Helen K. Spence, president of the Diocese of Virginia’s standing committee, informs members of the diocese that no provisional bishop candidate has yet been found:
The requirements for a previously consecrated, experienced bishop who would not reach age 72 before the end of the proposed term, and who would be willing to move to Virginia quickly for a term-limited position, made the pool of potential candidates a small one. Our hope was that we would be able to present a name to the Convention for election. We interviewed some outstanding candidates, but those bishops have concluded, through their own discernment processes, that they could not come to Virginia at this time.
The Standing Committee will continue to work with the Presiding Bishop’s office to discern the correct person to work with us as this Diocese moves forward doing the good work of the Holy Spirit following Bishop Shannon’s resignation. In the meantime, in accordance with Articles IX and XV of the Constitution of the Diocese of Virginia, Ecclesiastical Authority is temporarily conferred on the Bishop Suffragan, the Rt. Rev. Susan E. Goff.
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.
