Saturday, at the first part of the 178th Convention of the Diocese of Indianapolis, Bishop Catherine Waynick called on the diocese to elect her successor. Bishop Waynick is certainly a force, and her leadership will have a lasting impact on the region. Her announcement was eloquent and compassionate.

The way this happened is instructive for the church, and worth the moment’s notice.

• The bishop didn’t directly announce her retirement: that isn’t the lead in. As the bishop, she called for an election. It happens that the need for the election is that she will be retiring. But that isn’t how the office operates. The focus is on the office, not the office-holder.
• The bishop also expressed the shifting circumstances of bishop elections and priorities. She specifically will not be involved in the search, and neither will her staff. The responsibility will be borne entirely by the Standing Committee.
• Also, the election will be at convention 2016 and the ordination/installation will be spring 2017. The elected bishop will not be a coadjutor. This means that we will only have one bishop at a time: no overlap of tenures.

We don’t often talk about these sorts of processes in the church; perhaps because most of us don’t have much experience with them. But they highlight an aspect of how the office of the bishop operates and how best practices have changed over the last few decades.

And it certainly is different from the process of calling a new dean of Indiana State University or hiring a personal assistant. It isn’t efficient. It isn’t supposed to be.

For more information about this process,  including a timeline and FAQ, head to the Diocese of Indianapolis website.