Diocese of Grahamstown

How does an Elective Assembly work?

(With special reference to the Elective Assembly of the Diocese of Grahamstown summoned to meet on 20 May 2008)

Your questions answered:

Who sits on the Advisory Committee?
Is this an elected or an appointed body?
Who is entitled to submit nominations to the Committee, and are seconders or further support required?
What are the criteria for nomination?
Is the elective assembly confined to these initial nominations or can further nominations be made at the assembly?
Now that the nominations have been received by the Advisory Committee, do the candidates or their nominators submit presentations or representations?
The assembly consists of priests in the Diocese and lay representatives, so how do they assess the qualities of candidates whom they don’t know, e.g. from outside the diocese?
What happens if the Elective Assembly is deadlocked and is obviously going to fail to get a two-thirds majority for any one candidate?

1. Who sits on the Advisory Committee?

Four clergy and four laity, all from the Diocese of Grahamstown;
Three representatives from the wider ACSA - one bishop, one priest and one lay person.

These three are chosen from a group nominated and elected at each session of Provincial Synod. The purpose of the Provincial (as in Anglican Church of Southern Africa) presence is to ensure that the process is free and fair and above board, and without manipulation - a bit like observers at a national election!

The chair of the Advisory Committee is always a lay person and is a member of the diocese that is electing a bishop.

The elective assembly itself is chaired either by the Archbishop, or the Dean of the Province (the next senior bishop) or by a senior bishop chosen by the archbishop. The diocese of Lesotho is having its elective assembly at the same time as that of the diocese of Grahamstown. Due to the Dean of the Province not being well, our Elective Assembly will be chaired by the Bishop of Pretoria, Bishop Jo Seoka. Bishop Jo is one of the senior bishops in ACSA.

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2. Is this an elected or an appointed body?

The advisory committee is elected at a Synod of the Diocese.

4 clergy and 4 laity are elected, plus 4 of each as alternates, in case any of them are unable to take part in the Committee when the time comes.

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3. Who is entitled to submit nominations to the Committee, and are seconders or further support required?

Any communicant member of the diocese, with a seconder. People do not propose themselves, but their willingness to stand must be secured in advance. Referees are also sought and asked for confidential references.

All confirmed communicants, clergy or layperson, in the Diocese of Grahamstown, were invited to submit nominations of potential candidates when the mandate for the Elective Assembly was received and sent out to all parishes. The mandate and summons, and invitations to the diocese to submit nominations, were sent to parishes on 25th February 2008. The closing date for nominations was Monday 14th April 2008.

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4. What are the criteria for nomination?

Interestingly, it is only stipulated that a nominee must be a communicant member of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa or any church in full communion with the ACSA. So theoretically the nominee could be a lay Presbyterian (though that would be exceedingly unlikely).

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5. Is the elective assembly confined to these initial nominations or can further nominations be made at the assembly?

At this stage, the elective assembly will consider only the four nominations already received, with two exceptions:

Firstly, members of the advisory committee have a further window period in which they may make further nominations. This window period expired 20 (twenty) days before the elective assembly is convened, i.e. at the end of April.
Secondly, during the assembly itself, if there is no election after 7 (seven) ballots, the president (i.e. the chair of the assembly, who is a senior bishop of our church) shall call for fresh nominations. All those who were originally nominated may be re-nominated; and names of others not previously considered, may be nominated at this stage.

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6. Now that the nominations have been received by the Advisory Committee, do the candidates or their nominators submit presentations or representations?

The candidates’ referees were asked to send in testimonials and reports to the advisory committee. The advisory committee draws up a report on each candidate, based on each person's CV, and based on the testimonials received from the various referees.

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7. The assembly consists of priests in the Diocese and lay representatives, so how do they assess the qualities of candidates whom they don’t know, e.g. from outside the diocese?

The assembly relies on the advisory committee, doing the work on behalf of the assembly, to draw up clear reports. The advisory committee is not there to sway the assembly, but rather to sift the material and the testimonials, and to present a clear profile, noting strengths and weaknesses of each candidate, to the assembly.

Our process does not make provision for candidates to address the assembly or in any way campaign for election. The idea is that nominators/ proposers prayerfully present to the assembly for consideration people who they (the nominators) believe should be considered by the assembly.

Proceedings of Elective Assemblies are confidential. Clergy of the electing diocese who are candidates are recused during the discussion of the candidates; they are allowed to return to the Assembly for the voting, and may themselves vote.

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8. What happens if the Elective Assembly is deadlocked and is obviously going to fail to get a two-thirds majority for any one candidate?

There are several options outlined in Canon 4, "Of the Election of Bishops".

1. The Elective Assembly may at any time delegate the choice of a Bishop to the Bishops of the Province, if it so determines, by a two-thirds majority [Canon 4.12 (i)]. That is therefore an option if there is a deadlock, and no candidate achieves the required two-thirds majority.

This happened in this diocese in 2001, and the Elective Assembly decided to delegate the choice of a bishop to the Bishops of the Province.

2. If after seven ballots no election has been made, the Assembly shall adjourn for a period determined upon by a simple majority of members. When the Assembly reconvenes, and unless it is decided to delegate the choice of a Bishop to the Bishops of the Province, the President of the Assembly shall call for fresh nominations. Those previously nominated, as well as new names, may be nominated at this point. [Canon 4.12 (u), (v)].

This has happened in a number of elective assemblies in the Province. In one example, a bishop was finally elected; in another example, the assembly in the end delegated the choice of bishop to the Bishops of the Province.

3. If the Assembly chooses not to delegate the election to the Bishops of the Province, but is unable to elect within three consecutive days, or if a quorum cannot be found within such a period, then the Advisory Committee shall meet and forward to the Metropolitan the names of at least two persons considered by the committee to be suitable for appointment as Bishop. The Bishops of the Province may then choose from the names so submitted, or from any others, a Bishop for the vacant see. [Canon 4.12 (w)].

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will guide the Advisory Committee, and the Assembly, so that the choice made will be God’s choice!

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Thanks to: Mr Derek Hill for the questions, and the Vicar-General, Dean Andrew Hunter, for the answers. See also the Vicar-General’s Ad Clerum for April 2008.

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