JoAnne and Andy Doyle have traveled a similar path for a long time, firmly grounded in the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Texas. When they met, at the ages 16 and 14 years, they might have been surprised to know they would one day share their lives as the Bishop Coadjutor of Texas and his wife. Doyle, elected on May 24, 2008, will be consecrated at a festival Eucharist on November 22 at St. Martin’s, Houston. He will serve with Bishop Don Wimberly until Wimberly’s retirement in June, 2009 when he will become the ninth Bishop of Texas.

The Doyles first met in 1982 at Camp Allen where Andy was on the summer camp’s Sr. Staff and JoAnne was a counselor. As a kid, Andy had decided he wanted to be Mel Brindley (a longtime caretaker of the camp) so he could live at Camp Allen, and JoAnne told her mother she was going to have to marry Andy so she could live at Camp Allen, too.

In the ensuing years, they have forged a common life, steeped in faith, a deep respect for one another and a profound sense of grace in their lives.

Miami Vice

"I had a crush on him from the beginning," JoAnne remembers, but it was two years after their first meeting until they actually went on a date. "I showed up looking like Don Johnson in a t-shirt with the sleeves of my linen blazer pushed up," Andy laughs. "Painful to remember…"

There’s some disagreement about whether the evening ended with a good night kiss. "I would have remembered," JoAnne says. "Before I knew it, she was on the other side of the screen door saying ‘goodnight’," adds Andy. Two more years passed before they were again at Camp Allen and exchanged addresses on the last day of the last summer camp session. JoAnne was heading off to Austin College in Sherman and was glad to learn that Andy was only 60 miles away at the University of North Texas in Denton. When she got homesick a month later, she called Andy and they went to dinner. Twenty-five days after that, he proposed.

"I just knew she was the right person," Andy says. "So many times we would end up talking until 3 a.m. We had known each other for years. I remember thinking, ‘This is it. Don’t mess this up!’"

"We planned to get married from that moment and never wavered," JoAnne says. Four and a half years later, they married at St. George’s and St. Patrick’s in Houston surrounded by family and "tons of Camp Allen and college friends."

A Fork in the Runway

While studying for a fine arts degree, Andy remembers struggling with a call to ministry. Along the way, many people had encouraged him to consider ordained ministry. Finally, JoAnne and Andy were sitting on a runway, headed for graduate school interviews in Seattle, when Andy said he wanted to go to seminary. "It was obvious to me, and I knew this was absolutely the right decision," JoAnne says.

Funds from the thrift shops at St. Christopher’s and St. George’s and St. Patrick’s, Houston, purchased all of Andy’s books at seminary.

Following seminary, JoAnne and Andy’s family grew to include two daughters, Caisa (11) and Zoë (6). The Doyles served at Christ Church, Temple, and St. Francis, College Station, before Andy accepted Bishop Don Wimberly’s invitation to be Canon to the Ordinary in 2003, a position that assists the bishop in the administration of the diocese.

Road to the Episcopate

Andy decided to stand for election for bishop coadjutor in 2008 after much encouragement from friends and much conversation and discernment his wife.

"While he was reluctant at first, I knew he should do it," JoAnne says, adding, "we were nervous, excited and thrilled when he was elected. As far as family life is concerned," she adds, "we took Andy’s calendar for the past year and Bishop Wimberly’s for the same year and compared how much time each spent away overnight and away for evening meetings. It was almost exactly the same. He will be doing different work but the way in which we deal with it as a family, and how much time we get to spend together will be the same."

The Doyles are very careful to protect their family time. JoAnne doesn’t plan to be gone more than one night a week while the girls are young. Each Monday the two spend time together without the interruptions of work and in the evenings, they commit time with one another to talk about their individual lives and debrief the day’s events. .

The two discuss sermons, culture, politics, books and sometimes even differing opinions on theology. On a recent Sunday, words from a hymn JoAnne was singing while Andy was writing, found their way into the sermon.

Andy is clear that his role as bishop coadjutor and eventually as bishop is not about him. In talking about the consecration service November 22, he says, "I think about putting on the vestments of a bishop and it’s still surreal. We are not celebrating me at the ordination but we are celebrating the history of our Church, the symbol of the office of bishop and the mission and vision of the Church that goes out from a bishop," he adds.

Grace Paid Forward

JoAnne spoke at a recent tea in her honor given by Christ Church Cathedral on Oct. 12. She says she was nervous at first but warmed when speaking about the grace in her life and how she feels it "has been paid forward for me." Her parents both grew up as active members in the Episcopal Church and married at Grace Church in Galveston. "All of this (the Church) was waiting for me at my birth," she says.

She talks about the responsibility of taking care of the earth and her love of gardening. "We watch the tangerines grow, peel them and eat them right there in the garden. The girls understand that the banana peels they put into the compost nourish the same garden where we pull up the carrots. They get [the idea that] grace is what you pay forward for others. That you care for the earth for others," she says.

Another story she shared at the tea was about a sea change at Christmas in her family. One year the floor was "obscenely covered with presents." After that realization, the family began drawing names to cut down on the sheer number of packages and expense. "My brother wanted a check for the Heifer Project (www.heifer.org) one year, and after that everyone wanted the same thing. Now we put our checks together in an envelope and buy animals for people in developing countries," she explains. The first offspring of the Heifer Project animal that is given to a family is given to the someone else in the village, again paying it forward one step further.

This notion of grace at each intersection of her life follows her to her expanded role as a bishop’s wife. "I know my role will evolve," JoAnne says. In the immediate future, she looks forward to the ordination and to "Baby Bishop’s Camp" in January where the couple will join other new bishops and their spouses for a weeklong retreat. "I am looking forward to the many opportunities I will have in the future to get to know and to love so many people all over the diocese," she adds.

Four flowers

The four flowers on the arms of the new bishop’s pectoral cross (see story, page 11) will be cast separately as necklaces for JoAnne, Caisa and Zoë. The fourth will be a "pocket" flower for Andy. While the symbols of the resurrection reflect the family’s love of nature and gardening, they are also evidence of their continued growth together and in the love of Christ. Grace paid forward indeed.