In the above photo from left to right, the Revd Canon Lucinda Ashby, the Revd Canon Neysa Ellgren Shepley, the Venerable Christopher Athan Pappa & the Revd Canon Gretchen M Rehberg.
The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane in Eastern Washington State and the Idaho panhandle has announced that four candidates have been chosen for consideration at the 52nd Diocesan Convention. The candidates will be introduced to the diocese during the period of 26 -30 SEP. There may be additional candidates by that time who were submitted through a nomination by petition process in the diocese. The electing convention will be held 14 – 16 OCT at the Red Lion Hotel in Lewiston, ID. Should the bishop-elect receive the necessary consents, the ordination & consecration service is scheduled to be held 18 MAR 2017 in the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist in Spokane WA.
Greetings in the name of our Risen Lord
The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane is pleased to announce the slate of candidates received as nominees for the Ninth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane to succeed our current Bishop, the Rt. Rev. James E. Waggoner, Jr., who is retiring.We offer their names, a brief biographical statement, and their written responses to questions and answers submitted by the Nominating Committee in discerning the people whose names you see below. It is our honor to list the following names as nominees
- The Reverend Canon Lucinda Ashby, Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Idaho
- The Reverend Canon Neysa Ellgren Shepley, Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Oregon
- The Venerable Christopher Athan Pappas, Archdeacon for Congregational Development, The Anglican Diocese of Edmonton, Alberta
- The Reverend Canon Gretchen M. Rehberg, Rector of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Lewiston, Idaho, in the Diocese of Spokane
These candidates, as well as any additional candidates received through nomination by petition, will be presented to the diocese the week of September 26-30, 2016, in a walkabout throughout our regions. The detailed schedule will be presented soon. The election of the Ninth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane will take place during the 52nd Diocesan Convention, October 14-16, 2016, in Lewiston, Idaho. We expect that our Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, will preside at the ordination of the next bishop on Saturday, March 18, 2017, in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane.
The Nominating Committee, under the capable leadership of Dale Lamphere, has gathered for months in an atmosphere of prayer and deliberation to fulfill the charge given them to conduct their search in an open, transparent, and inclusive process. The confidential nature of their proceedings has given them the space necessary for open and frank discussion; Canon Kristi Philip has provided a blanket of prayer for their work; our consultant Canon Betsy Greenman has provided the wisdom of numerous episcopal searches to structure their efforts. We now present these candidates to you confident that each one of them possesses the qualities and qualifications we seek in the one called to lead and serve as our next bishop.
The Transition Committee, under the leadership of Dr. Katherine Karr-Cornejo, has already been engaged in planning the next steps. Katherine has provided the Spanish translation for the materials that accompany this announcement. We are grateful to Cate Wetherald, the Communications director of the Diocese of Spokane, for her work to present this information in a timely and complete manner.
Faithfully
The Reverend Mary Beth Rivetti
President, The Standing Committee
The letter is from the diocesan bishop search website.
The photo collage is from the diocesan website homepage.