Bishop Coadjutor Election Hub
Survey and Listening Sessions Summary
The Bishop Coadjutor Search Committee thanks the many lay and clergy members of our Diocese for participating in the survey and listening sessions earlier this year. The executive summary of the listening sessions and survey summarizes the information that was shared in both settings. You may read it here.
Bishop Coadjutor Application Period is now closed.
Click here for the Diocesan Profile.
Blessings,
Your Bishop Search Committee
Letter From the Search Committee 9.23.24
Dear Friends in Christ,
What a blessing to see and hear from so many of you at the listening sessions. Over two thousand members of the Diocese participated in the survey and listening sessions! Thank you! We have listened, and our Profile Committee is working on the final draft of the Bishop’s Selection Profile. It will be ready Oct. 1st for viewing.
Nominations will be received from Oct. 1st to Oct. 31st. We encourage you to prayerfully consider the nominees.
You may also use the prayer below by Fr. Matthew Oliver, PhD in your daily prayers and/or add it to your parish bulletin.
In Christ,
The Bishop Coadjutor Search Committee
Heavenly Father,
to Whom all the Saints in heaven and earth
adore and bend the knee:
Look graciously on your Church
and pour out your Holy Spirit upon our Bishop,
the Search Committee, and the Delegates
who will choose a bishop for this diocese,
to feed and tend the flock of Christ
and exercise without reproach
the high priesthood of this calling.
Grant that they, and we may have all wisdom and discernment;
a spirit of revelation and the knowledge of your will,
and the confidence in your guidance
in the decision to be made;
through him who is the shepherd and bishop of our souls,
even Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord.
Amen.
Letter From the Search Committee 8.8.24
Hello Friends,
“There is wisdom in the multitude of counselors.” Proverbs 11:14.
The Bible provides wonderful guideposts for us as we seek God’s will for our diocese. That is why the Bishop Search Committee has scheduled several Listening Sessions to hear from you. These will be important discussions as we gather to prayerfully consider the issues and share what each of us sees as the needs of the diocese. Attendees will break into groups to discuss a small set of questions and will share their thoughts with the group. The Search Committee will use feedback from the listening sessions to further inform our search. We also look forward to sharing a snapshot of the survey results with you at each listening session.
May I please encourage you make every effort to attend one of the in-person sessions? These sessions are divided by order, lay and clergy, for focused discussions.
Meanwhile, your Bishop Search Committee is working on providing bilingual translation for at least two lay sessions. There will also be a ZOOM ONLY session. Details on these are coming soon.
Thank you for continuing to join us in praying for our next Bishop.
In Christ,
The Bishop Search Committee
Here is the schedule:
8/27 Priests, Church of the Incarnation, 10am - 12pm
8/27 Priests, Church of the Incarnation, 2pm - 4pm
8/29 Deacons, St. Matthew's Cathedral, 10am - 12pm
8/29 Diocesan Staff, St. Matthew's Cathedral, 2pm - 4pm
9/3 Lay People, St. Philip's Sulphur Springs 6pm - 8pm
9/5 Lay People, St. Ann's Desoto 6pm - 8pm
9/7 Lay People, St. Philip's Frisco, 10am - 12pm
9/7 Lay People, St. James Dallas, 2pm - 4pm
9/10 ZOOM ONLY Session for those who are unable to attend in-person sessions, 6pm – 8pm
Update From Search Committee
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On behalf of the Bishop Search Committee, I am writing to give you an update as I am sure you are eager to know more about the process and progress.
First, the election of our Bishop Coadjutor, God willing, will take place on May 3rd, 2025. The Coadjutor Profile will be published in late September and nominations will be received from Oct. 1 to Oct. 21.
What is a Bishop Coadjutor? It is an assistant bishop with the right of succession upon the resignation (in the case of our diocese, retirement) of the diocesan bishop. Before a bishop coadjutor is elected, the diocesan bishop must consent to such an election and state the duties which will be assigned to the bishop coadjutor when duly ordained and consecrated.[1]
Our responsibility as the Search Committee is to prayerfully provide a Diocesan Profile for the Bishop Coadjutor, soliciting, interviewing, and proposing a slate of candidates to the Standing Committee. This is followed by presenting the slate to the Diocese through a series of “walk abouts” and planning and implementing the consecration.
The discernment process, for all of us, involves the guidance of the Holy Spirit for us to understand the truth of the Scripture and the wisdom of the tradition as they regard the issue at hand, and within the bounds of reason, seek the specific will of God for our diocese. Throughout this process, members of the Search Committee are committed to pray for each other and for the process. We also rely on your prayers.
Friends, we all love our diocese and strive to be as faithful as possible to this ministry. We will soon have some fun information for your congregations such as trivia and material for the children.
We rejoice in the ministries of our diocese, give thanks to God for our Bishop, our clergy and our laity, and serve with anticipation for what the Lord has in store for our future Gospel ministry together.
Yours in Christ,
The Rev. Dr. Samira Page
[1] Bishop Coadjutor – The Episcopal Church
Letter from the Rev. Clayton Elder, Chairman of the Search Committee for the Bishop Coadjutor Election
Beloved People of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas,
It is my blessing and honor to greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ as the President of the Standing committee for the Diocese of Dallas, and as the Chair of the Search Committee for the Bishop Coadjutor.
