Bishop Search Process: Committees are now in Place

For more updates visit http://www.episcopalrisearch.org/

The Search & Nomination Committee and Transition Committee now are in place for the process to elect the next bishop of Rhode Island. The committees began their work June 3-4 at a retreat hosted by St. Mary’s, Portsmouth. Click here to read about how the retreat went.

Lora MacFall, a member of St. Andrews-by-the-Sea in Little Compton, will chair the Search & Nomination Committee, which will develop a profile to describe our diocese, solicit nominations for bishop, screen nominees and then present final names to the electing convention.

Cathy Iacobucci, a member of Grace Church in Providence, will chair the Transition Committee, which will ensure that we celebrate the ministry of our current bishop, plan our new bishop’s ordination celebration and arrange a warm welcome for our new bishop to begin the next chapter of our ministry together.

The Standing Committee and Diocesan Council will commission the committees at the June 3-4 retreat. The committees will begin their work with the help of a consultant, Judy Stark. Judy has consulted in three other bishop search processes and co-chaired the Bishop Coadjutor Search Committee for the Diocese of Southwest Florida. She has served three terms on the Diocesan Council and has been elected as a deputy to the 2012 General Convention.

Additionally, the Rev. Mary Johnstone and Julia Slayton, executive director of Bethany House of Prayer, located in Arlington, Mass., will serve as a chaplain team to help guide the committees through the search, election, and consecration process.

Other lay members of the Search & Nomination Committee are Steve Bucci, St. Peters-by-the-Sea, Narragansett; John Gilmartin, Trinity, Newport; Mary Hafey, St. Thomas, Alton; Leon Sibielski, Ascension, Cranston; Ellen Vadney, Emmanuel, Newport; and Bill Warburton, St. Paul’s, Wickford. An additional member will be named later.

Clergy members of the Search & Nomination Committee are the Rev. John Alexander, St. Stephen’s, Providence; the Rev. Robert Brooks, retired; the Rev. Deacon Buck Close, St. George’s, Central Falls; the Rev. Canon Jonathan Huyck, Grace Church, Providence; the Rev. Mercedes Julian, Ascension, Cranston; the Rev. Pam Mott, St. Mary’s, Portsmouth; the Rev. Sandra Haines-Murdocco, retired; the Rev. Ann Marie Richards, Trinity, Newport; and the Rev. Melody Shobe.

Other lay members of the Transition Committee are Linda Mendonca, Emmanuel, Cumberland; Bill Plumb, Trinity, Cranston; and Grace Swinski, St. Paul’s, Pawtucket.

Clergy serving on the Transition Committee are the Rev. Deacon Dorothy (Ricky) Brightman, St. Luke’s, East Greenwich; the Rev. James Frink, retired; the Rev. Deacon John Higginbotham, St. Luke’s, East Greenwich; the Rev. Casey Shobe, St. Peter’s by-the-Sea, Narragansett; and the Rev. Veronica Tierney, St. George’s School, Middletown.