wfn.org | [ENS] Deputies chosen for presiding bishop nominating committee

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

August 7, 2003

Deputies chosen for presiding bishop nominating committee

By Sarah T. Moore

[ENS] Eighteen deputies were elected from the House of Deputies Thursday to
be on the Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding
Bishop. Two members, one clergy and one lay, were elected from each of the
church's nine provinces.

Elected by simple majority were A. T. Mollegen, Jr., Connecticut, and the
Rev. Thomas J. Brown, Vermont, Province I; Diane B. Pollard, New York, and
the Rev. Jeannette De Friest, Newark, Province II; Jane R. Cosby,
Pennsylvania, and the Rev. Mark Harris, Delaware, Province III; Vince
Currie, Jr., Central Gulf Coast, and the Rev. (Elizabeth) Claiborne Jones,
Atlanta, Province IV; Scott Evenbeck, Indianapolis, and the Rev. Richard L.
Tolliver, Chicago, Province V; Don Betts, Nebraska, and the Rev. Ann K.
Fontaine, Wyoming, Province VI; Sarah J. Knoll, Kansas, and the Rev. James
P Haney V, Kansas, Province VII; Bettye Jo Harris, Hawaii, and the Rev.
Bavi Edna (Nedi) Rivera, California, Province VIII; and Blanca Echeverry,
Colombia, and the Rev. Luis F. Ruiz, Colombia, Province IX.
The 29-member committee comprises 18 representatives from the House of
Deputies (one clergy and one lay person from each of the nine provinces)
and nine bishops, one from each of the nine provinces. The House of
Deputies President George Werner also will appoint two youth members
between the ages of 16 and 21.

On Wednesday, the House of Bishops elected the following bishops to serve
on the nominating committee: Gayle Harris, suffragan of Massachusetts,
Province I; Gladstone Adams, bishop of Central New York, Province II; Peter
Lee, bishop of Virginia, Province III; Duncan Gray III, bishop of
Mississippi, Province IV; Kenneth Price, suffragan of Southern Ohio,
Province V; Bruce Caldwell, bishop of Wyoming, Province VI; Donald
Wimberly, bishop of Texas, Province VII; Jerry Lamb, bishop of Northern
California, Province VIII; and David Alvarez, bishop of Puerto Rico,
Province IX.

Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold is entering the final three years of a
nine-year term. The Joint Nominating Committee will essentially become a
search committee to select a slate of episcopal candidates. The House of
Bishops has the responsibility to vote on who will be the next Presiding
Bishop with confirmation required from the House of Deputies at the 75th
General Convention held in Columbus, Ohio, June 12-21.