Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop. Records

The Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop, which first met in 1982, was chosen at that year’s General Convention, in accordance with Title I, Canon 2, Sections (b) and (c). The House of Deputies elected one clerical and one Lay Deputy from each Province and the House of Bishops elected one Bishop from each Province as members of the committee. The Joint Nominating Committee’s canonical mandate was the selection of no fewer than three members of the House of Bishops to be considered by General Convention for the position of Presiding Bishop.

This marked the first time when a Joint Nominating Committee was composed of elected members of both Houses. Previously, both bishops and deputies were appointed to the Nominating Committee by the presiding officers of their respective Houses.

Currently, the Committee elects members in person at the meeting of General Convention three years before the new presiding bishop is to be elected. The Committee is composed of 20 people. Five bishops were elected by the House of Bishops, and five clergy and five lay people were elected by the House of Deputies (Canon I.2.1.a). Two members between ages 16-21 were appointed by the president of the House of Deputies (Canon I.2.1.a). Three members were jointly appointed by the presiding bishop and House of Deputies president “to ensure the cultural and geographic diversity of the church” (Canon I.2.1.c).