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Results of First Ballot — no election

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The results of the first ballot in the election for Twelfth Bishop of New Jersey

Diocese of New Jersey – Election of XII Bishop — Ballot 1

The report on the results of Ballot No 1. Note that numbers are listed in the randomized order that they appear on the ballot.
Name
Total Clergy
Total Lay
Total Votes
The Rev. Canon Melissa M. Skelton276794
The Rev. Canon Donald J. Muller274168
The Rev. Martha Sylvia Ovalle Vásquez164763
The Very Rev. René R. John171532
The Rev. Canon William H. Stokes375895
The Rev. Dr. Joan E. Beilstein242650
The Rev. Canon Dr. Francisco Pozo71724
The Rev. David Anderson123850
The Rev. Dr. Allen F. Robinson266894
Voids:01

Clergy votes cast = 193 (clergy majority = 97)

Lay votes cast = 377 (laity majority = 189)

For an election of bishop a majority is required in both the order of laity and the order of clergy.

Last call for Nominations!

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Nominations are open through August 7th for Twelfth Bishop of New Jersey!

Who is eligible to nominate someone? You are! How does one make an online nomination? Use the links on this website: Nominate someone or Nominate yourself.

Do you know someone whose experience of ministry and leadership qualities would help them to walk beside us as our Bishop and work with us in responding to the specific opportunities and challenges present in New Jersey?What is asked of Nominees?

Complete the online application, complete a Ministry Portfolio Version 2.0 from the Office of Transition Ministry, and send a current resumé or c.v. to [email protected]. All materials from Nominees must be received by August 11, 2012.

Nomination Period Extended Through August 7.

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Greetings from New Jersey!

The Episcopal Election Committee has extended the deadline for nominations for Twelfth Bishop of New Jersey through August 7, 2012.

Do you know someone whose experience of ministry and leadership qualities would help them to walk beside us and work with us as our next Bishop, as together we seek to respond to the specific opportunities and challenges present in New Jersey?

Please help to spread the word to your church contacts and ministry networks about the Search for the Next Bishop of New Jersey!

For more information please contact [email protected].

Bishop Councell’s Call for An Episcopal Election

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October 21, 2011

Dear Friends in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

I write to inform you that, after prayer and consultation with family, friends and advisors, I intend to resign the office of Bishop of New Jersey and retire in the fall of 2013.
 Please be assured that no crisis or sudden deterioration in my health has driven me to this decision. By the grace of our God I plan to continue to serve as your Bishop for at least the next two years that is, until I complete ten years in this ministry and reach the age of sixty-four. Since the process leading to the call and consecration of a new bishop usually takes eighteen to twenty-four months, I hereby call for the election of the Twelfth Bishop of New Jersey. Note that this call is for the election of a diocesan bishop to succeed me immediately upon her or his consecration and not for a coadjutor bishop.

I have informed our Presiding Bishop of these plans and the Standing Committee and I have recently consulted with The Right Reverend F. Clayton Matthews, Bishop for Pastoral Development, guided by our Constitution and Canons, and with such help and consultation as the Standing Committee may seek from the Office of Pastoral Development, we are beginning an orderly transition to a new chapter in the history of our Diocese under the care of a new chief shepherd. Information about next steps in the episcopal election process will soon be forthcoming from the Standing Committee.

My heart is filled with gratitude to God and to the Church for calling me to be your Bishop eight years ago. It has been both more challenging and more blessed than I could have ever imagined. I look forward to these next two years with you all as we love and follow Jesus Christ together and continue “Right Onward” in mission for His sake.

Lord, in your mercy, make New Jersey new. Amen.
Faithfully yours in Christ,
The Right Reverend George E. Councell, D.D.
Bishop of New Jersey

From Dean René John, President of the Standing Committee, Year 2011

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October 21, 2011

My dear Sisters and Brothers,
The Standing Committee was informed by Bishop Councell, our dear Bishop of his intention to retire in October 2013.

For everything to proceed in good order he is calling for the election of a new Diocesan Bishop in Spring 2013.

We, the members of the Standing Committee, duly informed, met with Bishop Clay Matthews, Bishop for Pastoral Development, to get an understanding as to what is required of us going forward.

Bishop Matthews was very instructive and we are prepared along with Bishop Councell and the Diocese of New Jersey to move “Right Onward.”
We are fully aware that all of us will have many questions. Please be patient and stay tuned for regular updates as to where we go from here; keep our beloved Diocese and Bishop in your prayers.

Disturb us Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess we have lost the thirst for the water of life.

Stir us Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery, where losing sight of land we will find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hope, and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope and love. Amen. (Attributed, Sir Francis Drake, 1577)

Yours in Christ,
The Very Reverend René R. John
Standing Committee President