Following Bishop Sumner’s call for the election of a Bishop Coadjutor, the Standing Committee, who is charged with designing and holding the election of a bishop, and following the canons of the Diocese of Dallas, elected me as the chair of the Search Committee, and entered, with the Executive Council, the nominations, discernment, and election process for the committee.
Before discerning began, and upon the recommendations from The Episcopal Church, the Standing Committee interviewed and chose The Very Rev. Ronald Clingenpeel as our Election Consultant, a general practice for all Bishop elections in the Episcopal Church. Fr. Clingenpeel brings over twenty years of experience to this role and is well acquainted with Texas as he served Dallas in our last Bishop’s election, and most recently served in the Diocese of West Texas for their own Bishop Coadjutor process.
With the Chair and Consultant in place, the Executive Council and Standing Committee followed a democratic process of generating nominees, taking time for discernment, and electing by majority vote their canonically allotted positions (Executive Council – 6 clergy and 6 lay, Standing Committee – 4 clergy and 4 lay). By God’s grace, the organically nominated, democratically elected, and Holy Spirit-inspired committee (listed below) represents each convocation in both clergy and lay membership.
Please welcome and lift up in daily prayer the following Holy Spirit-gifted followers of Jesus Christ who will devote their time and talents to a process of hard work, prayer, and holy listening to you, each other, and our Lord for the purposes of presenting a slate of candidates to the Diocese of Dallas for the Bishop Coadjutor election on May 3rd, 2025.
Clergy
Mtr. Samira Page – Gateway of Grace, Dallas – Central Convocation
Fr. David Houk – St. John’s, Dallas – Eastern Convocation
Dcn. Mark Hall – St. Matthew’s Cathedral, Dallas – Eastern Convocation
Mtr. Cynthia Moore – St. Mark’s, Mt. Pleasant – Northeastern Convocation
Mtr. Kate Smith – St. Paul’s, Prosper – Northern Convocation
Fr. Noe Mendez – Santa Natividad, McKinney – Northern Convocation
Fr. Andrew Van Kirk – St. Andrew’s, McKinney – Northern Convocation
Fr. Perry Mullins – St. Peter’s, McKinney – Northern Convocation
Fr. Ian Hyde – Good Shepherd, Terrell – Southern Convocation
Fr. Sam Adams – St. Augustine’s, Dallas – Western Convocation
Lay
Mr. Matt Lewis – Church of the Incarnation, Dallas – Central Convocation
Mrs. Stevi McCoy – Transfiguration, Dallas – Central Convocation
Mr. Tony Briggle – St. Michael and All Angels, Dallas – Central Convocation
Mrs. Adele Ichilian – St. Matthew’s Cathedral, Dallas – Eastern Convocation
Mrs. Cathleen Dolt – St. James, Dallas – Eastern Convocation
Mrs. Lee Spence – St. Dunston’s, Mineola – Northeastern Convocation
Mr. Lance Taylor – St. Philip’s, Frisco – Northern Convocation
Mrs. Jolayne LaCour – St. David of Wales, Denton – Northern Convocation
Mr. Hal Richards – Good Shepherd, Terrell – Southern Convocation
Mrs. Wendy Skorburg – Good Shepherd, Cedar Hill – Western Convocation
With the Committee selected, and our opening retreat and meeting set for the weekend of May 31st – June 1st, 2024, our next steps will be to discern a framework and timeline for the process, set subcommittees, and begin the listening process with you, Bishop Sumner, and our Lord for the purposes of creating a profile for our next Bishop Coadjutor.
Until then, I invite you to join me in praying the following prayer for our Bishop, our Search Committee, and our Diocese as we discern together who the Lord is calling to be our Bishop Coadjutor.
In Christ,
Clayton+
Chair of the Search Committee
Heavenly Father, to Whom all the Saints in heaven and earth adore and bend the knee: Look graciously on your Church and pour out your Holy Spirit upon our Bishop, the Search Committee, and the Delegates who will choose a bishop for this diocese, to feed and tend the flock of Christ and exercise without reproach the high priesthood of this calling. Grant that they, and we may have all wisdom and discernment; a spirit of revelation and the knowledge of your will, and the confidence in your guidance in the decision to be made; through him who is the shepherd and bishop of our souls, even Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord. Amen.
- Compiled by The Rev. Matthew S.C. Olver, Ph.D.
Letter From the Standing Committee
Beloved in Christ,
On Wednesday, April 17, Bishop George Sumner called for the election of a bishop coadjutor for the Diocese of Dallas. Our bishop coadjutor will serve alongside Bishop Sumner until he retires, and then succeed him as our eighth diocesan bishop.
The electing convention will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2025 – two weeks after Easter – at a time and location to be announced.
This week, the Standing Committee unanimously appointed Father Clayton Elder to serve as chairperson for the Search Committee. As the outgoing President of the Standing Committee, his continued work in this new role will ensure a seamless continuation of the election process.
