Episcopal Press and News

EAST TENNESSEE: Bishop search deadline nears

Episcopal News Service. July 19, 2010 [071910-03]

ENS staff

The deadline for nominating priests to be the fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee is July 31.

Forms and other information are online here and electronic submittals are preferred, according to a diocesan press release. The diocesan profile is here.

The search committee said it will make recommendations for the slate to the Standing Committee on or before Nov. 11 and there is a canonical provision for nomination by petition thereafter.

The person elected during the diocese's convention Feb. 11-12, 2011, will succeed Bishop Charles G. vonRosenberg who has served the diocese as bishop since February 1999.

Following the canonically required consents (III.11.4) from a majority of bishops with jurisdiction and a majority of diocesan standing committees throughout the Episcopal Church, the consecration of the fourth bishop of East Tennessee is planned for June 25, 2011.

The Diocese of East Tennessee comprises 34 counties in Tennessee and three counties in North Georgia. The diocese, located in the valley between the Cumberland Mountains to the north and west and the Appalachian Mountains to the southeast, comprises approximately 14,350 square miles. The U.S. Census estimates the entire population to be 2.5 million, concentrated in three major metropolitan areas: Chattanooga, Knoxville, and the Tri-Cities area of Kingsport, Bristol, and Johnson City. The diocese has nearly 16,000 baptized members and an average Sunday attendance of more than 5,600 worshippers in 52 congregations, according to the diocesan profile.