God continues to move through the Diocese of Central Florida’s bishop search process, now entering its final phase. Even before The Rt. Rev. Gregory O. Brewer’s official announcement at the 2022 Diocesan Convention of his July 2023 retirement at age 72, as mandated by the canons of The Episcopal Church, the Standing Committee had put the mechanisms in place to conduct a biblical, prayerful search for the diocese’s fifth bishop. Since that time, the various committees have remained on task, the Diocesan Tour has concluded, and the diocese is moving steadily toward the Special Electing Convention, set for Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023, at Trinity Preparatory School, Winter Park.

As the Central Florida Episcopalian previously reported, the Search Committee, led by The Rev. Chris Rodriguez, rector of Trinity, Vero Beach, completed its charge on Sept. 19 with the submission of the names of three candidates for diocesan bishop: The Very Rev. Charles “Roy” Allison II, rector, St. James, Ormond Beach, and dean of the Northeast Deanery; The Rev. Canon Dr. Justin S. Holcomb, canon for vocations, Diocese of Central Florida; and The Rev. Dr. Stacey “Stace” Timothy Tafoya, rector, Church of the Epiphany, Denver. All three candidates and their wives came together Nov. 7-10 for the Diocesan Tour, led by The Rev. Becky Chapman, chair of the Transition Committee and deacon at St. Francis, Bushnell, with assistance from members of her committee, the diocesan staff and the Standing Committee.

Chapman: Watch and Pray

“Overall, it was a glorious week, and it was a blessed week, even with the hurricane bearing down on us,” Chapman said of the Diocesan Tour, which saw the rescheduling of three of its planned sites due to concerns over the pending Cat. 1 Hurricane Nicole, which moved across Florida as a tropical storm.

All tour stops, both virtual and in-person, were conducted in a similar fashion, with Chapman serving as moderator while the candidates rotated through the Q&A sessions. As one candidate responded to questions, the other two remained sequestered so that none heard the others’ responses.

“I think the candidates were very happy overall,” Chapman said, noting that the host churches were “wonderful,” with rectors opening their churches up to two hours early to allow preparation for the Q&As.

After the Diocesan Tour made its first three Q&A stops as planned (the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, Monday evening, Nov. 7; St. George, The Villages, Tuesday morning, Nov. 8; and St. Mary’s, Daytona Beach, Tuesday evening, Nov. 8), The Transition Committee, in consultation with both The Rev. Scott Holcombe, canon to the ordinary, and The Rev. Tom Rutherford, president of the Standing Committee and rector, Church of the Messiah, Winter Garden, pivoted because of the potential threat from Hurricane Nicole. In lieu of the planned Q&A sessions at Trinity, Vero Beach, and Camp Wingmann, Avon Park, the Diocesan Tour offered a livestream Q&A from the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, on Wednesday evening, Nov. 9.

Out of an abundance of caution, the Q&A scheduled for Thursday evening, Nov. 10, at All Saints’, Lakeland, was replaced with a Q&A session recorded without an audience at 3 p.m. that same day at Church of the Messiah, Winter Garden. All videos from the Q&A sessions along with the additional three questions planned for the All Saints’ session but filmed at Church of the Messiah have now been posted to dcfsearch.org and to a diocesan YouTube playlist.

Chapman, along with everyone involved, regrets that some of the stops had to be rescheduled but said she appreciates the leadership of the involved churches and other ministry sites. “They were all so gracious and so concerned about our safety first,” she said. “I really would have loved to have been to each one in person, but I cannot thank them enough for their graciousness in dealing with our last-minute changes.”

Chapman also extended her gratitude to the clergy and staff of the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, for their special assistance as plans changed, and to Rutherford, who coordinated with her throughout the process.

Despite the changes, Chapman believes her goals for the tour – “to allow the candidates to get to know the diocese and to allow the diocese to get to know the candidates” – were met or will be met as interested people watch the videos of each session. “I think the candidates really gave us a good sense of who they are in their answers to those questions,” she said. “If you have a particular issue that you’re interested in, please watch all three candidates in the videos.”

Chapman also offered some final words of encouragement and admonition as the Electing Convention nears. “I really encourage everybody to watch the videos, pray over the candidates, pray over the election, and really be in discernment mode over what our diocese needs for our next bishop.”

Nunez: Pray, Evaluate, Be Patient

After assuming leadership of the Transition Committee, Chapman quickly appointed The Rev. Tim Nunez, rector of Good Shepherd, Lake Wales, to head up plans for the Special Electing Convention. Nunez emphasized the hard work of his team and others to ensure that integrity prevails throughout the process.

“I think the first major issue that really demands everyone’s attention is the eligibility of the electors at the Special Electing Convention,” he said. “Our diocese updated its canons on eligibility of electors before our last bishop election, so we’re actually in very good shape on that front.”

