LA offers a variety of candidates for consideration — gay/straight, black/white, young/old, male/female, liberal/liberal
The Bishop Coadjutor Search Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has named five candidates for nomination preceding election by Diocesan Convention meeting Dec. 2-3 in Ontario, Calif.
The candidates are the Rev. Paul Fromberg, rector of St. Gregory of Nyssa, San Francisco; the Rev. Rachel Nyback, rector of St. Cross, Hermosa Beach, Calif.; the Rev. Anna Olson, rector of St. Mary’s, (Mariposa Avenue) Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Pierre Whalon, bishop of the Paris-based Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe; and the Rev. Mauricio Wilson, rector of St. Paul’s, Oakland, Calif.
The coadjutor-elect will succeed Los Angeles Bishop Diocesan J. Jon Bruno upon his retirement.
“I give thanks for the members and work of the search committee, and for all the people who have offered themselves as candidates,” said Bruno, who was elected bishop coadjutor in 1999.
“We are blessed to have a slate of talented, experienced, soulful candidates, any one of whom could lead this diocese forward, each of whom wishes only to serve Christ and the church as called,” said the Rev. Canon Julian Bull, search committee chair and head of Campbell Hall Episcopal school in North Hollywood. “We ask for your continuing prayers for the candidates and their families, and for our diocese as we move towards convention.”
The committee also has designed and published a process (posted here) for nominations by petition (formerly nominations from the floor) following best practices of other U.S. dioceses and church-wide. The petition process is open Sept. 4-12.
A series of four regional forums, offering opportunities for all in the diocese to meet and confer with the candidates, is set for Oct. 7-9 in Laguna Hills, North Hollywood, Ventura and Redlands. A detailed schedule is here.
Fromberg, 55, has served in ministry in Texas and California (Bay Area) with outreach, cathedral, youth and liturgical specializations. Nyback, 46, has served in ministry in Southern California and Washington D.C. after teaching in Kuwait. Olson, 45, has served in ministry in Southern California including as Los Angeles director of the non-profit Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. Whalon, 63, has served in ministry in Europe, Florida and Pennsylvania with experience in international, interfaith and financial initiatives. Wilson, 50, has served in ministry in Costa Rica, New York and California (Bay Area) following his career as a banker-auditor beginning with Coopers & Lybrand.
Detailed biographical information and candidates’ replies to questions submitted by the search committee will be published in upcoming editions of The Episcopal News and posted to the diocesan website.
Within the Episcopal Church, a bishop coadjutor is elected to succeed a bishop diocesan upon his or her retirement or resignation, and to assist the diocesan in ministry for a period prior to official installation as bishop diocesan. Pending necessary consents of the dioceses and bishops of the Episcopal Church, liturgical rites welcoming the new bishop are envisioned for early summer 2017.
Further information about the process may be requested from the search committee chair (bullj@campbellhall.org).
