wfn.org | Episcopalians: Election of bishop in Kansas goes high tech

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

July 15, 2003

2003-161

Episcopalians: Election of bishop in Kansas goes high tech

by Melodie Woerman

(ENS) The recent election of a bishop coadjutor for the Diocese 
of Kansas had a decidedly high-tech flavor. 

The Rev. Dean Wolfe, vice rector of Saint Michael and All Angels 
Church in Dallas, Texas, was elected July 12 in a special 
convention held at Grace Cathedral in Topeka.  More than 100 
clergy and 130 lay delegates participated in the election--in 
person.

The proceedings of the electing convention, however, were 
broadcast over the Internet via streaming video and audio 
through the bishop search committee website, while 
ballot-by-ballot results were posted on the site within minutes 
of the release of the vote totals. A photo of Wolfe and a notice 
of his election also were posted on the website immediately 
after the announcement of an election was made. The web-related 
efforts were coordinated by Deacon Charles Pearce of Manhattan, 
Kansas.

Long-distance balloting

An Internet connection also allowed a Kansas priest to vote from 
Bosnia where he is on active military duty. The Rev. Don 
Davidson is serving as a chaplain with the Kansas Army National 
Guard as part of the multi-national peacekeeping efforts in 
Tuzla. Last fall the Kansas convention, anticipating his absence 
for military service, adopted a special diocesan canon that 
permitted Davidson to cast a ballot via the Internet. He 
communicated his intention through a secured line to a member of 
his parish who acted as his proxy and completed a ballot on his 
behalf.

Technology also extended to ballot counting. The diocese 
purchased two special ballot scanning devices which eliminated 
the need to hand-count each vote. As voting progressed, ballots 
were carried to the scanners in the Grace Cathedral office, 
where volunteers ran the computer cards through the scanners. By 
counting the votes electronically in batches as they were cast, 
vote totals were available within minutes after the final 
delegate had cast a ballot.

Wolfe was elected on the fifth ballot with 62 clergy votes and 
74 votes in the lay order. He had received a majority of clergy 
votes on the fourth ballot, and the required lay votes were 
achieved on the next ballot. Ballot by ballot results for all 
candidates are available on the search website, 
www.kansasbishop.org.

A quick trip to New York

Bishop-elect  Wolfe had little time to reflect on his 
election--he had to pack immediately for a trip to New York.

In order to have all paperwork completed and processed so his 
election could be considered by General Convention, Wolfe had to 
leave for an appointment in New York on July 14 with the doctor 
assigned by the presiding bishop's office to conduct the 
required psychological evaluation. He returned to his home in 
Dallas the following day.

Because there were only two days between the election and the 
doctor's appointment, the search committee purchased a 
round-trip airline ticket for each of the four candidates, a 
procedure that proved less expensive than waiting until the last 
minute and buying only one ticket for the person elected. Search 
committee chair Larry Bingham said the other candidates either 
could use the ticket on a date of their choice--or redeem it for 
cash.

The election of the new coadjutor must be ratified by the 
General Convention of the Episcopal Church, which meets July 
30-August 8 in Minneapolis.  Assuming that ratification occurs, 
Wolfe will be consecrated November 8 in Topeka at the 2003 
Diocesan Convention and will become the Ninth Bishop of Kansas 
when Bishop Willam Smalley retires on January 1, 2004.

------

--Melodie Woerman is editor of Plenteous Harvest, the newspaper 
of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas.