Candidates for Bishop Coadjutor Announced
The Bishop’s Search Committee is very pleased to announce three final candidates for consideration for the next Bishop Coadjutor of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina. In alphabetical order, they are:
- The Very Rev. Charles F. “Chip” Edgar, III, Dean of The Cathedral Church of the Apostles in the Diocese of the Carolinas, Columbia, SC.
- The Rev. Dr. Robert C. “Rob” Sturdy, Chaplain to the Corps of Cadets, St. Alban’s Chapel at The Citadel, Charleston, SC.
- The Rev. Christopher S. “Chris” Warner, Rector of the Church of the Holy Cross, Sullivan’s Island and Daniel Island, SC.
To learn more about each candidate, view their spiritual autobiography, resume and a brief Q&A Video, click here.
The candidates were chosen during a long search process that began with the initial diocesan approval at the Diocesan Convention in 2020 and will culminate with the election of a new bishop at Diocesan Convention in 2022. The Search Committee, a mixture of clergy and laity, were chosen by diocesan election during the winter of 2020 and met for the first time in the summer of 2020. The Committee then met weekly by Zoom and met in-person at least quarterly. The Committee operated under the principle that God has already chosen our next bishop and that our diocesan election will simply reveal whom that person is that has been pre-selected by God.
The next step in the election process will be to provide the diocese with a series of what are called “walkabouts” to be held in various locations throughout the diocese. The walkabouts will provide an opportunity for the upcoming delegates to the election to meet and get to know the candidates. The walkabouts will be held September 13-16 in Georgetown, Florence, Charleston and Beaufort. Because of the limited size of the venues, only elected delegates will be able to attend these walkabouts.
Introductory videos and spiritual autobiographies will be recorded and made available to all members of the diocese, on the diocesan website, www.adosc.org. Additional information about each candidate will also be printed in the upcoming issue of the Jubilate Deo.
The Special Electing Convention is scheduled for Saturday, October 16th, 2021 at Christ Church in Mt. Pleasant. The College of Bishops of ACNA will hopefully approve the election at their winter meeting in January, 2022 and God willing, the new Bishop Coadjutor will be consecrated at the Diocesan Convention, March 12, 2022.
Meet the Candidates:
The Very Rev. Charles F. Edgar, III
Dean Edgar is the Planting Pastor, Rector and Dean of The Cathedral Church of the Apostles (Diocese of the Carolinas) in Columbia, SC, where he has served since 2004. During that time, he oversaw the growth of the church from a core group of 25 to an average Sunday attendance of nearly 400. He served as the Rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Glen Ellyn, IL from 1997 – 2004; as the Canon Pastor at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke in Orlando, FL from 1994 – 1997 and as the Curate at St. Paul’s Church, Chattanooga, TN from 1993 – 1994. Dean Edgar and his wife, Beth, have been married for 32 years. They have five grown children and a new granddaughter.
From his profile:
“I have a strong background in pastoral ministry and parish leadership, and a passion for seeing people come to know and live out the grace of God through Jesus Christ in their lives. I want to see churches live out the values of the Kingdom of God in every area of life.”
The Rev. Dr. Robert C. Sturdy
Dr. Sturdy has been the Anglican Chaplain to the Corp of Cadets at St. Alban’s Anglican Chapel at the Citadel, Charleston, from July 2017 to the present. He served as Associate Rector at St. Andrew’s, Mt. Pleasant from 2012 to 2017 and served as the Rector at Trinity Church, Myrtle Beach from 2008 to 2012. Prior to becoming their Rector, he served as their Curate from 2006 – 2007. Sturdy teaches in the DMin program at Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA. He is an active participant on the leading edge of international scholarship in the area of historical theology. He and his wife, Stephanie, have been marrieds since 2005. They have two children.
From his profile:
“The Gospel teaches us that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. But it is important to remember that God still loves the world and continues to demonstrate an enduring expression of His love for the non-Christian world. Evangelism and apologetics have been constant companions in my ministry and my preaching style is directed as much to non-Christians as to Christians. A rival passion to that of evangelism is the training of leaders, particularly in the realm of theological formation.”
The Rev. Christopher S. Warner
The Rev. Chris Warner has been the rector of the Church of the Holy Cross, Sullivan’s Island and Daniel Island since 2015 and served as Associate Rector from 2002 to 2007 and from 2011 to 2015. He successfully led Holy Cross in a transition from a “seeker” model church to a relational and discipleship model church. Between his two terms of service at Holy Cross, he also served as rector and director of St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center. With a staff of 60, he transformed the camp to become a ministry of rest, restoration, and renewal. He and his wife, Catherine, have been married since 1993. They have three children.
From his profile:
“My call from the Lord is to teach, preach, pray and lead (Acts 6:4) and my purpose in life is to know God and make God’s glory known. This glory is the glory of the One and Only Son who is full of grace and truth (John 1:14). My passion has been to help people come alive in Christ, live from the Father’s heart as his beloved children, and then grow as disciples who make disciples of others. My great loves in this life are my wife Catherine and our three children: Anna, Caroline and Nathan.”
News from the Bishop Coadjutor Search Committee
April 29, 2021
The committee selected to search for the next Bishop of The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina met in an overnight retreat at St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center Sunday evening, April 18 and Monday April 19.
We began and ended our overnight steeped in prayer and all had a truly blessed time watching in awe as the power of the Holy Spirit moved, molded and shaped our thoughts and directed our hearts. This committee remains convinced that our Lord has already chosen our next bishop and that we, on the committee, are merely affirming God’s choice.
You may remember that according to our timeline we offered a very long inquiry period in which the entire Anglican Diocese of South Carolina was invited to suggest a priest for consideration by the committee. We received a large number of suggested names during this first phase which concluded on April 1.
The majority of those suggestions ended in the suggested priest deciding themselves not to go any further in the process. For those remaining, we divided the names amongst us and are now checking references and setting up appointments for interviews via Zoom. All of the remaining nominees will be interviewed by the committee as a whole on Zoom and also every remaining nominee will be visited in their ministries by small teams of committee members. This phase of the search process is scheduled to end June 24 when the Search Committee meets as a whole to hear reports from the teams who visited the nominees.
Here’s a timeline of remaining tasks to be completed by the Bishop’s Search Committee:
April 23 –May 23 – Zoom meetings by entire search committee with every remaining suggested person.
May 24 – the Bishop’s Search Committee meets as a whole to consider a list of nominees who will move on in the process.
May 25 through June 23 – the final list of nominees will be visited in their ministry context.
June 25 – Search Committee meets to approve final list to be presented to the Standing Committee.
July 6 – The Standing Committee makes their choices as to whom will continue in the process, pending extensive background checks.
August 1 – an official list of Candidates for Bishop Coadjutor will be published with a suggested date or dates for a walkabout or for several walkabouts for diocesan delegates to meet the candidates.
Walkabouts will be held for the diocesan delegates to meet the candidates for Bishop Coadjutor. The Walkabouts will be hosted by the Search Committee. Details about these gatherings will be announced once finalized.
September 13 – Prince George Winyah, Georgetown
September 14 – St. John’s, Florence
September 15 – Old St. Andrews, Charleston
September 16 – The Parish Church of St. Helena, Beaufort
October 16 – Ballots to be cast for Bishop Coadjutor at a special Diocesan Electing Convention.
After October 16 – ACNA College of Bishops meets to approve Diocesan selection of new Bishop.
March 12, 2022 (God willing) – Consecration of new Bishop at Diocesan Convention
Thank you so very much for your faithful prayer for this search committee. We can honestly feel your participation and the undergirding that you provide through your prayers. Please continue!
Respectfully Submitted ,
John Burwell,
Communications member of the Bishop’s Search Committee
January 26, 2021
The Bishop’s Search Committee will start soliciting names for a Bishop Coadjutor on February 1st. Please read the Bishop Job description before filling out a Suggestion Form.
According to the protocols of the Anglican Church in North America, the selection process for a bishop has three steps, beginning with open suggestions from the laity and clergy of ACNA.
- The first step will be accepting all suggestions for names. Anyone inside or outside our diocese may suggest a person for consideration as a bishop coadjutor. Again, this suggestion phase begins on February 1.
