ECW Designates the Annual Meeting Eucharistic Offering to Support Sabbatical Project of Canon Lee

The 2019 ECW Annual Meeting Eucharistic Offering will be awarded to Canon Rhonda Mawhood Lee.

The offering will help support asylum seekers and those living on our Southern Borders via our Regional Diocesan Cannon Rhonda Lee. This fall, she will be using part of her sabbatical to work with parishioners in the Diocese of the Rio Grande to provide aid, comfort, and support to asylum seekers and those living on the border.

Canon Lee grew up bilingual and bicultural (English and French) outside Montreal, Quebec. She has lived in North Carolina since 1992, except for a six-year sojourn in Louisville, Kentucky, where she was ordained.

Canon Lee holds a doctorate in U.S. history from Duke University. She is the author of occasional essays and two books: Through With Kings and Armies: The Marriage of George and Jean Edwards and, with Craig Werner, Love and Happiness: Eros According to Dante, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and The Reverend Al Green. A student of nonviolence married to a military historian, Canon Lee and her husband, Wayne E. Lee, never lack material for conversation.

“Working with my colleagues at the Diocese and being inspired by the people in the Rocky Mount, Durham and Raleigh Convocations has been a joy and privilege,” said Deats. “I have learned much from our work together: the resilience of folks in transition, creative mission, the importance of a sense of humor and where to find a Sheetz within 10 miles of anywhere! I will hold in my heart the saints I have worked with as I continue to discern what surprises the Holy Spirit has in store for me.”

Though she will be greatly missed as a member of the diocesan staff, Deats’ work within the Diocese will continue. We all look forward to seeing what form that will take, and we know the Church will continue to benefit from her gifts wherever they go to work.

Deats’ last day as regional canon is September 30.