Election of a bishop coadjutor
Bishop Coadjutor Finalists
Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Diocese of Christ Our Hope,
I am writing to you today on behalf of the Nominating Committee to announce the slate of finalists for the April 29, 2021 Bishop Coadjutor election and to invite you to fast and pray for our Diocese as we seek to discern the Lord’s will for this next season of our diocesan life.
The Nominating Committee has worked diligently for the past eight months to bring you this slate. Individually and corporately, we have sought the Lord for wisdom, discernment and unity, and I am thankful for the blessing of unanimity that has pervaded our discussions. We have been encouraged by your prayers, and especially appreciate Canon for Prayer, Rev. Teresa Kincaid, and the Diocesan Prayer Team’s intercession for this work.
All of our activities have been conducted in accordance with the ACNA’s Archbishop’s Customary for Diocesan Election of a Bishop and our diocesan Canons , specifically Title I, Canon 4. We are grateful for the assistance and guidance received from Bishop Bill Murdoch, who serves as advisor to ACNA dioceses as they elect a new bishop.
As a committee, our role has been to screen and assess all nominees to ensure that the slate we present consists only of people who meet all of the qualifications sent out in the Customary and the Canons. Our process began in the summer of 2020 with the receipt of nominees. We received nominations from people within and outside of the Diocese of Christ Our Hope, providing both internal and external candidates. Several nominees withdrew themselves from consideration upon further prayer and reflection, citing legitimate personal, professional, and theological reasons. The remaining nominees then supplied us with a CV, a spiritual autobiography, and a set of essays addressing matters of personal life and faith, theological beliefs, leadership philosophy and experiences, gospel mission and radical generosity, and pastoral philosophy and experiences.
After prayerfully reviewing all of the documentation, the nominating committee conducted multiple rounds of interviews with the nominees, asking everyone the same set of more specific questions on the areas listed above, in addition to specific questions tailored to each nominee’s written responses. We also spent time interviewing the candidates’ wives. Reference questionnaires were checked and interviews were conducted with the nominees’ references: former and current bishops, vestry leaders, former employees, and personal friends.
At this stage we also ensured that candidates were solidly orthodox in their theology, addressing, among other things, matters of sexuality and gender and the sanctity of marriage and life. In addition, we were well satisfied that candidates were in line with our diocesan positions on distinctives such as the ministry and ordination of women, a high commitment to church planting and gospel mission expansion, theological rigor, and lifelong catechesis, among others.
In addition, background checks were conducted for the candidates by Oxford Document Management and Vigilant Employee Screening, as well as an independent psychological and marital evaluation and physician’s certification that they are physically fit to serve. As directed by the Archbishop’s Customary, a subset of the Nominating Committee reviewed these screening documents to ensure the nominee’s privacy. Finally, the nominee’s names were submitted to the ACNA’s College of Bishops and they were invited by the Dean of the College of Bishops to sign the Covenant to Fulfill the Obligations of an ACNA Diocesan Bishop.
As the culmination of the Nominating Committee’s assessment and screening process, we present the following names for your consideration for the office of Bishop Coadjutor:
Rev. Alan Hawkins
Rev. Ben Sharpe.
The Nominating Committee has requested each candidate to provide the diocese with a variety of documents to assist everyone in understanding who these men are and how the Lord has brought them to this place. All of these documents are available below, and Bishop Steve has recorded a video offering his blessing on this process and the upcoming election that you can see here .
We strongly encourage you to read through and listen to all these resources.
As a committee, we are grateful to be able to say with confidence that both of these men are excellent candidates for the role of Bishop Coadjutor. In preparation for the election on April 29, we ask that you watch the brief message from Bishop Steve, read through each candidate’s packet, send your questions to Canon Ben Bowman, most importantly, fast and pray as you seek to discern the Lord’s provision for our diocese.
If you have any questions about our process, please reach out to me. It has been an honor to serve our Lord and the diocese through the Nominating Committee.
In Christ,
Jessica Patton, Chair
On behalf of the Nominating Committee:
Ann Borah, Lay Member, Appalachian Mountain Deanery
Jerald Walz, Lay Member, Appalachian Mountain Deanery
Rev. Brian Campbell, Clergy Member, Triangle Tidewater Deanery
Ashley May, Lay Member, Metro Mid-Atlantic Deanery
Rev. Mark Rudolph, Clergy Member, Metro Mid-Atlantic Deanery
Eddie Waren, Lay Member, Eastern North Carolina Deanery
Rev. Kevin Whitfield, Clergy Member, Blue Ridge Deanery
Jeff Whitworth, Lay Member, Triad Deanery
Ryan Willers, Lay Member, Northeast Deanery
Jessica Patton, Lay Member, Northeast Deanery
Ex Officio:
Bishop Quigg Lawrence, Bishop Suffragan
Canon Ben Bowman, Secretary
