There are five candidates to be the next bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey: The Rev. Dr. Mauricio Jose Wilson; The Rev. Janine Schenone; The Very Rev. Troy Mendez; The Rev. Canon Dr. Sally French; and The Rev. Canon Dr. Dena Cleaver-Bartholomew. To help our diocese to prayerfully discern among them, the Bishop Search and Nomination Committee has developed Web pages devoted to each individual candidate.
Newly added to each candidate’s Web page are their written answers to the following questions:
Question 1. Describe your relationship with Christ and how it shapes your ministry.
Question 2. What is it about our profile that gets you excited, and how do you think your skills and experiences are well-suited to serve the Diocese of New Jersey as Bishop?
Question 3. What new and hopeful perspectives and ideas can you bring to the conversation about church decline that support and encourage long-term solutions?
Question 4. Social justice is near and dear to the heart of the Diocese of New Jersey. How has social justice been a part of your ministry and how would you see your role in moving social justice forward in the Diocese of NJ? Please give examples.
These questions are designed to help the candidates reveal themselves—their personalities, theologies, backgrounds, thoughts, opinions, and plans for the future. They add to a growing body of information about each candidate—a video, a biography, resume, sermons, and photographs—to help introduce them to our diocese. This will culminate in Jan 10–13 in a series of “meet-and-greet” sessions to be held across the diocese and livestreamed to dioceseofnj.org/live.
The information is intended to help the clergy and delegates to the special Electing Convention—to be held Jan. 28—to make better-informed decisions about who should lead our diocese in the coming years. Canonically resident clergy and lay delegates duly authorized by their congregations, must register to attend the convention by Jan. 7.
