[Episcopal News Service] The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania has announced a five-person slate of nominations for the next diocesan bishop.

The candidates are:

The Rev. W. Frank Allen, rector, St. David’s Episcopal Church, Wayne, Pennsylvania, Diocese of Pennsylvania;

The Rev. Daniel G.P. Gutierrez, canon to the ordinary, chief operating officer and chief of staff, Diocese of the Rio Grande;

The Rev. John T.W. Harmon, rector, Trinity Church, Washington, D.C., Diocese of Washington;

The Rev. Martha N. Macgill, rector, Emmanuel Parish of the Episcopal Church, Cumberland, Maryland, Diocese of Maryland;

The Rt. Rev. Dean E. Wolfe, ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas and vice-president of the House of Bishops.

The announcement opens a process by which Episcopalians may petition to have other clerics added to the slate. Information on that process is here.

The election is set to take place March 12 at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral. The person elected will be ordained and consecrated on July 16 at New Covenant Church in the Germantown area of Philadelphia.

The diocese has been led since early 2013 by former Diocese of East Carolina Bishop Clifton Daniel III as its bishop provisional. Daniel resigned from his East Carolina post to work in Pennsylvania. The need for a provisional bishop arose after Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison retired at the end of 2012 after an at times contentious episcopate. The Pennsylvania Standing Committee had been at odds with Bennison since the mid-2000s over concerns about how he managed the diocese’s assets and other issues.

In its announcement about the five persons nominated, the Standing Committee said, “This is an exciting time for our Diocese and we are grateful for your continued discernment, prayer, and participation.

“Please pray that all of us will be inspired by the Holy Spirit to discern clearly whom God is calling to be our next Bishop and to work with her/him to joyfully continue the ‘Jesus Movement’ in the Diocese of Pennsylvania.”