Methods of Episcopal Appointment and Election—Part 1

By Robin G. Jordan

In its constitution and canons the Anglican Church in North America makes provision for two methods of electing the bishops of a judicatory (i.e., cluster, diocese, or network) in the ACNA. Before the adoption and ratification of the ACNA constitution and canons there was a heated debate on the Internet regarding these methods of episcopal election. While allowing the ACNA founding entities such as the Reformed Episcopal Church to continue to elect their own bishops, the constitution and canons were open to interpretation as requiring groups of churches uniting with the ACNA as new judicatories to delegate the selection of their bishop to the College of Bishops. The form for application for recognition as an ACNA judicatory supported this interpretation, stating that the group of churches applying for recognition should nominate a slate of two or three candidates from which the College of Bishops might select a bishop for the new judicatory.

A spokesman of the Governance Task Force that drafted the proposed ACNA instruments of governance eventually made a public statement to the effect that new judicatories were free to elect their own bishops like the founding entities as long as their constitution and canons made provision for this method of episcopal election. This spokesman stated that Article IV.7 of the ACNA constitution recognizes the right of each judicatory to establish and maintain its own form of governance, constitution and canons not inconsistent with the provisions of the ACNA constitution and canons.

The Governance Task Force, however, did not change the language of the constitution and canons to make it clearer that newly formed judicatories were free to elect their own bishops. They retained the existing language that appears to require newly formed judicatories to employ the second method in the selection of a bishop and which commends this method of episcopal election to the founding entities. The provisional Provincial Council did not withdraw the application for recognition form that instructed groups of churches seeking to unite with the ACNA to nominate two or three candidates for bishop and to submit their names to the College of Bishops. The group of churches that formed the Diocese of the West would submit two names to the College of Bishops. However, the group of churches that formed the Diocese of the Gulf Atlantic would elect their own bishop.

In this article I examine the methods used by a number of judicatories to select a bishop. Most of the judicatories are Anglican. I have also included for further comparison the methods of episcopal election of the Anglican Mission (formerly the Anglican Mission in America), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and the Roman Catholic Church. The latter has strongly influenced episcopal election methods of the African Provinces, as has traditional African society.

In promoting so-called African forms of ecclesiastical governance the advocates of these forms fail to consider the influence of both the Roman Catholic Church and the indigenous culture upon the African Churches and the theological differences between Roman Catholicism and historic Anglicanism and the cultural differences between North America and Africa above and below the Sahara. Moreover, a number of methods touted as African are in actuality not African at all. While the churches that have adopted them may have a connection to Africa, these practices originated in the Roman Catholic Church and corporate America.

The methods of episcopal election examined in the article show the wide range of methods that were available to the Governance Task Force and they raise questions as why the Governance Task Force chose the two methods that it did—particularly the second method. The Governance Task Force could have drafted a provision that left it entirely to the judicatory how it chose its bishop (as the constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia does).

A comparison of the episcopal election methods examined in the article with the provisions of the ACNA constitution and canons regarding the election of bishops also draw attention to a number of other problems in the wording of these provisions. If a group of churches seeking to unite to the ACNA adopts the second method and delegates the selection of its bishops to the College of Bishops, the ACNA constitution and canons do not bind the College of Bishops to choose the bishops from the nominees the judicatory submits to it. They do not state what happens if the College of Bishops rejects the judicatory’s nominees. They also do not prohibit the College of Bishops from nominating and electing its own candidate for bishop of the judicatory. They also do not state whether a judicatory, having delegated the selection of its bishops to the College of Bishop can rescind that delegation. They presumably can if Article IV.7’s recognition of the right of a judicatory to adopt its own form of governance, constitution, and canons is interpreted as having final authority in the matter. But it is very possible that the qualifier, “not inconsistent with the provisions of the ACNA constitution and canons,” could be given greater weight at a later date. Whether a judicatory can rescind its delegation of the selection of its bishops to the College of Bishops has yet to be tested.

