LATROBE, Pa. — A Southern cleric has been picked as the new archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America.
The bishops of the conservative church voted Sunday to elevate the Right Rev. Foley Beach to the position at a conclave at St. Vincent College near Latrobe, Pa.
Beach has been bishop of the church's Diocese of the South, which includes 42 parishes in 10 Southern states, including Arkansas.
He succeeds Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, who became the church's first archbishop in 2009. That's when the Anglican Church broke away from the Episcopal Church over disagreements on the authority of the Bible, the nature of Jesus Christ and the ordination of homosexuals.
Beach will serve a five-year term.
The Anglican Church in North America reports having 113,000 members in nearly 1,000 congregations.