Editor’s note: The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Massachusetts announced the addition of the Rev. Edwin D. Johnson as a candidate by petition on April 19. 

[Episcopal News Service] The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Massachusetts, after receiving the recommendations of the Bishop Nominating Committee, has approved a preliminary slate of four nominees for election as the 17th bishop diocesan of the Diocese of Massachusetts. They are:

• The Rev. Brendan J. Barnicle, rector, St. Francis of Assisi Church, Wilsonville, Oregon.
• The Rev. Jean Baptiste Ntagengwa, canon for immigration and multicultural ministries, Diocese of Massachusetts.
• The Very Rev. Gideon L. K. Pollach, rector, St. John’s Church, Cold Spring Harbor, New York.
• The Rev. Julia E. Whitworth, rector, Trinity Church, Indianapolis, Indiana.
• The Rev. Edwin D. Johnson, director of organizing, Episcopal City Mission, Boston, Massachusetts.

Additional information about each of the nominees is on the diocese’s bishop search website.

A seven-day petition period begins on March 15, during which anyone who meets the canonical requirements may petition to be added to the slate of nominees. The deadline to submit nomination materials is March 22.

An electing convention is scheduled for May 18 at Trinity Church in Boston, and the bishop-elect will be consecrated, pending a successful churchwide consent process, on Oct. 19.

The new bishop diocesan will succeed the Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, who has led the diocese since 2014. Gates said in May 2023 that he plans to retire at the end of 2024.