In [Peter] Beckwith\u2019s absence, the diocese\u2019s standing committee, made up of four clergy members and four lay people, will carry on day-to-day activities, according to the Venerable Shawn Denney, the diocesan archdeacon. The standing committee has also begun the election process, with guidelines and nomination forms going out last week.<\/p>\n
A nominating synod will whittle the list to four or five candidates, who will meet with clergy and church members at several locales in the diocese. An electing synod, made up of clergy and lay delegates from the various congregations, is scheduled to convene in mid-September to finalize the choice.<\/p>\n
The candidate is then put on the national stage, to the bishops and dioceses\u2019 standing committees.<\/p>\n
Carlinville\u2019s Bettman said he hopes the diocese doesn\u2019t get a re-play of what happened in the Diocese of South Carolina in 2007. The electing synod\u2019s first vote to name the Right Rev. Mark Lawrence, a conservative, was declared void. Lawrence was subsequently re-elected, approved and consecrated bishop in 2008.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to come up with a majority sometimes,\u201d\u009d said Bettman. \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily an easy thing to do. \u201cPeople have deep-held beliefs (about their candidates.)\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Denney said the timeline is realistic and that the process is not being rushed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have everything lined up,\u201d\u009d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason the selection of the bishop can\u2019t take place.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n