Episcopal Elections and Transitions Project
Every 10 years, the College for Bishops and the Office of Pastoral Development review the practices in use for bishop searches and transitions and the adequacy of resources to support dioceses undergoing them. To date, there has been no systematic way of evaluating how well the Episcopal search and transition practices and related resources have served the needs of widely differing diocesan contexts and the needs across the Episcopal Church.
During the summer of 2007, the ETEP Task Force, of which CREDO is a part, began a national survey to gather detailed and systematic feedback on specific aspects of the process from many perspectives. The goal was to identify what is working well, what needs improvement, and what would be helpful in the future.
Key topics of the survey were the search, the transition (pre-election, election, post-election, and long-term), and pastoral care throughout the process. While most questions probed detailed aspects that could provide specific information for improvement and development of additional resources, procedures, or policies, some also sought to identify goodness of fit to diocesan culture and the extent to which regional, national, or Anglican Communion issues may have influenced the process.
Progress: This is an ongoing project and continues.