Image Description: The stamp for the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes. The bottom of the stamp is a orange-yellow shield with a dark blue outline that reads "Estd. 2024" in highly stylized type with two Episcopal-style crosses. On the top of the shield, like it's sailing on it, is the two-sailed ship from the diocesan seal, along with the three stars in the sky. the largest of which represents our new diocese while the two smaller stars represent our two legacy dioceses.
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Image Description: The wordmark for our diocese that reads, "EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF THE GREAT LAKES." The first four words are in all caps in a simple-yet-wide sans serif font. "Great Lakes" is also in all-caps, but in a highly stylized font that is reminiscent of vintage sign art. The G, L and S all have added flourishes that look like waves. This is the horizontal orientation of the wordmark and it is shown in the warm gray (off-white) brand color.
The image reads: "The First Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes." The word "Bishop" is in the same highly stylized, all-caps serif font that includes flourishes that are reminiscent of illustrations of waves - like waves on the Great Lakes - that is used in the diocese's wordmark. The rest of the text is in an italicized, all caps, sans serif font. The italicization and the shape of the more stylized text give the graphic a feeling of forward motion. Above the "IS" in "Bishop," the illustration of a mitre from our diocesan seal sits.

Petition Process

Download the Petition Process adopted by the Standing Committee or read it below. 

Per the official process, the petition window opens with the release of the initial slate of candidates and closes after 11:59 p.m. ET two weeks from that release date.

Our slate was released at 12:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, July 21; therefore, all submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, August 5.

The petition process application is available here. 

The signature form for the required petitioners for each nominee is available here. 

This process is not housed in an online form. Please follow these steps:

  1. Download and print the Petition Candidate Application and the Petitioner Signature Form (one copy per petitioner).
  2. Sign the forms by hand.
  3. Write your prompt responses in a separate document.
  4. Scan all signed forms and documents (a phone scanning app works fine, as long as the pages are legible).
  5. Email everything as attachments to standingcommittee@greatlakesepiscopal.org by 11:59 p.m. ET, Wednesday, August 5, 2026.

 

If your files are large, send them as a zipped folder or split across multiple emails; please make sure to include your name in the subject line.

Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes
Petition Process for the Election of the First Bishop Diocesan

Date of Adoption by the Standing Committee: 03/12/2026

The Canons of the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes – Canon 6.4.a.ii:

By petition, the form of which shall be determined by the Standing Committee, signed by no less than seven (7) clergy members and by no less than seven (7) lay members in good standing. The person nominated must indicate such person’s willingness to be nominated and consent in writing to the standard background checks no later than the date specified by the Standing Committee.

The Form:

The form shall be substantially similar to the form used by the Search Committee for all candidates put forth during the creation of the draft slate; the additions shall be: A line for each of the signatures of those petitioning, a space to indicate the Order (laity or clergy) of each petitioner, a space to provide the mission region of each petitioner, a space for the printed name of each petitioner along with the name of the parish/ministry served/attended of each petitioner, and the signature date for each petitioner.

Any question that was responded to by of all of the finalists in the Search Committee’s process must also be asked of all petition candidates as a part of the form.

All attachments and inclusions from the Search Committee’s form must also be submitted by all petition candidates.

The form shall authorize the conduct of all required background checks of the candidate.

Qualifications of the “at least 7 laity and 7 clergy” petitioners:

  • No two laity can be from the same Mission Region.
  • No two clergy can be from the same Mission Region.
  • All laity petitioners must be a Communicant in a worshiping community in the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes.
  • All clergy petitioners must be Canonically resident in the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes.

Qualifications of the candidate being petitioned:

  • A petition candidate must meet all of the same qualifications specified by the Search Committee’s application for consideration during the creation of the draft slate (e.g. years of Ordained service).
  • All petition candidates must submit to all of the same background checks and evaluations that all finalists from the Search Committee process underwent. The mandatory Spirit Works evaluation must be completed.

Time-frame between announcement of the draft slate and the close of the petition window:

All candidates shall have 14 days from the announcement of the draft slate and this petition process to submit a completed petition; rather than listing this term as “14 days,” the exact end date shall be specified in the draft slate announcement detailing this process and petitions shall close after 11:59 p.m. on the final day of the petition window.