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The Episcopal Church Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop invites all Episcopalians to participate in a survey. The responses will help the committee develop a profile of the skills, qualities, and gifts the church seeks in its next presiding bishop, considering what the church and world may look like in the next decade.

The church’s General Convention will elect the next presiding bishop in the summer of 2024.

The deadline for completing the survey—which can be found online here in English, French, and Spanish—is Oct. 31.

“We want to hear from Episcopalians throughout the church because their input will help guide us in our nominating work,” said committee member Deborah Harmon Hines, who chairs the profile subcommittee. “The survey is designed to help us all discern some of the characteristics we hope to see in the person we will elect as the next presiding bishop.”  

The survey—which takes about 15 minutes to complete—asks respondents to define the most important issues facing The Episcopal Church and the world in the next 10 years, as well as the foremost gifts or skills the next presiding bishop will need to lead the church. Participants are also asked to rank in importance areas of experience for the presiding bishop to have.

The survey includes an open section for additional feedback and ends with optional questions requesting information on age, race, gender, role in the church, and years as an Episcopalian.

Episcopal Church canons (1.2.4) define the presiding bishop as the church’s chief pastor and primate, with duties that include the following:

  • Taking the lead in initiating and developing church policies, strategies and programs as authorized by the General Convention, and speaking for the church about that mission and ministry.
  • Speaking God’s words to The Episcopal Church and to the world.
  • Ensuring that every diocese has episcopal oversight and dealing with episcopal disciplinary matters.
  • Presiding over meetings of the House of Bishops.

In addition, the presiding bishop helps represent The Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion, along with the church’s members of the Anglican Consultative Council.

The presiding bishop is also president of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, the name under which the church is incorporated, conducts business, and carries out its mission. As chief executive officer of the Executive Council, the presiding bishop oversees a $100 million-plus budget.

The nominating committee plans to release the profile for the next presiding bishop in the spring of 2023 and expects to open the nomination process in late summer. The committee is charged with presenting at least three nominees to stand for election at the 81st General Convention. View the committee roster.

For more information, contact the committee at pb28@episcopalchurch.org. Follow the committee on the following social media sites: