SOUTH CENTRAL REGION
Special Announcement
April 8, 2021
CORRECTED!
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South Central Region Leadership Team Invites
Applications for the Bishop Transition Committee

The Right Reverend Ian T. Douglas announced his retirement plans as Bishop Diocesan in his letter to The Episcopal Church in Connecticut on April 7, 2021, and described the transition process for selecting a new Bishop Diocesan. He wrote:

"Over the next month the Standing Committee, Mission Council, and leadership of our Regions will work together to establish a Bishop Transition Committee as called for in Canon XVI of the canons of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut. The Bishop Transition Committee will be responsible for overseeing the transition process, including discerning nominees for the election of the next Bishop Diocesan." 

With this in mind, the South Central Region Leadership Team invites you to apply to be considered for membership on the Bishop Transition Committee.
 
The South Central Region will have one Lay and one Clergy member on the Bishop Transition Committee, selected by the South Central Region Leadership Team.

Candidates should:
  • For Lay candidates, be an adult voting member1 of a parish of the South Central Region. Clergy candidates should live or serve in the SC Region. 
  • Engage in a ministry within one’s parish.
  • Have experience in collaborating with other churches, ministry networks, or church councils beyond one’s parish.
  • Have a working internet connection and email account.
  • Be able and willing to serve 18 months and attend frequent meetings and be ready to work on subcommittees of the main committee to gather data, checks references, etc.. We anticipate that this will be a significant commitment of time and energy.

   1.A voting member in a parish as defined by ECCT canon 1 section 5: “Members of the Parish entitled to vote at any Parish meeting are those adult communicants who, for at least six months prior to that meeting have been faithful attendants at the services of the Church in the Parish, unless for good cause prevented, faithful contributors to its support, and faithful in working, praying, and giving for the spread of the Kingdom of God”
 

Bishop Ian closed his letter with these words from the letter to the Ephesians:

“Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine; Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 3:20,21
 
Trusting in that greater-than-imagined power, we ask you to join us in prayer as together we discern whom God is calling to serve on the Bishop Transition Committee.   
 
South Central Region Leadership Team:
  • Ms. Diane Kyle, Convener, Christ Church, Guilford
  • Murray Harrison, Trinity, New Haven
  • The Rev. Matt Lindeman, St. Peter's, Milford
  • David Rivera, St. Paul & St. James, New Haven
  • Nancy Staniewicz, Church of the Holy Spirit, West Haven
  • The Rev. Heidi Thorsen, Trinity, New Haven
  • Lisa Yarbor, St. Luke's, New Haven
  • Whitney Batson, Grace & St. Peter's, Hamden
  • The Rev. Canon Timothy Hodapp
  • The Rev. Rachel Thomas, SE Region Missionary
 
Here's How to apply!
Please submit your application in a Word or PDF document by email to Diane Kyle, kyledance53@gmail.com, no later than 5:00 p.m. Friday, April 16, 2021. Please include the following:
 
Name:
Parish:
Email:
Phone:
Mailing Address:
 
Please limit your response to each question to 150 words or less.

1.   Share a story that describes how you participate in ministry through your parish.
2.   Describe a time that you have been involved in collaboration in the common life of our region and diocese beyond your own parish.
3.   What priorities do you see for us as The Episcopal Church in Connecticut, and therefore what qualities are you looking for in our next Bishop?
4.   At our 2020 Annual Convention, we passed Resolution 7, a wide-ranging initiative that addresses issues around Racial Healing, Justice, and Reconciliation. Where do you see yourself fitting into that work? 

Apply by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 16