The Right Rev. R. William Franklin has been elected to serve on the Episcopal Church committee that will choose nominees to succeed the denomination's current Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefforts Schori. He was elected by his colleagues in the House of Bishops during the denomination's General Convention in Indianapolis.
One bishop, one priest or deacon, and one lay person from each of the Church's nine provinces were elected to this committee. Franklin will serve as the bishop representative from Province II, which includes all of New York and New Jersey, as well as the Virgin Islands and the Convocation of American Churches in Europe.
The election of the next presiding bishop will take at the next General Convention, scheduled to will take place in Salt Lake City in 2015.
Franklin was also elected to a six-year term on the Church General Board of Examining Chaplains. This group is responsible for creating and administering the annual General Ordination Exam. This standardized test assesses an individual's knowledge and understanding of seven key areas: Holy Scriptures, Church History, Christian Theology, Christian Ethics and Moral Theology, Studies in Contemporary Society, Liturgics and Church Music, and the Theory and Practice of Ministry.
With Bishop Franklin as part of the Diocese of Western New York's official deputation are:
The Very Rev. Earle King (St. Martin's Grand Island), Howard Gondree (St. Paul's Cathedral), Al Price (St. Peter's, Amherst), The Very Rev. Colleen O'Connor (St. Mark's, Leroy), Lillian Davis Wilson (St. Philip's, Buffalo), The Very Rev. Susan Williams (St. Luke's, Jamestown), Catherine Way (St. Luke's, Jamestown), The Rev. Isaac Ihiasota (St. Stephen's, Niagara Falls, Samantha Cutlip (St. Paul's, Lewiston) and Linda Makson (St. Matthias', East Aurora).