As we will see, the second method is modeled upon the method of episcopal election used in the Anglican Church of Rwanda, which is derived from a similar method used in the Roman Catholic Church but given a conciliar form with an episcopal synod replacing the Pope. It represent a significant departure from the longstanding tradition of judicatories’ electing their own bishops in the North American Anglican Church, a practice that can be traced to the early Church and which was preserved in the Church of England in the practice of the canons of the cathedral of a diocese electing a new bishop after consultation with leading lay persons in the diocese.

It is also similar to the provisions in the proposed canons of the Anglican Missionary Province in North America that was submitted to a meeting of Anglican archbishops and bishops at Kampala in November 1999 with what would become the Solemn Declaration of Principles of the Anglican Mission in America. It was at this meeting that the AMiA was launched.

Title III. Ministry
Canon 9. Bishops
Section 2.
Any Diocese of this Church may at a Synod of the Diocese, by majority vote of Clergy and Laity voting by orders nominate three Presbyters to the House of Bishops one of whom to be chosen by the House of Bishops to become the Bishop of the said Diocese. The name chosen will be sent back to the Diocese to be ratified by the Synod of the Diocese that will reconvene for that purpose. Should, for any reason, the name not be ratified, the Diocese will go through the process anew in order to send up a new slate of three names to the House of Bishops. When a name is chosen and ratified by the Diocese, the President of the House of Bishops shall take order for the consecration of the Bishop-elect.

These provisions incorporate a number of procedural safeguards that are missing from the provisions of the ACNA constitution and canons.

The strong influence of the Anglican Mission is seen in the ACNA constitution and canons. The minimum age requirement for ACNA bishops is the age requirement of Anglican Mission and Anglican Church of Rwanda missionary bishops. It is also the minimum age requirement for Roman Catholic bishops. The ACNA canons contain a number of provisions that are adapted from the Anglican Church of Rwanda’s canons, which in turn are adapted from the Roman Catholic Church’s canons. The Rwandan canons are the work of Anglican Mission Canon Kevin Donlan, a former Roman Catholic priest, who studied canon law at Cardiff University. Bishop Murphy and Canon Donlan represented the Anglican Mission on the CCP Governance Task Force that drafted the ACNA constitution and canons. The ACNA Provincial Assembly is modeled upon the Anglican Mission’s Winter Conference, which is not involved in the ecclesiastical governance of the Anglican Mission. After influencing the organizational structure of the ACNA at its highest levels, the Anglican Mission decided against full integration into the ACNA and opted for ministry partner status, leaving the ACNA with a constitution and canons designed in part to facilitate its integration into that body.

With these developments in mind, let us take a look at the various options that were also available to the Governance Task Force. All of these options are found on the Internet. As readers examine the options with me, I believe that they will conclude as I have that a number of the problem areas that I have identified were avoidable.

Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. An Electoral College consisting of those persons entitled to clerical votes and lay votes in the Synod of the Diocese by a majority of clerical votes and a majority of lay votes nominates a Bishop or delegates its right of nomination to any person or persons. The nomination of the person to be bishop is submitted to the Primate for sanctioning. The Primate submits the nomination of the person to be bishop to the General Synod, if in session, or otherwise to every voting member of the General Synod. If the nomination is sanctioned by the General Synod, or by the members of the General Synod when not in session, the Primate takes the necessary steps for giving effect to the nomination once the nominee has declared in writing both assent to the Constitution and adherence and sub¬mission to the authority of the General Synod and has accepted the nomination.

Anglican Church of Australia. The Anglican Church of Australia is organized into ecclesiastical or internal provinces as are a number of other Anglican Provinces, e.g., the Anglican Church of Canada, the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), and The Episcopal Church.

