The Envelope, Please!

And the nominees in the election for Bishop of Newark are...

• the Rev. Canon Michael Lee Barlowe, 50, who serves as the first congregational development officer in the Diocese of California


• the Rev. Mark M. Beckwith, 54, currently rector of All Saints Church, Worcester, Massachusetts


• the Very Rev. Petero Sabune, 53, pastor and chaplain at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and associate at Trinity Church, Ossining, New York


• the Rev. William "Chip" Stokes, 49, currently rector of St. Paul's Church in Delray Beach, Florida.

By far, the most interesting nominee right now is +Michael Barlowe. Why? First of all, Fr. Barlowe is fresh from the short list in the Diocese of California election which took place on May 6th. Second, Barlowe is very upfront about his 24 year relationship with partner, Paul Burrows, rector of the Church of the Advent in San Francisco and a Benedictine oblate.

Read Fr. Barlowe's biographical information here and here.

His story begins, in his own words, "When I graduated from Harvard and moved to Manhattan to work on Wall Street, I thought I knew exactly where my life was heading: two years of "real world experience," followed by a return to Boston for an MBA, and on to a shining future of unlimited success and happiness. But a funny thing happened on my way to the B-School..."

Read the rest in his personal statement.

The nominees for Bishop of California were asked questions like, What pastoral situations make you most uncomfortable and why? How do you handle conflict? How would you have handled differently a difficult situation in your ministry?

Here are Fr. Barlowe's answers.