 Burrill was elected Coadjutor Bishop of Rochester on November 5, 1983, after 18 ballots during a special convention which took place in Christ Church in Corning, New York.He was consecrated on April 26, 1984, by Presiding Bishop John Allin in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Rochester, New York.He succeeded as diocesan bishop on July 1, 1984, upon the retirement of Robert R. Spears Jr..