Dear Friends in Christ Jesus in the Diocese of Northern Indiana,

Last week the Search Committee concluded its work and presented a list of five candidates for the Eighth Bishop of Northern Indiana to the Standing Committee. On behalf of the Standing Committee, I am grateful to co-chairs Fr. Mike Dwyer and Mrs. Linda Buskirk and to all members of the Search Committee who labored tirelessly in this ministry. Their thorough, faithful, and prayerful discernment and diligence over the last six months has richly blessed us to reach this stage in our process.

With great prayer we present to you the five candidates for the Eighth Bishop of Northern Indiana:

Please look for their initial biographies on the search website. Fuller biographies will be released in the coming days.

Even as we celebrate the conclusion of the Search Committee's work the ministry of the Transition Committee now begins in earnest. Under the leadership of the Fr. Jim Warnock of Gethsemane, Marion, they will be guiding the diocese through the introduction of our candidates as well as the election and transition process of our new bishop.

The candidates will come to the diocese for the Walk-Abouts on January 15-17. The locations for getting to know our candidates are:

Please look for the publication of the Walk-About informational booklet very soon.

Everyone is welcome to attend these sessions. We expect delegates who will vote for our new bishop to attend a session near them to better acquaint themselves with our candidates. Please remember that if your parish is expecting to certify new delegates other than those who were registered at last month's Diocesan Convention their names must be registered with the diocesan office by February 1, 2016.

Thank you for your continued prayers as we labor together for our beloved diocese and for the kingdom of God in our midst.

Yours in Christ Jesus,

The Rev. Matthew D. Cowden, President of the Standing Committee
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The Search Committee for the Eighth Bishop of Northern Indiana