In the coming weeks, the Standing Committee will choose and begin to work alongside a consultant from the Episcopal Church to ensure that our process and timeline follows all the right steps and best practices for seeking a new bishop.
Then, Fr. Elder will work closely with the Executive Council and Standing Committee to form the Search Committee, made up of twenty voting members – six clergy and six lay persons appointed by the Executive Council as well as four clergy and four lay persons appointed by the Standing Committee. The Chancellor serves as an additional ex-officio member. We will appoint a Transition Committee at a later date.
Over the next year, the Search Committee will listen, pray, build a profile, accept nominations, and discern a slate of 3-7 nominees that they will present to the diocese for election. Then, during Lent, we will enter into a period of intentional discernment together and meet the nominees.
The Standing Committee and Search Committee are committed to regular communication and transparency. We will send updates by email and post information on a forthcoming website that will be the hub for us to participate in the work of discernment over the next year.
We believe that this search process is an opportunity for us to come together – to hope and dream cooperatively about our future, to discern with honesty our own identity as a diocese, and to pray for God to send us a pastor who will continue to lead us into the future faithfully.
Participate in this shared discernment with open hearts, hope, and joy. And in the meantime, please keep our diocese, Bishop Sumner, and all our leaders in your prayers.
In Christ,
The Standing Committee
of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas
Father Clayton Elder
Lee Spence
Father Perry Mullins
Jolayne La Cour
Father Terry Reisner
Tom Graves
Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his passion prayed for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one: Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit, that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Bishop George Sumner's Letter to the Diocese
William Hobart Hare
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in our risen Christ. I am writing to inform you that I have asked the Standing Committee to begin the process of discernment leading to the election of a Bishop Coadjutor. He or she would assist me in episcopal oversight, to include both a share of episcopal visitation and administrative work usually assigned to a Canon to the Ordinary, until such time as I retire and the coadjutor becomes diocesan. I have spoken with Bishop Todd Ousley at the national church. There would be an election in 2025. After the consecration, Bishop Michael Smith, to whom I am immensely grateful, would return to being an assistant bishop.
Of course I have no role in the electoral process, other than praying! Father Clayton Elder, president of the Standing Committee, will be explaining to you what happens next, canonically and practically.
Part of our Christian lives is always to discern the right time. First, while we have our challenges, I believe we as a diocese are in a solid position. Second, a year ago, I led a Lenten series called ‘Being Old and Being Christian’, which I now need to apply to myself, as I think about the next phase of leadership. Third, we would benefit from the perspective and energy the new bishop would bring.
I know that a great deal of attention now moves rightly to the electoral process. But I will continue working assiduously on all the on-going diocesan projects we have begun together. These include Church planting, supporting our Cairo missionaries, an annual lecture on theology and AI, the new Spanish offerings for the Stanton Institute, filling vacancies, and helping smaller congregations collaborate. The work of standing bodies such as the Commission on Ministry continues apace. Stephanie and I continue to enjoy visitations.
Expressing my gratitude to you all is for another day further down the road. Most importantly, we all press on day by day toward the goal of the prize of the upward call in Jesus Christ.
Peace
+GRS
Bishop George Sumner's Letter to the Diocese En Espanol
William Hobart Hare
Quieridos Hermanos y Hermanas,
Saludos en nuestro Señor resusitado. Yo escribo para anunciar que he pedido el Comite permanente para commencer el proceso de discernir pora elección de un obispo coadjutor. El o ella va asistirme en el trabajo de vigilancia.episcopal . incluye compartir en la visitacion y la administracion de un canon ordinario, hasta yo me jubilee y el coajutor sea obispo. He hablado con Obispo Todd Ousley. De la iglesia nacional. Hara una elección en 2025. Despues de la consecracion, Obispo Michael Smith, a quien estoy agradecido, va a regresar como un obispo asistente.
Por sopuesto no voy a participar en este porceso proximo, excepto orar! Padre Clayton Elder va a explicar lo que seguie por ustedes, sobre los canones y prarcticamente.
En nuestras vidas critianas, necesitamos discernir el tiempo derecho. Primero, aunque temenos desafíos varios, generalmente estamos en un lugar fuerte. Secundo, hace un año, enseñe un curso llamado ‘ser viejo y ser un Cristiano.’ Ahora necesito aplicarlo en mi vida, sobre la temporada proxima del mnisterio. Tercero, la perspectiva nueva de un lider nuevo ayudarianos.
Entiendo que ahora mucha atencion va a dirigirse al proceso de la elección. Pero voy a continuar a trabajar continualmente en todos los projectos los que hemos comenicido. Ellos incluyen plantar una iglesita, apoyar nuestros misioñeros en Cairo, una lectura sobre IA y teologia, el programa nuevo en Español de enseñaza, llenar posiciones de las paroquias, y ayudar congregaciones pequeñas para compartir. El trabajo de comites permanentes continuan, especialmente de la vocación, a Stephanie yo gustan visitar congregaciones mucho.
Agradecidos son por un otro dia en frente. mas importantemente, nosotros proseguimos hasta el fin de la primera del llamado de arriba en Jesus Cristo.
Paz,
+GRS