No clergy within the Diocese of Pittsburgh appear on the slate as the diocese seeks its eighth bishop.
“Several priests from the Pittsburgh diocese decided before the nomination process began that they did not have a calling at this time to the ministry of bishop and would not allow their names to be submitted,” said a diocesan announcement of four nominees. “For others, that discernment became clearer later on in the search process.”
The diocese announced these nominees Jan. 15:
- The Rev. Canon Michael N. Ambler, Jr., 47, rector, Grace Church, Bath, Maine;
- The Rev. Dorsey W.M. McConnell, 58, rector, Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill, Mass.;
- The Rev. R. Stanley Runnels, 59, rector, St. Paul’s Church, Kansas City;
- The Rev. Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, 49, rector, St. Thomas’s Church, Denver.
The diocese will accept nominees by petition until Feb. 5. “A nomination by petition requires ten signatures from individuals representing at least three parishes,” the announcement said. “Four of those signing must be canonically resident clergy, and of the six lay communicants in good standing in parishes of the diocese, three must be deputies to the diocesan convention. The petition must also include the consent signature of the person being nominated.”
The diocese will release biographical information on all nominees March 1, after reviewing and adding any nominees by petition. The election is scheduled for April 21.
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.
