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What has the Bishop Search/Nominating Committee been up to?

The Bishop Search/Nominating and Transition Committees and members of the Standing Committee with Bishop Mark Beckwith and the Rev. Thad Bennett and the Rev. Kim Jackson, consultants from The Episcopal Church.
The Bishop Search/Nominating and Transition Committees and members of the Standing Committee with Bishop Mark Beckwith and the Rev. Thad Bennett and the Rev. Kim Jackson, consultants from The Episcopal Church.

Have you been keeping up with the communication coming out from the Search/Nominating Committee via the diocesan listserv or as shared in The VOICE Online? Have you taken a look at the Bishop Search page of the Diocesan website for updates? These are the major forms of communication for the Search/Nominating Committee. In addition, you are welcome to email the co-chairs of the Committee (the Rev. Jerry Racioppi, Holy Spirit Verona, and Ms. Michele Simon, St. Paul's Englewood) by using BishopSearch@DioceseofNewark.org.

In this communication, we would like to highlight some of what your Search/Nominating Committee has been working on since formation in early June.

  • Met as a full Committee or as Sub-Committee almost every week since early June.
  • Agreed to a Covenant by which we conduct all of our meetings, and (as our first commitment states) we are faithful in prayer and continuously seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
  • Established Sub-Committees for Communications, Profile/Survey, Screening/Interviewing and the Discernment Retreat.
  • Created and published a 58-question online survey to which 862 people responded; the average time to complete the survey was 18 minutes and we thank you if you were able to participate. Now we compile this information and look for common trends.
  • Hosted and gathered data at six Listening Meetings, with one more to go tonight at St. George's, Maplewood. This data will also prove helpful in creating the Profile and scripting questions for potential candidates.
  • Begun the writing of the Profile, which will be submitted to the Standing Committee by September 27 with a "go live" (to the public) date of October 2.
  • Developing the application and nomination process for potential candidates as XI Bishop of the Diocese of Newark.

As far as what's next for us, you can always check the XI Bishop Search Timeline. Please continue your prayers for our Diocese and all those engaged in this process of listening to where the Spirit is leading us. We are excited about the future that is only possible by the grace of God and our confidence in that grace.

Members of the Search / Nominating Committee:

Ms. Yvonne DeLaCruz, Grace, Union City
Ms. Janelle Grant, St. Paul's, Paterson
Ms. Patrice Henderson, St. Andrew & Holy Communion, South Orange
Ms. Geraldine Livengood, Christ Church, Newton
The Rev. Tom Mathews, Christ Church, Ridgewood
The Rev. Christine McCloud, Holy Innocents, West Orange
Mr. Bernard Milano, Trinity, Allendale
The Rev. Thomas Murphy, St. Paul's, Jersey City
The Rev. Bernie Poppe, St. George's, Maplewood
The Rev. Jerry Racioppi, Holy Spirit, Verona (Co-Chair)
Ms. Michele Simon, St. Paul's, Englewood (Co-Chair)