[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs press release] The Episcopal Church Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop (JNCPB) has released the following statement:

The Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop (JNCPB) has completed initial conversations with those bishops who have entered the discernment process for the 2015 election of the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church.  The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori’s nine-year term concludes in October.  The interviews followed the Committee’s call for nominations, which ended September 30.  The JNCPB invited all bishops who were nominated to enter into the discernment process by providing biographical information, references, and responses to several questions.

JNCPB members conducted virtual interviews in November and into the first week of December. Teams of three to four committee members met electronically with nominees for an hour of video conversation.  Videos and written materials will help the JNCPB to discern the list of candidates who will prepare for face-to-face meetings with the Nominating Committee in the spring of 2015.  Members of the JNCPB will gather in January.

JNCPB committee member Nina Vest Salmon (Diocese of Southwestern Virginia) comments, “Episcopal church leadership is remarkably strong.  Our immediate awareness is that we have excellent candidates, all bringing great gifts in the context of deep spiritual grounding.  We are grateful to the candidates for their willingness to enter into this period of discernment.”

The JNCPB asks for your prayers in the discernment process and asks also for prayers for those bishops who have entered the process.

The JNCPB committee is composed of a lay member, a priest or deacon, and a bishop elected from each of the nine provinces of the Episcopal Church, plus two youth representatives who were appointed by the President of the House of Deputies, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings. The General Convention Deputies and bishops serve a three-year term to conclude at the close of General Convention 2015 in Salt Lake City.

Members listed here