On Monday, February 20, the Rev. Jackresident of the Diocesan Standing Committee, Eastwood, President of the Diocesan Standing Committee, announced a list of five candidates placed into nomination to be the eighth Bishop of California.

Below, is the text of the official announcement: 

Since apostolic times, Christians have gathered to prayerfully discern who will lead us in following the teachings of Jesus Christ. Sometimes those people would gather in the town square for a public meeting. At other times members of the clergy, or an emperor or king would appoint Bishops.

Since 1789 the Episcopal Church in the United States has democratically elected Bishops to shepherd our people. Both lay people and clergy share in this prayerful discernment. In this Diocese of California, we have exercised this process eight times since 1849.

In October of 2004, Bishop William Swing, 7th Bishop of California, announced his intention to retire in 2006. In response, our Diocesan Standing Committee formed two groups to oversee this process: one to aid the transition, and the other to discern eligible nominees for our people to consider for election. Each of the many meetings of the Search and Transition committees begin and end with prayer. We are also supported by all of the prayers of our thousands of parishioners in the Bay Area.

This morning the Search Committee has completed its task and has given the names of nominees for Bishop of California to the Standing Committee. On May 6th of this year, Episcopal laity and clergy will gather in this Cathedral to elect our 8th Bishop. In June, our bishop-elect will be considered for ratification by lay and clergy deputies and by the House of Bishops at the General Convention of the National Episcopal Church, in Columbus, Ohio. Following ratification, our whole diocese will again gather in this cathedral for a festive consecration of our new bishop on July 22nd.

One caveat: This list of names is not necessarily complete, since there is a petition process that allows other names to be submitted from members of our local churches. Other names may be added before March 13th.

The following five names have been prayerfully considered by our Search Committee, and are now made public for the first time.

The Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, Bishop Suffragan in the Diocese of Alabama;

The Rev. Jane Gould, Rector of St. Stephen's Church, Lynn, Massachusetts;

The Rev. Bonnie Perry, D.Min., Rector of All Saints' Church, Chicago, Illinois;

The Rev. Canon Eugene Taylor Sutton, Canon Pastor of Washington National Cathedral;

The Very Rev. Robert V. Taylor, Dean, St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle, Washington.

This list of names reflects the diversity of the Diocese of California.  For more information about the nominees and the search process, visit bishopsearch.org.