Nunez went on to explain that the clergy eligible to vote in the Special Electing Convention are those who are canonically resident in the diocese, actively licensed and serving.

“Being in Florida, we’ve got a lot of retired clergy, many of whom serve very capably wherever they are,” he said. “Some who are active may have forgotten to send in their licensing paperwork back in June, which is normally an easily corrected oversight. But it’s necessary to be currently licensed when it comes to voting at the Special Electing Convention.”

Nunez urges any priests who fall into this category (canonically resident and serving) to make sure their license is active “as soon as possible.”

Eligible lay delegates are “generally those who served as delegates for the last Diocesan Convention in 2022,” Nunez said, noting that the Standing Committee is directly overseeing the electors. Churches that need to replace lay delegates must elect them soon in accordance with Canon III. Certifications of replacements must be submitted to Marilyn Lang in the diocesan office as soon as possible but no later than 10 days before the election (Jan. 4, 2023).

Churches will be asked to confirm the names of all delegates, including those newly chosen and those serving again.

As with the previous two Diocesan Conventions, elections will be conducted using the VPOLL platform, Nunez said, adding, “What’s different is the delegates have to be in the building for this election.” Although all delegates will need their own Wi-Fi enabled device and individual email address, no voting will be conducted remotely. In the unlikely case of failure of the digital system, the election will be conducted via roll call. No votes will be received from anyone other than certified delegates present in-person at the Special Electing Convention. A special viewing area will be open to interested parties who are not certified delegates.

“The Standing Committee has made it clear that if there were to be some unforeseen incident, a COVID outbreak or other circumstance that forced us away from an in-person Convention on Jan. 14, we would simply have to reschedule it,” Nunez said. For further clarity on the Special Electing Convention and the upcoming Diocesan Convention on Feb. 3-4, 2023, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy, Melbourne, please visit this link for “Convention Clarity.”

Like Chapman, Nunez emphasized the importance of prayerful involvement as the diocese completes this final phase of its bishop search process. “Everybody wants to think about qualifications. . . but really, what we need to do is to pray about it, especially if you sense any concern or any anxiety,” he said. “The response to that is to pray. That’s one thing everybody can do.”

For electors, Nunez had some additional advice. “They must do their homework and really evaluate the candidates, their resumes, what they’ve said, what they’ve written, their experience.

“The other thing I would want is for people to be patient and good to each other when they register,” he said. “If you’re having any difficulties along the way, we’re going to have people there to help you. The best thing to do is just to be patient and trust that we’re going to do everything we can to make sure everyone who has a vote is able to vote and that it goes smoothly.”

Questions With Video Links to Diocesan Tour Q&A Sessions

Questions asked during the Diocesan Tour are given below and listed according to the sites where they were asked. However, the three questions asked at all sites except the final one, which took place as Hurricane Nicole was moving through the state, are listed first. In addition, the candidates introduced themselves at each stop except the final one; the recordings also contain these introductions.

Each recording is linked below to the site name, date and time; to find individual questions, visit the links and check out the timestamped comments under each video. All Diocesan Tour videos are also available at dcfsearch.org.

Questions Asked at Each of the First Four Stops

What is your vision for the diocese?

Why are you running for bishop?

What would you really want us to know about you as we consider you as our next bishop?

Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Nov. 7, 2022, 7:00 p.m.

What are your thoughts on the current and future use of diocesan properties, for example, Camp Wingmann, Canterbury and the diocesan offices?

What is your position on the clergy for parishes that can’t afford a full-time priest?

St. George, The Villages, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, 10:30 a.m.

How, specifically, do you intend to pastor the clergy?

In your opinion, what makes for a healthy church and why, and how do you measure it?

St. Mary’s, Daytona Beach, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, 7:00 p.m.

Will you sign on to the reaffirming Lambeth 1.10 resolution from the Global South? If so, how then do you reconcile adhering to B012?

What is your position on women in clerical orders?

Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, 7:00 p.m. (replacing Trinity, Vero, and Camp Wingmann, Avon Park)

Can you address the significance of the diocese’s relationship with the Communion Partners group of bishops? Would that relationship continue under your leadership?

Would you support the diocese conventions to change the canons to be in alignment with the national church canons?

When The Episcopal Church considers revisions in the Book of Common Prayer at General Conventions, what are your priorities?

Church of the Messiah, Winter Garden, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022, 3:00 p.m. (replacing All Saints’, Lakeland)

How would you be a bishop for all people in the diocese, especially for LGBT-plus persons?

Describe your leadership/management weaknesses and how you would fill those gaps.

What ministries are you passionate about?

For more information on the bishop search process, including candidate bios, questionnaires and other information including the Diocesan Tour Q&A videos, please visit dcfsearch.org.