Dallas search committee announces candidates for election as bishop-coadjutor

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4 March 2025

Greetings in Christ, 

My name is Fr. Clayton Elder and it’s an honor and blessing to serve as the Chair of the Diocese of Dallas Bishop Coadjutor Search Committee.

As many of you know, this Search Committee was formed last May to discern and deliver a slate of candidates to be considered for our Bishop Coadjutor – a person who will initially work alongside Bishop Sumner and eventually become the next Bishop of Dallas. In June, we began our work by listening. Through a survey and nine in-person sessions, the committee invited people from parishes across the diocese to share their thoughts about our current needs and the qualities they desired for our next bishop. Thank you to all who participated in the survey and listening sessions. We faithfully compiled your important feedback and created a diocesan profile. This profile not only served to educate those who felt called to nominate themselves or others into the process, but also guided the committee’s discernment and deliberation. We encouraged clergy and lay people alike to be active in the nomination process so that our committee could have a rich, diverse pool of candidates to consider.In November, we began our rigorous interview process and last week, held a three-day retreat with our final nominees. This precious time gave both our committee members and the candidates special time to know one another more deeply, worship and pray together, and allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate God’s will for his people.

After three days of prayerful, Spirit-led discernment and contemplation, the committee is thrilled to present a final slate of candidates – any one of whom meets the needs expressed by the people of this Diocese and is qualified to be the next Bishop of Dallas. It is my joy to share that the Rev. Dr. William Carroll, the Rt. Rev. Fraser Lawton, and the Very Rev. Robert Price will be on the final ballot for Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of Dallas. 

You will also have an opportunity to get to know them better at a series of in-person events April 1st – 4th. More information about these “walkabouts” can also be found on our website. The convention delegates will then gather for the final election on May 3 at Saint Michael and All Angels. The Search Committee invites you to join us in praying for the clergy and lay delegates who will be voting in this important election. I am so grateful for all of the nominees who faithfully and prayerfully walked with us through this extensive process. I am also grateful for my fellow committee members. Search committee work is hard work, and their generosity of spirit, time, and energy was and continues to be a blessing. Also, special thanks to the prayer warriors who faithfully lift up our search committee in prayer every day. We feel your prayers and are blessed by your work.

I would like to leave you with a prayer that was specifically written for a search process and one that our committee faithfully prays.Heavenly Father,to Whom all the Saints in heaven and earth adore and bend the knee:

Look graciously on your Church and pour out your Holy Spirit upon our Bishop, the Search Committee, and the Delegates who will choose a bishop for this diocese, to feed and tend the flock of Christ and exercise without reproach the high priesthood of this calling.

Grant that they, and we may have all wisdom and discernment; a spirit of revelation and the knowledge of your will, and the confidence in your guidance in the decision to be made; through him who is the shepherd and bishop of our souls, even Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord.Amen.
Here Are The Three Candidates:
The Rev. Dr. Bill Carroll
The Rev. Dr. Bill Carroll serves as Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Longview, Texas. Baptized in the Episcopal Church as an adult, Fr. Bill has sought to grow disciples and strengthen congregations to share the Good News of Jesus and fulfill our Baptismal Covenant. He is Dean of the Northeast Region of the Diocese of Texas, a trustee of the Episcopal Health Foundation, and a member of the Texas Standing Committee. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina. He has previously served as a Rector in the Dioceses of Oklahoma and Southern Ohio, as a Canon to the Ordinary, and on the seminary faculty at Sewanee. He has been married to the Rev. Tracey Carroll for 31 years. Their adult son, Danny, has significant developmental disabilities and lives with them. Their daughter, Rachel McLoughlin, lives with her husband, Alex, in Edmond, Oklahoma.
The Rt. Rev. Fraser Lawton
The Rt. Rev. Fraser Lawton is the rector of the Church of St. Dunstan in Mineola, TX., and Bishop Assistant in the Diocese of Dallas. In this latter role, his main ministry is with the congregations of the Affiliated Parishes of North East Texas (APNET), which is a cooperative venture of congregations walking and working with one another. Before coming to East Texas, Bishop Lawton served in the Diocese of Athabasca in the Anglican Church of Canada. After being ordained there as both deacon and priest, he was selected as its Bishop Diocesan in the fall of 2009. In 2018, he and his wife, Veronica, spent several months on a sabbatical in the Diocese of Dallas. While here, he was asked to consider taking on his current position here, and after a time of discernment, perceived God was indeed calling them to Dallas. Bishop Lawton has been married to Veronica for 36 years, and they have four grown children and three grandchildren.
The Very Rev. Rob Price
The Very Rev. Rob Price was born and raised in San Diego as a Methodist “preacher’s kid.” After receiving a B.A. and M.A. in American History from Stanford University, he became a teacher in a private school in St. Louis, where he met his wife, Kate. Though an atheist, he was welcomed into the Episcopal Church at Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis. He then entered a Ph.D. program in History at Yale University before he met the Risen Jesus and heard a call to ministry. After completing his M.Div. at Yale, he served on the staff of churches in St. Louis and Dallas and as the Rector of St. Dunstan’s, Houston, for 13 years. In January 2019 he accepted the invitation from the Bishop and Vestry to begin a new chapter as Dean at St. Matthew’s Cathedral and served as Canon for Congregations, as well, from 2020-2022. Along the way, he and Kate have had three boys who are now young adults: Matt, Thomas, and Chris.

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