Nomination by Petition
PURPOSE OF THE NOMINATION BY PETITION PROCESS
The Canons of the Episcopal Church and of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina provide for an election process in which laity and clergy join with the Holy Spirit to raise up new episcopal leadership. No one person or group knows whom God will use, the people consenting, to lead the diocese. Rather, the invitation to leadership is a process of discerning a call.
The principal method for calling candidates for election in this diocese is the discernment work carried out by the Nominating Committee. This committee, comprised of a diverse group of lay persons and clergy, has been appointed by the Standing Committee to carry out the important task of vetting and discerning a slate of candidates to present to the Standing Committee for election to serve as the IX Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina.
The petition process is intended to address the exceptional circumstance in which a person believes that they are called to candidacy but were not part of the Nominating Committee search process or were not selected by the Nominating Committee as one of the recommended slate of candidates. It is important to note that the Standing Committee has designed and approved the bishop search process and empowered the Nominating Committee to execute said search and, therefore, expects that the Nominating Committee search process will be the primary process through which most, if not all, of the candidates participating in the election will be brought forward.
The only candidates that will be eligible for election at the electing convention will be those recommended by the Nominating Committee and accepted by the Standing Committee, those who meet all the requirements of the Nomination by Petition process and are certified by the Standing Committee, and qualified candidates as determined by the Canons of the Episcopal Church and of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina who are nominated from the floor.
ELIGIBILITY FOR NOMINATION BY PETITION
All bishops and priests in good standing in The Episcopal Church who meet the canonical requirements to be elected bishop (see Article II of the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church) are eligible to be nominated through the petition process. Members of the Nominating Committee and the Standing Committee of this diocese as of June 12, 2021 are ineligible to be nominated through the petition process.
REQUIREMENTS FOR A VALID NOMINATION BY PETITION
The nomination by petition period will commence on August 14, 2021, the date of the announcement by the Standing Committee of the slate of candidates recommended by the Nominating Committee process. Said period will remain open for a period of fourteen (14) days. The materials required to be submitted for a valid nomination by petition are:
- FORMSTACK Nomination by Petition Candidate Application (Additional materials to be submitted are specified in the online application);
- Petition Candidate Endorsement Form for Clergy (requirements specified below);
- Petition Candidate Endorsement Form for Laity (requirements specified below);
- The report of a new or updated Oxford Documents Background Reference Check on the Petition Candidate (see below);
- The report of a new Oxford Documents Credit Bureau Records Check of the Petition Candidate’s spouse/partner (see below).
You can access and download these forms and materials by clicking on the links found in this document. For more information, please see the Submission Guidelines below.
Oxford Documents Background Reference Check
For a nomination by petition to be valid, the report of a special fifteen-year (15) Oxford Documents Background Reference Check for the petition candidate will be required. An Oxford Documents Credit Bureau Records Check of the petition candidate’s spouse/partner will also be required for the nomination by petition to be valid. The Oxford Documents Background Reference Check can take up to eight (8) weeks for the report to be finished and received. The timing of this process is critical and if the report it is not received on time, the Petition Candidate will be disqualified. For more information as to the timing and method of the submittal, please see the “Deadline for Nomination by Petition” section below. A Petition Candidate who fails to meet all the submittal requirements for a valid nomination by petition in a timely manner will be required to reimburse the Diocese for all costs associated with his or her Oxford Documents Background Reference Check.
An application for the Oxford Documents Background Reference Check should be made immediately by the Petition Candidate once a decision has been made to seek nomination by petition. It is the sole responsibility of the Petition Candidate to monitor the progress of the background checks and to confirm they are submitted in a timely manner. To begin the application process, please contact:
The Rev. Canon d’Rue Hazel
Transition Officer
Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina
1115 Marion Street, Columbia, SC 29201
(803) 771-7800 x 107
[email protected].
Requirements of Petition Candidate Endorsement Forms
For a Petition Candidate’s nomination to be valid, it must be endorsed by a minimum of sixteen (16) signatures, including the following:
- Endorsement by a minimum of eight (8) clergy who:
- Are canonically resident clergy in the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina; and
- Are eligible to vote in the Electing Convention; and
- Represent a minimum of four (4) different convocations of the diocese; and
- Five (5) of whom serve as Dean, Rector, Vicar, or Priest-in-Charge of parishes or missions of the diocese.
- Endorsement by a minimum of eight (8) laity who:
- Are communicants in good standing in this diocese; and
- Represent a minimum of four (4) different convocations of the diocese; and
- c.Five (5) of whom are either (a) delegates to the Electing Convention, or (b) currently serving on a Vestry or Bishop’s Mission Committee. These five must be from different congregations.
Clergy and laity may sign only one (1) Petition Candidate Endorsement Form. If an individual has signed more than one Petition Candidate Endorsement Form, the signatures of said individual on each form shall be disqualified.
Ineligibility to Endorse a Petition Candidate
Members of the Nominating Committee and Standing Committee of this diocese shall be ineligible to sign a Petition Candidate Endorsement Form.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Once a decision to seek nomination by petition has been made, the Petition Candidate is encouraged to begin the process of assembling the required materials to be submitted well in advance of the dates such materials will be accepted by Standing Committee.
All required materials (except for the Oxford Documents Background Reference Check Report) must be submitted to the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina in electronic format by using the online FORMSTACK Nomination by Petition Candidate Application. The FORMSTACK Nomination by Petition Candidate Application will be available in downloadable PDF format for information purposes only until August 14, 2021. On August 14, the online FORMSTACK Nomination by Petition Candidate Application will become active for electronic completion and submittal. All documents submitted through the FORMSTACK Nomination by Petition Candidate Application must be in PDF format. Sermon video files may be too large to upload to FORMSTACK and a link to said videos may be uploaded instead. Please follow the additional submission guidelines for videos and essays as found on the FORMSTACK Nomination by Petition Candidate Application
If the Petition Candidate previously submitted an application to the Nominating Committee, they still must complete the online FORMSTACK Nomination by Petition Candidate Application. The essays, references, statements, answers, and supporting materials previously submitted to the Nominating Committee will serve as the essays, references, statements, answers and supporting materials for the Nomination by Petition Candidate Application. No amendment or expansion of the previously filed application and supporting materials will be allowed.
Should there be any technical questions or issues regarding the electronic submittal process, please contact Courtney Thompson, Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, 1115 Marion Street, Columbia, SC 29201, (803) 771-7800 x 110 for assistance during normal business hours.
Once all the required Oxford Documents Background Reference Check application materials have been submitted by the Petition Candidate, the application will be processed by the Oxford Documents Management Company and a report generated which will be forwarded directly to the Standing Committee of the Diocese. It is the sole responsibility of the Petition Candidate to monitor the progress of the background checks and to confirm that the report is received by the Standing Committee in a timely manner.
DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS BY PETITION
The Standing Committee will begin accepting nominations by petition on August 14, 2021, once the slate of candidates recommended by the Nominating Committee is accepted by Standing Committee and published.
All required forms and supporting materials (except for the Oxford Documents Background Reference Check Report) must be electronically uploaded to the online FORMSTACK Nomination by Petition Candidate Application and must be submitted by 11:59 pm Eastern Time (ET) on August 28, 2021. If any of the required documents are missing or are received after 11:59 pm (ET) on August 28, 2021, the Petition Candidate will be disqualified, and said petition will be considered void.
The Oxford Documents Background Reference Check Report must be received by the Standing Committee on or before 5:00 pm (ET) Friday, September 17th. If the completed report is not received on or before this date and time, the Petition Candidate will be disqualified and said petition will be considered void.
