The bishop chosen will lead the 1.5-million-member mainline Protestant denomination, which has struggled with uninterrupted decline in recent decades. The Episcopal Church has shed 23 percent of members in the past 10 years, a rate that is accelerating.

The names of both Rowe and Gutierrez had been widely discussed as potential nominees prior to today's announcement.

In order to be nominated for Presiding Bishop, a diocesan bishop must not yet have reached the mandatory retirement age of 72. Historically, nominees are young enough to serve the entirety of the nine-year term. For much of the Episcopal Church's history, the Presiding Bishop was the most senior of serving diocesan bishops. The office became elective in 1926.

Rowe is the longest serving of the nominees, and was 32 years old when elected as a diocesan bishop in 2007. For almost 12 years, he was the youngest bishop in the church. At age 24, Rowe was the youngest Episcopal priest in the U.S. at the time of his ordination. Both of his dioceses are relatively small, but their shared leadership and staff may be a model for dioceses considering consolidation amidst tight resources.

Gutierrez is institutionally well-positioned, serving as president of The Compass Rose Society, which supports the work of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Communion. The society raises funds for the ministries of the Anglican Consultative Council (functionally a "standing committee" of the Anglican Communion) and designates contributions for mission projects approved by the secretary general. Of the four nominees, he probably has the widest connections within the broader Anglican Communion. Gutierrez can also point to a more congenial tenure in a large diocese that faced significant conflict under his predecessor.

Wright, who lectures at United Methodist-affiliated Candler School of Theology at Emory University, entered the episcopacy in 2012 and also leads a relatively large diocese. He holds certificates from Ridley Hall, Cambridge University, Oxford University and The Harvard Kennedy School of Public Policy. Adopted from an orphanage, he has a compelling backstory, including service in the U.S. Navy.

Barker is the least widely known, shepherding a smaller diocese far from the Episcopal Church's historic centers of population in the Northeast or relative vibrancy in the American South. That said, former Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori also came from a small diocese (Nevada).

Three of the nominees have connections to Virginia Theological Seminary, the denomination's largest: Rowe and Wright are graduates, and Barker has served on the VTS Board. Gutierrez was educated at Trinity School for Ministry, for many years the lone seminary in the evangelical Anglican tradition educating clergy for service in the Episcopal Church.

The denomination's House of Bishops will elect the next Presiding Bishop on June 26 during the triennial Episcopal Church General Convention held June 23 -- 28, 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky. The House of Deputies, composed of clergy and laity, will subsequently vote on confirmation of the bishops' selection. The newly elected Presiding Bishop will be installed as the top bishop ('primate' in Anglican parlance) of the Episcopal Church at the Washington National Cathedral in the autumn.

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