The Diocese of San Diego announces its decision to present a sole nominee to become its fifth bishop:
Upon the recommendation of the Bishop Nominating Committee and nomination by the Standing Committee, one priest stands for election as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of San Diego at the upcoming electing convention on Saturday, February 5, at St. Bartholomew’s, Poway.
The Rev. Canon Susan Brown Snook is the canon for church growth and development in the Diocese of Oklahoma. In this role, Susan guides ministries of evangelism, church growth, church planting, and new mission development, and consults with congregations on growth and development plans. She grew up as the daughter of an Army officer, living all over the world. After graduating from Rice University with a degree in English and Managerial Studies, she continued at Rice and received her master’s in business administration and master’s in accountancy. After a ten-year career as a certified public accountant, she was called into ministry in the Episcopal Church. She served for several years in lay ministry, as the director of Christian education and then the director of lay ministries at a church in Arizona, before attending seminary. She received her master’s in divinity degree from Church Divinity School of the Pacific in 2003, and was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Arizona.
In Arizona, Susan served as a curate and then as an associate rector in churches in the Phoenix area. In 2006, the bishop of Arizona called her to plant a church in the northern suburbs of Phoenix and Scottsdale. From 2006 to 2017, she served as the church planter, vicar, and then rector of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Scottsdale, leading it during a process of growth to a program-sized parish and through a building process that created a permanent home for the vibrant congregation. Susan is passionate about evangelism – proclaiming the good news of Jesus – and about developing thriving churches that transform lives in their communities.
Susan is the author of God Gave the Growth: Church Planting in the Episcopal Church, and the co-editor with Adam Trambley of Acts to Action: The New Testament’s Guide to Evangelism and Mission. She has served in a number of church leadership positions, including as an elected member of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church (2012-18) and chair of its local ministry and mission committee (2015-18) and budget committee (2012-15). She has been a member of the Diocese of Arizona’s diocesan council and chair of the board of its Chapel Rock camp and conference center. She is a founder of the Acts 8 Movement, a group dedicated to proclaiming resurrection in the Episcopal Church, including leadership in evangelism, mission, and prayer. In 2018, she was appointed by the presiding bishop to a six-year term on the board of Forward Movement.
Susan has been married for over 30 years to her husband, Tom Snook, and they have two grown daughters, Sarah and Julia.
This page of the bishop search website says the diocese will receive nominees by petition for 14 days:
On October 18, the petition period will open. It will be open for 14 days, closing at the end of the day on November 16. Anyone may apply by petition, including persons who had originally applied, and were not selected—or other persons who did not originally apply.
Persons applying by petition must submit the same information as was required in the original applications, including a cover letter, three letters of recommendation (including at least one priest and one lay person). They must also provide the names of six nominators (three clergy members and three laypeople), four of whom must be identified as delegates to our electing convention. They must also answer the same four essay questions found on the original application form, and a question as to why they are submitting in the petition process.
Once all petitions, if any, have been received, and are found to be in complete and proper form, a full and complete background check and reference checks, will be conducted for these new candidates. If the checks are fully satisfactory, and approved by the standing committee, these persons, if any, will be added to the names of persons qualifying as candidates for election at the electing convention on February 2 at St. Bartholomew’s, Poway. All candidates, including qualified petition candidates, will be in the diocese for walkabouts during the week of January 14, so that we all may get to know them better before the electing convention. We hope all delegates, and people throughout the diocese, will get an opportunity to meet our final group of nominees.
The Rt. Rev. Edward J. Konieczny, Bishop of Oklahoma, offered praise for the canon through a message to his diocese:
When I invited Canon Susan to serve in the Diocese of Oklahoma I knew the probability existed she would be nominated bishop. I assured Canon Susan during our conversations that I fully supported her in that event.
During Canon Susan’s tenure here in Oklahoma, she has begun a process of growth and transformation that I know will bear fruit in the future. Although we would be glad to have her remain in this diocese, I am proud that the wider church has recognized the gifts she has to offer.
