Presiding Bishop Nominees Named

And the Nominees Are:
The Rt. Rev. J. Neil Alexander, Bishop of Atlanta
The Rt. Rev. Edwin F. Gulick, Jr., Bishop of Kentucky
The Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada
The Rt. Rev. Henry N. Parsley, Jr., Bishop of Alabama

Two of them, Alexander and Parsley, have ties to South Carolina. Alexander, a former Lutheran pastor, went to Lutheran Southern Seminary in Columbia. Parsley served several parishes in the “lower Diocese” of South Carolina (as we “Upper” South Carolinians call it). Bishop Schori is the first woman candidate for Presiding Bishop.

Alexander, Gulick and Schori are on the left side of the great Episcopal Divide, and Bishop Parsley could be described as on the right, but he’s clearly pretty moderate. Moderate enough that the schismatics over at the Not-Really-Very-Anglican American Council are already getting their vestments in a wad over him. It goes without saying that they are aghast at the notion of Schori being installed as PB, since women clergy are not exactly the norm for the good ole boys of the AAC. As for Alexander and Gulick, well, they voted for Gene Robinson’s consecration, so they are, by definition, unacceptable.

It seems that the Joint Nominating Committee brought a slate of highly qualified candidates to be presented to the House of Bishops at General Convention, and that’s good news for the Episcopal Church. Any of them will be capable of leading this denomination for the next nine years.

You can read the biographies of the candidates here. Pray for them and for the House of Bishops that they (and all the clergy) may be faithful ministers of God’s Word and Sacraments.