The Rev'd Canon Dr. Michael W. Petty, Chair of the Standing Committee, Member of Bishop Nominating Committee
On Saturday, May 14th the Gulf Atlantic Diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) will elect a successor to our current bishop, the Right Reverend Neil Lebhar who will be retiring. How does our diocese elect a new bishop? The process for electing a bishop is set forth in the canon law of the diocese and involves the following steps:
When the diocesan bishop gives notice that he intends to retire, the diocese requests permission from the College of Bishops to begin an election process. Once this permission has been granted, the Standing Committee appoints a Bishop Nominating Committee. This committee may consist of 6-9 people, two of whom must be on the Standing Committee. In addition to these, two members must be active clergy and two members must be active laypeople. The current Bishop Nominating Committee consists of four clergy and four laypeople. (The Standing Committee consists of three clergy and three lay people each of whom is elected by the diocesan Synod.)
After appropriate interviews and screening (specified by ACNA canon law), the Bishop Nominating Committee must present the Electing Synod of the diocese with 2 to 5 candidates. The names of the candidates must be made public at least 60 days in advance of the election. At the end of a long process (with 19 nominees), the Bishop Nominating Committee presented a slate of two candidates: Fr. John Wallace (Apostles-by-the-Sea, Rosemary Beach) and Fr. Alex Farmer (Servants of Christ, Gainesville).
Once the slate of nominees has been finalized, the Bishop Nominating Committee must provide an opportunity for each of the candidates to visit each deanery in the diocese. Our diocese has four deaneries. Fr. John and Fr. Alex have met with clergy and lay delegates at Christchurch in Montgomery AL, St. Peter’s Cathedral, Grace Anglican Church in Fleming Island, and Christ Church in Vero Beach. The Q and A sessions from each of these four gatherings were recorded and posted on the Bishop Nominating Committee website (GADBishopSearch.org).
Bishop Neil’s successor will be chosen by the Electing Synod of the diocese. This body consists of clergy and lay delegates from each parish in the diocese. In order to be elected, a candidate must receive two-thirds of both the clergy and lay votes.
Once our next bishop has been elected, this election must receive the consent of the College of Bishops. Once this consent has been given, the new bishop may be consecrated. The consecration of our next bishop is scheduled for Saturday, August 27th here at St. Peter’s.
Bishops have holy and awesome responsibilities. To get a sense of these, consider meditating on The Form and Manner of Ordaining and Consecrating A Bishop, found in The Book of Common Prayer, 2019 beginning on page 497. Additionally, please pray for these two candidates, their wives and families, their current parishes, and for our diocese as we all discern the direction God is leading us in the coming days.