Ordination
2010 Guidelines
The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Lee, Jr., Assisting Bishop for Ordinations, in consultation with the Commission on Ministry and the Diocesan Office for Transition Ministry, announces the following 2010 schedule and deadlines for processing new nominees for ordination to the priesthood of The Episcopal Church.
By July 1: Bishop Lee receives a rector’s nominee recommendation.
By August 1: Nominee meets with Bishop Lee who decides whether he/she continues in the ordination process.
By September 15: Nominee meets with Canon Jill Mathis, Office for Transition Ministry, to discuss process requirements and procedures.
By December 15: All reports and other paperwork must be completed and received in Canon Mathis’ office. These include a medical examination, a psychological evaluation and the report of the nominee’s Parish Advisory Committee on Ministry (PACM).
By early January 2011: Bishop Lee will invite nominees to a Pre-Postulancy Conference by and with the Commission on Ministry to be held in late January and early February.
Bishop Lee stresses the importance and necessity of this schedule due to an annual increase in the number of nominees since the Standing Committee lifted a 2008 moratorium on ordinations, as well as the amount of administrative time needed for the nominees, Canon Mathis’ office and the Commission on Ministry to process and complete their files prior to the Pre-Postulancy Conferences. On average it can take five to six months per nominee.
Rectors or other clergy in charge of congregations are reminded that their questions and/or letters of recommendation should be directed to Bishop Lee, who works primarily out of his home, at these following addresses:
123 Glenwood Road
Merion Station, PA
19066-1305
(610) 949-9429
One final reminder: this schedule pertains only to persons and nominees who believe they have a vocational call to the priesthood, not the diaconate.
