Diocese of the South starts search for a bishop

(OCA-DOS) - With the blessing of Bp Nikon, Locum Tenens of the Diocese of the South (DOS), and the consent of the Deans of the Diocese of the South, the following procedures were decided upon at the meeting of the deans which took place in Mt Pleasant, SC, on May 30 and 31, 2011.

1. The DOS Deans along with Bishop Nikon will seek out prospective candidates and require a biography and/or curriculum vitae (and any other supporting information such as occasional articles, publications, or lectures) from each of them. To help facilitate this the DOS Deans have already been given a list of potential candidates that have been vetted by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America. In addition, each of the deans has been asked to solicit potential candidates from each of the priests and his respective parish or mission within his deanery. Bp Nikon has set July 31, 2011, as the deadline for submission of potential candidates. At minimum the statutory requirements to be considered a candidate must be met (*see below).

2. If after review of the biography and/or curriculum vitae (and any other information) received the candidate qualifies as a candidate for our diocese, an initial phone interview will be conducted by the deans asking the individual several prepared questions. This work will begin as soon as biographies and curricula vitae begin to be received. In this phase any preliminary vetting --- background checks, psychological background, etc, that might be required by the Holy Synod will be performed. From this process we hope to identify several potential candidates. This work will be completed no later than September 15, 2011.

3. Once potential candidates are identified by the DOS Deans, all the information gathered will be made available to the Episcopal Search Committee as a whole. At this point in the process, an extended biography from each of the potential candidates and/or other information will be required: written answers to a list of questions developed by the deans and/or Episcopal Search Committee, writings of the candidates, etc. Once there is interest in a particular candidate from the Episcopal Search Committee, a conference call will be scheduled with the candidate and the Episcopal Search Committee. Should the Episcopal Search Committee, following the conference call, determine that the individual is a viable candidate, he will then be invited to meet with the whole Episcopal Search Committee in person. In this process we hope to identify at least one, but perhaps as many as three, candidates. We anticipate having this portion of the search completed by the time the Episcopal Search Committee meets in Seattle, WA, on October 31 in the context of the AAC to be held later that week. It is hoped at this meeting the Episcopal Search Committee will definitively name its candidates.

4. Depending on the number of candidates, the Episcopal Search Committee will then begin arranging visits for the candidates to the various deaneries and some selected churches throughout the DOS to offer retreats with the clergy, meet the faithful, serve the divine liturgy and preach in the parishes and missions of the DOS. Much as has been the case in the other diocesan searches, these events will be recorded to make them available to the DOS as a whole on dosoca.org. A website sorely in need of reworking.

Depending on how quickly the process of arranging visits for the candidates to the various portions of the DOS, a special assembly may be called as early as February of next year at the time of the usual DOS Clergy Conference (but no later than July) to put forward the candidate(s) to the assembly for nomination and submission to the Holy Synod. See below** for a tentative Timeline of the work of the committee.

The Episcopal Search Committee is composed of the DOS Diocesan Council which includes the DOS Chancellor and Deans and a representative from each deanery, the DOS Treasurer, and the DOS Metropolitan Council members. To date information has been received from five potential candidates.


* According to the Statute of the Orthodox Church in America all candidates for this ministry must also fulfill the requirements set forth in Article VI, Section 9 as follows:

a. The candidate for the office of diocesan bishop must satisfy all the requirements of the Holy Canons pertaining to this highest of all ecclesiastical offices. In addition, it is preferable that he have completed a course of study in a Graduate School of Orthodox Theology and that he be conversant in the English language.

b. If he is not already a bishop, he can be nominated only from among the monastic or celibate clergy or laymen;

c. If at the moment of his nomination he is a layman or a celibate or widowed priest, he shall pronounce at least the first monastic vows (rasophoria).

d. Diocesan bishops of the Orthodox Church in America shall not be candidates for nomination by the Diocesan Assembly of another diocese.

** Tentative Timeline


July 15, 2011 Deadline of Submission of Names of Possible Candidates to Deans

Sept 15, 2011 List of Potential Candidates Submitted to Episcopal Search Committee along with Supporting Documents

Oct 31, 2011 ESC Meeting Approving up to Three (3) Candidates

Nov 2011 to (approx) April 2012 Candidates Visits arranged throughout DOS

February 6 - 9, 2012 Candidates at DOS Clergy Conference [Potential First Dates for Special Assembly]

February 2012 - July 2012 Special Assembly For Nomination of Candidate for Submission to Holy Synod

Process Completed No Later than DOS Assembly, July 2012