Under the provisions of Chapter III.8 of the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia a diocese is free to determine in its constitution or its ordinances or regulations under its constitution the manner or manners of election of the bishop of the diocese. The provincial synod is authorized to prescribe by ordinance how the election of a bishop elect of a diocese will be confirmed except when a diocese is not a part of a province in which case the General Synod is authorized to prescribe by canon the method of confirmation.

The following descriptions of the methods of episcopal election of nine Australian dioceses show the variety of episcopal election methods found in the Australian Church. As may be seen the most common election method is election of the bishop of the diocese by the synod of the diocese, meeting as an Election Synod. The Australian dioceses value their autonomy. Most Australian dioceses were established independently of each other. A few were originally a part of another diocese.

Diocese of Adelaide. Nomination by Bishop Nomination Committee consisting of Diocesan Administrator and clerical and lay members of the Synod elected by the Synod, and election by the Synod, meeting as an Election Synod. The election must be confirmed under the provisions of the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia or “any Canon of the General Synod that may for the time being be in force in the diocese.” The Election of a Bishop Ordinance 2002 contains this provision.

9. If the Synod shall fail on three successive occasions to elect a Bishop then the Synod may, either absolutely or subject to any conditions it may think fit to impose, delegate its power and authority to elect a Bishop to the members of the House of Bishops for the time being of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia, and the election shall be made by them in such manner as they shall determine.

Assistant Bishops are appointed by the Bishop of the Diocese after consultation with the Diocesan Council.

Diocese of Armindale. Nomination by the members of the Synod; election by the Synod at a Special Session called for purpose of electing of a bishop.

The Special Session of Synod may delegate its responsibility for electing a bishop to a committee of clergy and lay members of the Synod “subject to any conditions that it may see fit to impose.” If the committee fails to elect a bishop within 6 months of the date of its formation it is—“by that very fact”—dissolved, and a Special Session of Synod must be convened.

The Bishop Appointment Ordinance 1984-1999 stipulates:

12. Before any person be deemed the lawful Bishop of the Diocese, his appointment shall be confirmed as provided in the Determination of the General Synod for the confirmation of Bishops, in force in the Diocese for the time being.

Diocese of Brisbane. Archbishop—Nomination by the diocesan bishops of the province; election by Archbishop Elections Committee consisting of clerical and lay members elected by Synod; and confirmation of election of Archbishop elect “subject to confirmation as prescribed by canon of the Synod of the province of Queensland.” Additional nominations may be made by the members of the Archbishop Election Committee after the Committee has considered the submissions of the bishops of the province. As used in the Archbishop Election Canon the term “province” refers to the internal province, not to the Anglican Church of Australia. The Archbishop Election Canon contains this failure to elect section:

10. In the event of the failure to elect within a period of twelve months from the date of the first meeting of the Committee, the appointment shall vest in the members of the house of bishops of General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia; and the Administrator shall request the Primate to call such meeting or meetings of the house of bishops (at the expense of the diocese) as shall be necessary to make such appointment.

The appointment of Assistant Bishops is made by the Archbishop with the concurrence of the Diocesan Council. The Assistant Bishop Canon stipulates:

6. No priest appointed to the office of an Assistant Bishop shall be consecrated unless the appointment of such priest as to canonical fitness pursuant to section 74(1) of the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia has been confirmed in the manner prescribed by The Confirmation of Bishops Canon of the Province of Queensland in force for the time being.

Before an archbishop or bishop of the Anglican Church of Australia may appoint an assistant bishop, he must clear a number of hurdles. The appointment of an assistant bishop ordinances of the Australian dioceses generally require that the synod of the diocese authorize the creation of an office of assistant bishop before the archbishop or bishop may make an appointment to that office. They may also contain provisions like the following provisions from the Diocese of Brisbane’s Assistant Bishop Ordinance:

4. Before making any such appointment the Archbishop shall notify the Primate of an intention of making the appointment and inform the Primate of the stipend provided for the occupant of the office.

5. No appointment shall be made until the Primate has informed the Archbishop in writing that the Metropolitans or a majority of them are satisfied that a sufficient stipend has been provided for the occupant of the office.

Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn. Nomination by members of the Synod; election by the Synod meeting as an Election Synod. Confirmation by the metropolitan and bishops of the province in accordance with the provisions of the Provincial Ordinance for the Confirmation of Bishops' Elections Ordinance 1965 of the Province of New South Wales.

Diocese of Grafton. The Governance Ordinance of the Diocese of Grafton limits the tenure of the bishop to ten years. The normal mandatory retirement age is 65. The bishop’s tenure may be extended for periods up to three years by a Bishop’s Tenure Review Committee consisting the Metropolitan of the Province of New South Wales or the Metropolitan’s nominee who must be in Episcopal Orders; a person nominated by the Bishop of Grafton; and “one cleric and one lay person elected by the of the Synod of the Diocese held immediately prior to the Bishop reaching 65 of age and then at each subsequent first session of the Synod.” His tenure may not be extended beyond the age of 70. Nominations for bishop are made by the members of the Synod and a Bishop Nomination Board prepares a list of candidates. The Synod meeting as an Election Synod elects a new bishop. The Diocese of Grafton’s Governance Ordinance contains these provisions:

33 Referral to Bishop-in-Council
33.1 Should Synod decline to proceed to election or has been unable to elect, the question of the election of a Bishop shall be referred to Bishop-in-Council which shall proceed to nominate a person canonically fit to be Bishop of the Diocese.
33.2 Any such nomination by Bishop-in-Council shall be the subject of a ballot by the Election Synod on the question that the said nominee be elected Bishop of the Diocese. If a two-thirds majority of the members present of each House votes in the affirmative, that nominee shall be declared to be duly elected.

The ordinance further stipulates:

35 Election Result Announcement
35.1 No member of the Electoral Synod may disclose the name of the Bishop elect until it has been published by the President of the Electoral Synod.
35.2 The name of the Bishop-elect must not be published until–
(a) the name of the Bishop-elect has been communicated to the Metropolitan and Bishops of the Province in accordance with the provisions of the Confirmation of Bishops' Elections Ordinance 1965 of the Province; and
(b) if the Bishop-elect is not a Bishop of the Anglican Church of Australia, the election has been confirmed by the Metropolitan and Bishops of the Province in accordance with that Provincial Ordinance.

Diocese of North Queensland. Nomination by the members of the Synod of the diocese; preparation of a Nominations List by a Nominations Committee; election by the Synod meeting as an Election Synod; and confirmation of the election of the bishop elect “in accordance with the procedures in force in the Diocese at the time….” Assistant Bishops are appointed by the Bishop of the Diocese with the concurrence of the Diocesan Council.

Diocese of Sydney. Nomination by the members of the General Synod of the diocese, election by the General Synod, and confirmation in accordance with the provisions of The Provincial Synod Ordinance for the Confirmation of Bishops’ Elections (N.S.W.) Assenting Ordinance 1965.

Assistant bishops may be appointed by the Archbishop with the prior approval of the Standing Committee. The Metropolitans of the Province must certify the availability of funds for a stipend for each assistant bishop.

In the second part of this article I will continue my examination of various methods of episcopal election used in the Anglican Church of Australia and other Anglican Provinces. I will give particular attention to the episcopal election methods used in the five Global South Provinces that provided episcopal oversight to founding entities of the Anglican Church in North America—Kenya, Rwanda, Southern Cone, Nigeria, and Uganda. I will also look at the methods used in four Northern Hemisphere Provinces—Canada, Wales, England, and Ireland—and an extramural Anglican body—the Church of England in South Africa. The latter is one of three evangelical jurisdictions, the formation of which was prompted by the Tractarian and Ritualist movements in the nineteenth century. The other two jurisdictions are the Free Church of England and the Reformed Episcopal Church. The Church of England in South Africa has a close relationship with the Diocese of Sydney and is a member of GAFCON.