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 3^rd, 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 31^st – June 1^st, 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.