Episcopal House of Bishops talks to candidates for Presiding Bishop post

House of Bishops talks to candidates

Akron Beacon Journal, OH 

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C.: Seven candidates for the new head of the Episcopal Church spoke Sunday to a closed-door meeting of the House of Bishops, three of them late additions to the slate from an official nominating committee.

The church announced that the new candidates for next ``presiding bishop'' are Bishops Francisco Duque-Gomez of Bogota, Colombia; Charles Edward Jenkins III of New Orleans; and Stacy Sauls of Lexington, Ky.

The added nominations, which are open until April 1, come from bishops, clergy or lay delegates to the June convention -- where the new leader will be elected.

The nominating committee choices were Bishops J. Neil Alexander of Atlanta; Edwin Gulick Jr. of Louisville, Ky.; Katharine Jefferts Schori of Las Vegas; and Henry Parsley Jr. of Birmingham, Ala.

Duque-Gomez, Jenkins and Parsley voted against confirming the denomination's first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, whose 2003 elevation has divided Episcopalians and their fellow Anglicans internationally. The other four nominees supported Robinson.