Standing Committee Announces Slate of Candidates for 15th Bishop of the Diocese of SC

The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina announced today the slate of candidates who will stand for election as the 15th bishop of South Carolina during a Special Meeting of Convention to be held for the purposes of the election on Saturday, May 1, 2021.

The candidates are (listed in alphabetical order):
 

• The Reverend Geoffrey M. St. John Hoare, rector, St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C.
• The Reverend Kevin Allen Johnson, rector, St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Arlington, Texas
• The Reverend Canon Terence Alexander Lee, rector, St. Philip's Episcopal Church, New York, New York
• The Venerable Calhoun Walpole, archdeacon, Diocese of South Carolina; vicar and subdean, Grace Church Cathedral, Charleston, South Carolina
• The Reverend Canon Ruth M. Woodliff-Stanley, canon for strategic change, Dioceses of Northwestern Pennsylvania & Western New York; senior vice president for strategic change, Episcopal Church Building Fund

Information about the candidates, including brief biographical information, essays and resumes, can be found on the website for the search for the XV Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina at this link.

In a letter to the Diocese of South Carolina (click here to read the letter), the president of the Standing Committee, the Reverend Canon Caleb J. Lee, said of the search: “This past year has been very challenging, in more ways than one. Through it all, our incredibly talented Search Committee has been steadfast in prayerful discernment. They selected, from a large and exceptionally qualified pool of candidates, the names presented to you to stand for election. The Standing Committee is grateful for the holy work that has been underway, and we are very confident in the process that has brought us to this point.”

The Standing Committee has also announced the opening of the petition process, which allows additional nominees to be added to the slate. More details about the process, including requirements for petition nominees, can be found on the bishop search website at this link. The petition process will close on Monday, February 8, 2021, at 5 pm EST.

Members of the diocese will have the opportunity to learn more about the candidates during walkabouts or candidate conversations to be held April 12-14, 2021. The final decision as to whether these events will be offered in person or virtually has not yet been decided. More information will be announced soon on the bishop search website at www.scbishopsearch.org.

The Standing Committee has called a Special Meeting of Convention to be held for the purposes of the Election of the XV Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina. This Special Convention will take place at 9 am on May 1, 2021, at Grace Church Cathedral. If the Convention is not able to meet in person, the diocese will proceed with a virtual platform.  

​The Diocese of South Carolina announced the beginning of a process that would lead to the election and consecration of the 15th Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina on January 23, 2020. The process was briefly paused at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but resumed in August 2020. Learn more about the search for the 15th Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina at www.scbishopsearch.org.