Loading...The Standing Committee began the Episcopal selection process to call a new bishop in October 2008 after Bishop Ted Gulick announced his plans to retire in 2010.
In November, after meeting with the Very Rev. Ron Clingenpeel, a representative of The Episcopal Church's Office of Pastoral Development, the Standing Committee requested nominations for persons to serve on the two committees charged with doing the work necessary to search for and nominate a new bishop and to organize the transition. Last month, the Standing Committee retained Clingenpeel as a consultant. The recently retired dean of the cathedral in St. Louis has extensive experience leading five dioceses through the process.
Also last month, the Standing Committee announced it had appointed, after prayer and discernment, Alex Campbell, a communicant at St. Mark's Church in Louisville, to chair of the Search/Nominating Committee, and the Rev. Rev. Rose Bogal-Allbritten, the vocational deacon of the Four Rivers Deanery, to head the Transition Committee.
Because of the tremendous response to the call for nominations, however, the selection of the committee members, also after careful review and prayer, took longer. The Standing Committee received more applications than it had committee spaces, but even so it has appointed large committees in order to fully represent the breadth of the diocese.
Serving with Campbell on the Search/Nominating Committee are the Rev. Debbi Apoldo, St. Francis in the Fields, Harrods Creek; the Very Rev. Mark Bourlakas, Christ Church Cathedral, Louisville; the Rev. Pat Connell, Trinity, Owensboro; the Rev. Ellen Ekevag, Trinity, Fulton; the Rev. Eva Markham, Advent/Resurrection, Louisville; Walter Baker, St. Andrew's, Glasgow; Diana Church, St. Mark's, Louisville; Rick Coltharp, Grace, Paducah; Mary Grace Feltham, Christ Church Cathedral; William Gaunt, St. Thomas, Louisville; Bernadette Hamilton, St. George's, Louisville; Martha Holland, Christ Church, Elizabethtown; Margaret Krantz, St. Matthew's, Louisville; David Lee, Christ Church, Bowling Green; Barbara Merrick, St. Paul's, Louisville; Hamp Moore, Christ Church, Bowling Green; Jim Moyer, St. Matthew's; Bob Nesmith, St. Matthew's; Joanna Panning, St. Francis in the Fields; Martha Polk, St. Paul's, Henderson; and Roger Schipke, St. Francis in the Fields.
Serving with Bogal-Allbritten on the Transition Committee are the Rev. Georgine Buckwalter, Episcopal Church Home, Louisville; the Rev. Amy Coultas, Christ Church Cathedral, Louisville; the Rev. Ben Sanders, St. George's Church, Louisville; Mary Abrams, St. James, Pewee Valley; Betty Blodgett, St. John's, Murray; Jay Hendrick, St. Andrew's, Louisville; Laurie Joyce, Christ Church, Bowling Green; Kellie Mysinger, Christ Church, Bowling Green; Richard Paxton, Grace, Paducah; Gibbs Reese, St. Matthew's; Jan Scholtz, St. Matthew's; and Don Vish, Advent.
The committee members met one another for the first time on Friday evening, Feb. 6. At a service of Holy Eucharist, the Rev. Bill Watson, president of the Standing Committee, gave each committee the charge for their work ahead and commissioned the committees. Afterwards, Clingenpeel provided an overview of the process and the responsibilities of the Standing, Search/Nominating, and Transition committees.
The next day, after a service of Morning Prayer, Clingenpeel continued the orientation by reviewing a tentative timeline for the process. The two committees will work in parallel. Each committee then met separately, beginning their work by developing norms to be followed throughout the process. They also created subcommittees to work on specific tasks with full committee meetings scheduled as appropriate.
The Search/Nominating Committee will begin the work of surveying the laity and clergy of the diocese. This information along with appropriate demographic information will be gathered into a diocesan profile. The profile will describe the diocese and its programs and ministries as well as the characteristics of the leader sought.
Once the profile is produced, it will be widely distributed and placed on the diocesan Web site. Then the committee's task moves towards recruiting appropriate nominees, which the committee hopes to begin this summer. Nominees will be interviewed, screened and visited.
The committee plans to have a slate of nominees presented at Diocesan Convention in 2010. Following Diocesan Convention, there will be a window for candidates to be presented by petition. The Standing Committee will handle the background checks and gather information on any petition candidates.
Once the final slate of nominees is in place, the Transition Committee will conduct a "Walk About" in the diocese for the final nominees. The nominees will be introduced at gatherings around the diocese, leading up to a special electing convention to be held possibly in May 2010.
The Transition Committee is also responsible for caring for Bishop Ted and Barbara Gulick and developing an appropriate way to celebrate Bishop Gulick's retirement. The committee also is responsible for welcoming the bishop-elect and for the consecration service in association with the Office of the Presiding Bishop.
The Standing Committee desires to make the process be very transparent and clearly described so that everyone in the diocese can follow the process and participate effectively at appropriate points. At the same time, the work of the committees will be done in strict confidence.
