Announcing the Search for our First Bishop

June 3, 2025

Dear siblings in Christ,

Grace and peace to you in the last days of this Easter season. Today marks an important milestone in our life as a diocese: the Standing Committee is officially opening the call for nominations to our Bishop Search and Transition Committees and sharing with you our timeline for calling the I Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes.

We know that many of you have been eagerly awaiting this moment, and we are deeply grateful for your patience, your prayers, and your continued faithfulness to the work God is doing among us. For some of you, this feels long overdue. We also know that there are some of you who still may not feel that you (or we as a whole) are healed enough to welcome a new bishop. But as Anglicans, as Episcopalians, we thrive in holding things in tension. As we move forward with great hope and excitement, we will continue to offer spaces and opportunities for healing and renewal. 

Our journey here has not been easy. We’ve had a rocky history with our most recent bishops, set against the backdrop of a global pandemic, seismic shifts in national and global realities, and our own sometimes-difficult path to becoming one new diocese. And yet, through it all, the people of the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes have remained faithful, creative, courageous, and deeply committed to the work of healing and renewal and the love of God.

Now, we stand at the edge of something new. Just as water shapes the land over time, the Holy Spirit has been shaping us – sometimes slowly, sometimes suddenly as with Pentecost’s flames – for the journey ahead. We believe that the time has come to begin discerning who God is calling to be the first bishop of this diocese we are still becoming. 

The work of the Search and Transition Committees will be crucial in this process. We seek lay and ordained members from across the diocese – from east to west and from north to south – of all ages who are spiritually grounded, open-hearted, and committed to listening for the Spirit’s guidance. If someone comes to mind as you read this, we invite you to submit a nomination using the form available here. Nominations are open now through July 7.

Today, we are also sharing for the first time a timeline for the search and election process. While the full details are available here, here are a few key moments:

• • Nominations for the Search and Transition Committees are open now through July 7. The committees and their chairs will be announced by the end of August and the committee will begin its work in September.

• • A bishop slate will be announced in summer 2026.

• • Our electing convention will take place at the III Diocesan Convention  in October 2026.

• • Our  bishop-elect will begin work in January 2027, with consecration planned for April 2027.

Along the way, there will be a number of ways for everyone in our diocese to engage in the process through prayer, feedback, sharing materials, and interacting with the candidates on the final slate. We are following the well-worn and Spirit-trusted path of the wider Episcopal Church’s discernment process, with guidance from and partnership with the office of Presiding Bishop Sean. This is a process that invites our whole diocesan body to pray, listen, and act with hope.

Please hold this process, and all those who will participate in it, in your prayers. Pray for those who will be nominated to the Search Committee. Pray for the people who will discern whether they feel called to our process and finally for the person who will one day answer “Yes” to a call to be our the first bishop of our diocese. Pray for our continued becoming.

Let us give thanks for how far God has already brought us. And let us step forward, together, toward the waters of new creation.

Warmly and in peace and hope,