Rev. Louis Miller, chair

Rev. Liam Collins

Jody Grant

Rev. Don Hutchens

Lisa Moser

Leslie Parker

Rev. Jim Parker

George Peagler

Rev. George Porter

Rylan Smith

Rev. Dec. John Warner

Rev. Stan White

In April we conducted telephone interviews with seventeen nominees to be the Tenth Bishop of Georgia. We divided into teams for this purpose with the option that committee members could listen in on other interviews that their team was not conducting. We hoped this would mean that more committee members than the interview team itself would have more knowledge of the nominee when it came time for the next moment in the discernment process.

Committee members invested nearly 128 hours in conference calls not including the time given by those members who listened in to additional interviews, which probably added 50 hours or more to that total. Your search committee has been very diligent in this work.

We enjoyed talking with our nominees who all turned out to be pretty good conversationalists! As our interviews progressed we began to appreciate them more fully for the unique and capable priests they are. In addition to specific questions about background, we asked each nominee about the funding formulas used in their dioceses, about their experience with youth and college ministries, and about their comfort level with the kinds of diversity expressed in our diocese.

On April 15th, we met in Dublin to enjoy the coffee, doughnuts, and sandwiches graciously set out for us by the people of Christ Church. We began by sharing our personal experiences of Jesus’ resurrection as we prayed to prepare for the work of that day.

On the basis of our interviews and after a good deal of thoughtful discussion, we selected ten nominees to go forward with us as we continue the process of discernment. Those not selected to go forward in the process were telephoned the next day by a member of the committee as were those invited to come to Savannah for a face to face conversation with the Search Committee. We are pleased that all ten have accepted our invitation.

These interviews will begin the last week in April and conclude by the end of May. We plan to spend the better part of a whole day with each nominee. We have designed the days to facilitate productive and engaging conversation about a number of significant issues before our church and diocese, and to allow for the important questions we expect the nominees to ask us. With as much hospitality as we can muster, we look forward to welcoming our nominees to Savannah and to the Diocese of Georgia.

Please keep our committee and this work in your prayers.