Article by the Bishop Search and Transition Committee
The Bishop Search and Transition Committee gathered Saturday, June 17 to review applications for the role of Ninth Bishop of California. The meeting at Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP), the Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, began with a celebration of the Holy Eucharist by the Rev. Dr. Paul Fromberg, the committee’s co-chair. Following the service, members of the Diocese of California Standing Committee offered words of encouragement before leaving the Bishop Search and Transition Committee to its discernment work.
The committee spent the next six hours poring over the extensive materials offered by each applicant to discern which of them will advance to the next step in the process, which is a series of interviews.
At the end of the day’s gathering, Rev. Dr. Fromberg concluded, “We made great progress toward identifying those individuals who will be included in our preliminary slate.” Bishop Search and Transition Committee co-chair Brenda Paulin added, “I was moved by how sincerely and thoughtfully our applicants and committee members engaged in this process.”
The next step in the process is for the Bishop Search and Transition Committee to finalize a preliminary slate, which it will present to the Standing Committee for approval. The preliminary slate is scheduled to be announced on September 22, 2023. That announcement marks the start of the ten-day period during which nominations by petition will be accepted before a final slate is determined.
People in the Diocese of California will have an opportunity to meet with the final slate of nominees at a series of “Meet & Greet” gatherings scheduled November 2 through 5, 2023 at a selection of parishes and missions. The specific times and locations for the Meet & Greets will be announced once the final slate is determined. Voting will occur among clergy and lay delegates at a special electing convention on December 2, 2023.
Following a process of church-wide consent, the approved bishop-elect will be ordained and consecrated at Grace Cathedral on May 4, 2024. Bishop Marc will retire on July 24, 2024, amid celebrations of thanksgiving for all he and Dr. Sheila Andrus have shared with and contributed to our diocese.
The Standing Committee and Bishop Search and Transition Committee members ask for prayer for their work, and for all transitions in the life of our diocese and in the lives of Bishop Marc and his family, as well as the bishop-elect and her/his/their family.