- The Bishop’s Search Committee will then prayerfully consider every suggestion submitted. A smaller list will be selected to continue in the selection process as a “Nominee.” The Nominees will be interviewed by the Committee and after prayer and intercession a smaller list of nominees will be presented to the Standing Committee for consideration.
- The Standing Committee will then make the final decision as to who will become “Candidates” to be presented to the Diocese. The Special Convention Delegates will then cast their ballots, on October 16, 2021, for a Bishop Coadjutor who, after a season with Bishop Lawrence, will become the next Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina.
The Committee encourages all members and congregations to keep praying for the process.
12/15/20: The Bishop’s Search Committee continues the process to develop a list of nominees for the Bishop Coadjutor. Though we are still on the beginning phases, we hope to present nominees to the Diocese in the summer of 2021 with the election to be held in October 2021. God willing the Consecration of a Bishop Coadjutor will be held in March of 2022.
The first week of December the committee held a daylong meeting at St. Matthias in Summerton. The Diocesan Profile, Bishop’s Job Description, and summary of a survey of the Clergy and Parish/Mission leadership were all discussed. These are scheduled to be finalized and approved by The Standing Committee the first week of January.
The committee will start soliciting names on February 1, 2021, the manner and process of sending in names will be communicated to the diocese prior to February 1st.
Prayer has been a centerpiece of the Committees work, as they sense the enormous responsibility to find and recognize the Bishop God has selected for our diocese.
Additionally, all congregations and missions should select their delegates to the Special Convention at their annual meeting this year – this is separate from delegates to the regular Diocesan Convention. The Special Convention will be held on October 16, 2021.
The Committee encourages all members and congregations to keep praying for the process.
As part of the newly formed Bishop’s Search Committee, we thank you for the opportunity to report on our initial meeting and our progress so far. The Committee, chaired by The Rev. Jason Collins of St. Paul’s, Conway, consists of lay and clergy chosen by every deanery as well as ad-hoc members of the Standing Committee. The Committee works under the direction of the Standing Committee who will be tasked with the final decision on the selection of candidates for The Bishop Coadjutor of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina.
At the end of October, our Committee met overnight at Camp St. Christopher for an organizational meeting. We began the retreat by sharing Communion with the entire Standing Committee and we spent our first afternoon getting to know each other a little better. We held a Zoom conference call with Bishop William Murdock who has been appointed by Archbishop Beach to help shepherd us through the process and we also discussed our initial timeline of events.
After dinner we looked at what we believe are Biblical qualifications for a bishop including 1 Peter 5:2-3, 1 Timothy 3:1-7, and Titus 1:7-9. The next morning, we divided into various subcommittees (Prayer, Communications, Diocesan Profile, Bishop’s Job Profile, Hospitality and Logistics, Solicit and Receive Suggested Nominees, Walk-About) and set a timeline for our search process:
January 5, 2021
Standing Committee approves Diocesan Profile and Bishop Coadjutor Job Description
February 1, 2021
Search Committee begins receiving suggestions for candidates
April 1, 2021
Deadline to receive suggestions for candidates
Late April 2021
Search Committee retreat to review suggested names
Late April – Late May, 2021
Travel Time to Meet with Potential Nominees
June 1, 2021
Standing Committee to approve nominations
June 1 – July 30, 2021
Eight weeks for Background Checks as required by the ACNA
August 1, 2021
Publish list of nominees – 30 days prior to election as required by diocesan canons (only those candidates who pass the background checks will be published)
September 11, 2021
Walkabout(s) for diocesan delegates to meet candidates
October 16, 2021
Special Election for the Bishop Coadjutor
One point that was agreed to by all of us is that we genuinely believe that our Lord has already selected our next bishop and that our task as a diocese will be to discern whom God has already picked out for us. We believe our Bishop’s Search will narrow down the names, and we are convinced that with much prayer and petition, our diocese will indeed choose the very person God has already chosen for us. We in the Committee approach our task with excitement, fear, and trembling. We urge you to join us in daily prayer for both process and the person.
Respectfully submitted,
John Burwell and John E. Benson, Communications Committee
July 9, 2020: Bishop Lawrence Calls for a Bishop Coadjutor