The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Massachusetts has announced a five-member slate in searching for its 16th bishop.
Details about the nominees, including their essays in response to questions posed by the search committee, are available on the diocesan website. The diocese will consider nominees by petition until Jan. 31. An electing convention will meet April 5 at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston.
The nominees are:
- The Rev. Holly Antolini, 61, rector, St. James’s Church, Cambridge, Mass.
- The Rev. Ronald Culmer, 49, rector, St. Clare’s Church, Pleasanton, Calif.
- The Rev. Alan Gates, 55, rector, St. Paul’s Church, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
- The Rev. Ledlie Laughlin, 54, rector, St. Peter’s Church, Philadelphia
- The Rev. Samuel Rodman, 54, the diocese’s project manager for campaign initiatives
The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE, has served the diocese since January 1995. He plans to resign upon the new bishop’s consecration in September.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
