Standing Committee 2023-2024

The Rev. Dr. Mauricio Wilson
President, Class of 2024
Sean McConnell
Vice-President, Class of 2025
The Rev. Jane Stratford
Secretary, Class of 2026

Robyn Amos
Lay Order, Class of 2024
The Ven. Carolyn Bolton
Clergy Order, Class of 2025
Warren Wong
Lay Order, Class of 2026
Gretchen Lintner
Lay Order, Class of 2027
The Rev. Audrey Miskelley
Clergy Order, Class of 2027

November 13, 2023

To our siblings in Christ in the Diocese of California:

We would like to thank everyone who came to the Meet & Greets to hear from the slate of nominees for the ninth Bishop of California. Hearing directly from the nominees is essential in discerning who will be our next bishop. Doing so prayerfully, in a posture of openness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, draws on the best traditions of what our Presiding Bishop calls “the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement.”

In this spiritual process that is grounded in our relationship with Christ, we are accountable to God and to one another. We all want a fair election characterized by trust and integrity, so we ask every clergy and lay delegate to continue to pray, listen, and learn. In the context of your congregation, pray with one another, listen to one another, and engage with all of the materials submitted by the nominees and found at diocalbishopsearch.org.

It is the Standing Committee’s ministry to help shepherd the diocese through this process and ensure its integrity. We are aware that surveys and other tools have been developed to assist in this discernment. While we understand the desire to create tools for the community’s use, the Standing Committee has not approved any of these, nor were we notified in advance of their inclusion in this discernment process. Though there is no canonical prohibition for the use of such instruments of information gathering, we do caution that if they are to be used, it is done in such a way that maintains the sense of equity and Spirit-led discernment. In particular, there should be no sense of bias toward any of our nominees or exclusion of any constituency of our faith communities.

We, the members of the Standing Committee, invite you to rely on the tools of local, spiritual discernment, namely prayer and conversation. Know that we are praying for you as we continue to pray that God will guide us through the power of the Holy Spirit to elect the ninth bishop of California.

In the name of the one who redeems us all.
The Standing Committee of the Diocese of California

Author: Ellie Simpson