From the diocese’s press release:
The Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan has opened its search for a new bishop. Nominations will be accepted until June 15.
“Our next Bishop will have the opportunity to live and work and play in a beautiful and historic area which provides ample opportunities to deepen his or her Christian spiritual journey and to live a centered and holistic life among a people who know and respect God’s creation. The Bishop will help build up our ever-widening sense of community throughout the diocese,” says the diocesan profile.The profile and nominating materials are available at www.upepiscopal.org.
Northern Michigan’s profile describes the diocese’s well-known commitment to mutual ministry, a process by which leaders in a congregation discern their gifts for ministry and form local ministry support teams, which include locally trained priests and deacons. The diocese dates its involvement in mutual ministry to the election of Tom Ray as bishop in 1982.
“When I arrived in Marquette in 1982, I found on my desk a letter from two congregations imploring me to ordain a lay reader who had helped to hold these congregations together for many years,” recalled Ray, who now serves as assisting bishop to the diocese. “They hungered for the Eucharist and they would go as long as three months until a priest would be available. As a sacramental church, this was intolerable.”
The search for the next bishop of Northern Michigan is being managed by a ten-member committee. Members were chosen by the diocese’s four geographic regions, Diocesan Council and the Standing Committee. Bishop Bruce Caldwell, recently retired bishop of Wyoming, is the consultant to the search process.
The diocese has been without a bishop since the Rt. Rev. James Kelsey was killed in an automobile accident while returning from a visitation in June 2007. Its previous search for a bishop ended in July 2009, when the Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester, a priest of the diocese, did not receive the necessary consents from the wider Church.
“In the past ten months we have prayed, reflected and worked together,” said Pat Micklow, search committee representative from Diocesan Council. “We recognize that our first search process and our commitment to mutual ministry were not well understood, and we are committed to being transparent and communicating clearly as we undertake this search. We want to move forward together with the support of the wider Episcopal Church.”
The Diocese of Northern Michigan, founded in 1895, comprises 27 congregations in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Standing Committee is the canonical authority in the diocese. For more information, please visit: www.upepiscopal.org.