Episcopal Press and News
ALASKA: Diocese announces four nominees for next bishop
Episcopal News Service. January 11, 2010 [011110-01]
Pat McCaughan
The Episcopal Diocese of Alaska has chosen four priests to stand for election as its next bishop.
The candidates are:
- The Rev. Canon Virginia Doctor, canon to the ordinary, Diocese of Alaska, and assisting vicar, St. James' Mission, Tanana.
- The Very Rev. Mark Lattime, rector of St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Geneseo, New York (Diocese of Rochester)
- The Very Rev. Timothy W. Sexton, provost and canon administrator, Cathedral Church of St. Andrew, Honolulu (Diocese of Hawaii)
- The Rev. Suzanne Elizabeth Watson, former congregational development officer, Episcopal Church Center, New York.
"We're thrilled, joyous and very excited about these candidates," said Dan Hall, the chair of the bishop's search committee. "We're satisfied that each is the kind of candidate we need to move the Diocese of Alaska forward," he added.
Hall said a previous bishop search ended without an election when "for various reasons and circumstances … we ended up with only one candidate and the standing committee decided not to go to an electing convention with just one person."
The Jan. 11 announcement also opens the way for a process by which clergy and laity in the diocese can nominate other candidates. The deadline for those nominations is Feb. 12, according to Stacy Thorpe, diocesan communications officer. Information about that process is available here.
The election will take place during an April 9-10 electing convention at the Meier Lake Conference Center in Wasilla, Alaska.
The person elected will succeed the Rt. Rev. Rustin Kimsey, who has served as interim bishop for three years, since Bishop Mark MacDonald left in 2007 to become the first indigenous bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada.
Under the canons of the Episcopal Church (III.11.4), a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan standing committees must consent to the bishop-elect's ordination as bishop within 120 days of receiving notice of the election. The consecration and ordination tentatively is set for Sept. 4 at the New Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage.
The Diocese of Alaska includes 53 Episcopal congregations, from tiny subsistence villages to major metropolitan centers. The diocese encompasses the entire state.