The Nominating Committee Shares Timeline for the Bishop Suffragan Election

Dear People of the Diocese of West Texas and The Episcopal Church,

Grace and Peace to you from the Standing Committee and Nominating Committee of West Texas.

Thank you for praying for our diocese and the work of discernment that will end with the election of our next bishop suffragan; we have had six in our diocese beginning with The Rt. Rev. Earl Dicus, ordained Bishop Suffragan of West Texas on July 11, 1955.

We anticipate that our updated diocesan profile will be complete by the middle of May, and we will accept nominations from May 28 until June 12, 2024. Please let your contacts know where we are in the process, and those two important dates. We don’t know who the Holy Spirit might be calling into this discernment process, so share as you feel led to share.

After nominations close, we will begin a series of discernment conversations with the nominees, which will result in a slate of nominees who will travel to the San Antonio area, the Coastal Bend, and the Valley so that people around our diocese will have the chance to meet and learn more about all of them before the election. The same delegates who attended the 120th Diocesan Council in February will be voting in person for our bishop suffragan. The election will take place at Church of the Good Shepherd, Corpus Christi on Saturday, October 19, 2024. Then, the Consecration of our 7th bishop suffragan will take place at St. John’s McAllen on Saturday, March 29, 2025.

Click here to learn more about the timeline.

Our nominating committee is assembled from across the diocese:

• Susan Alwais, St George, San Antonio
• The Rev. James Derkits, Trinity by the Sea, Port Aransas
• The Rev. Michael Koehler, Trinity, Victoria
• Liz Manning, Holy Spirit, Dripping Springs
• The Rev. Karen Morris, Emmanuel, Lockhart
• Lorena Rojas, St. John’s McAllen
• Dorcus Sampson, Church of the Resurrection, Windcrest
• The Rev. Betsy Stephenson, Grace Llano
• Libby Templeton, St Michael and All Angels, Blanco
• The Rev. Jonathan Wickham, All Saints’ Corpus Christi
• The Rev. Mike Woods, St Elizabeth’s, Buda
• Lory Zimmerman, St Phillip’s Uvalde
• The Very Rev. Ron Clingenpeel, Consultant
  

The Lord bless you and keep you,

The Rev. James Derkits
‍President of the Standing Committee
Member of the Nominating Committee

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Bishop Nominating Committee:

The Standing Committee Members‍
The Rev. James Derkits, Trinity by the Sea, Port Aransas - President
The Rev. Jonathan Wickham, All Saint’s, Corpus Christi
Dr. Liz Manning, Holy Spirit, Dripping Springs
Susan Alwais, St. George, San Antonio
Libby Templeton, St. Michael and All Angels, Blanco
The Rev. Karen Morris, Emmanuel, Lockhart
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The Assisting Members
‍Lorena Rojas, St. John’s, McAllen
The Rev. Mike Woods, St. Elizabeth, Buda
Lory Zimmerman, St. Philip’s, Uvalde
The Rev. Betsy Stephenson, Grace, Llano
Dorcas Sampson, Church of the Resurrection, Windcrest
The Rev. Michael Koehler, Trinity, Victoria