St. Barnabas, 2025 June 11th

Beloved,

As you know, we have been in the search for a Canon to the Ordinary for the past few months. The transition team has done an excellent job interviewing highly qualified candidates for the position. I am pleased to announce The Reverend Melanie Lemburg has accepted the call to serve as Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Arkansas. She will begin her work here on August 20, 2025.

A graduate of General Theological Seminary, Melanie was ordained in the Diocese of Mississippi in 2004. She currently serves as the Rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Savannah, Georgia, a position she has held since August 2017. Melanie has also served as the chair of the Commission on Ministry in both Mississippi and Georgia. In 2024, she was appointed Dean of Savannah Convocation. She has received Conflict Mediation Training and Certification from the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center and is part of a three-person team that teaches Conflict Transformation skills to clergy across the Episcopal Church.

Melanie is married to David, who is also an Episcopal priest. He attended General Theological Seminary with St. Paul’s, Fayetteville, Arkansas, as his sponsoring parish. They have two children. Mary Margaret, a rising Senior at the University of the South at Sewanee, and Jack, a rising Senior at Jenkins High School (School of Engineering) in Savannah.

We look forward to The Reverend Melanie Lemburg joining the Diocesan staff and becoming a vital part of the Diocese of Arkansas. I invite your prayers and support for her and her family as they begin their leave-taking in Georgia and prepare to continue their ministry here among us.

With every blessing, I am,

Faithfully in Christ,

The Right Reverend John T. W. Harmon

Bishop of Arkansas