[Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles] The Bishop Coadjutor Search Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has announced a slate of five nominees to stand for election as bishop coadjutor. The election will take place at the Diocesan Convention meeting Dec. 2-3 in Ontario, California.

The candidates are:

• the Rev. Paul Fromberg, rector of St. Gregory of Nyssa, San Francisco;
• the Rev. Rachel Nyback, rector of St. Cross, Hermosa Beach, California;
• the Rev. Anna Olson, rector of St. Mary’s, (Mariposa Avenue) Los Angeles;
• the Rt. Rev. Pierre Whalon, bishop of the Paris-based Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe; and
• the Rev. Mauricio Wilson, rector of St. Paul’s, Oakland, California.

The bishop coadjutor-elect will succeed Los Angeles Bishop Diocesan J. Jon Bruno upon his retirement.

“I give thanks for the members and work of the search committee, and for all the people who have offered themselves as candidates,” said Bruno, who was elected bishop coadjutor in 1999.

“We are blessed to have a slate of talented, experienced, soulful candidates, any one of whom could lead this diocese forward, each of whom wishes only to serve Christ and the church as called,” said the Rev. Canon Julian Bull, search committee chair and head of Campbell Hall, an Episcopal school in North Hollywood. “We ask for your continuing prayers for the candidates and their families, and for our diocese as we move towards convention.”

The committee also has designed and published a process (posted here) for nominations by petition (formerly nominations from the floor) following best practices of other U.S. dioceses. The petition process is open Sept. 4-12.

A series of four regional forums, offering opportunities for all in the diocese to meet and confer with the candidates, is set for Oct. 7-9 in Laguna Hills, North Hollywood, Ventura and Redlands. A detailed schedule is here.

Within the Episcopal Church, a bishop coadjutor is elected to succeed a bishop diocesan upon his or her retirement or resignation, and to assist the diocesan in ministry for a period prior to official installation as bishop diocesan. Pending necessary consents of the dioceses and bishops of the Episcopal Church, liturgical rites welcoming the new bishop are envisioned for early summer 2017.