminary,
Stacy was elected a student member of the Board of Trustees and
received prizes for his academic achievement and honors thesis on the
influence of the Jewish-Christian dialogue on Christology. In
1987, during their years at General Seminary, the Sauls adopted their
second son, Matthew, also from Korea.
Stacy was ordained a deacon in 1988 at
the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta and priest in 1989 at St.
George’s Church in Griffin, Georgia, where he served as
assistant to the rector. He has always been amused that the
same edition of his law school class notes that reported his ordination
to the diaconate and service in Griffin also noted that a law school
contemporary had recently been elected Governor of Indiana.
At St. George’s, Stacy was involved in many mission
activities and helped found a medical clinic for the working poor of
Spalding County otherwise without access to the health care system,
and an alternative school program to address the county’s 50%
drop-out rate, an ecumenical food bank, and an emergency assistance
ministry. Stacy began a ministry-long commitment to young
people while at St. George’s, both working with its youth
group and chairing the Diocesan Youth Commission. He is very
proud that one of the young people in his first youth group is now a
diocesan youth coordinator. He also began a more than
ten-year tenure leading the Diocese of Atlanta’s senior high
camp at this time.
Stacy was called to be rector of St.
Thomas’ Church in Savannah in 1990. He carried with
him his interest in mission and was involved in starting a ministry for
senior adults, a transitional housing program, and an AIDS feeding
ministry at St. Thomas. It was also in Savannah that the
Sauls family experienced racial exclusion related to their sons, an
experience that gave passion to his commitment to justice issues and
led to the first racially inclusive Cub Scout Pack in the
Sauls’ Savannah neighborhood, which was sponsored by St.
Thomas.
Stacy was called by St.
Bartholomew’s Church to be its rector in 1994, bringing the
Sauls family back to Stacy’s hometown. Stacy
learned to deal with parish conflict at St. Bartholomew’s,
particularly in light of the revelation of sexual misconduct by a
previous rector. He also oversaw a large building renovation
program and the ordering of a new organ, as well as a problematic
performance by the organ builder. He continued his interest
in mission outreach efforts, including an ecumenical emergency
assistance ministry, an after school program, and a growing commitment
to Hispanic ministry.
Ginger and Stacy were investigating
opportunities to serve as missionaries in South Africa when he was
elected Bishop of Lexington from a field of four candidates on the
second ballot in 2000. He became the sixth Bishop of
Lexington on September 30, and immediately began calling the diocese to
a missionary understanding of itself. He sees the treasure of
the diocese as the Appalachian communities in the east of the diocese
and has been particularly engaged in mission in the
mountains. He has led the diocese to address the needs of the
poor, especially the rural poor, through education, health care, and
housing efforts. Reading Camp, an effort to help children
with intensive remedial reading work in the setting of summer camp, has
been especially successful, Two new congregations have begun
in his tenure, including one designed by and for young
adults. A third is in the early planning stages.
Yet another congregation, near closing five years ago, is being
successfully redeveloped in Northern Kentucky.
Stacy has continued his work with
youth. He regularly attends and leads the diocesan summer
camps, especially during senior high and junior high camps.
Under Stacy’s leadership, the diocese hosted the 2004
Provincial Youth Event, which focused on Appalachian mission and
resulted in the building of St. Timothy’s Youth Outreach
Center at the diocesan mission at Barnes Mountain, Kentucky.
The diocese was also extremely proud to host the 2003 national
Episcopal Hispanic Youth Event at Berea College, and the 2005 Episcopal
Youth Event, also at Berea College.
Ginger has been a special education
teacher for 27 years, and currently directs the personal learning
program at the Sayre School of Lexington. She is a founder of
the diocesan Reading Camp program. Andrew plans to follow his
mother as a teacher and expects to continue his college education at
the University of Kentucky in the fall. Matthew’s
vocational path is undecided (although he is an awfully good
cook.) He is a freshman at the University of
Alabama. Three dogs are a part of the family- two Labrador
retrievers, Griffin and Annie, and one “other,”
Dottie.
From left to right, Andy, Stacy, Ginger, and Matthew
