The nominating process for the 4th Bishop of Western Louisiana will open on October 17 and close on November 7.

Both dioceses currently have orthodox bishops in the persons of the Rt. Rev. John W. Howe (Central Florida) and the Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson (Western Louisiana). Both are Communion Partners bishops with Bishop MacPherson having served as president of Province VII of The Episcopal Church.

Bishop Howe, an outspoken evangelical, has conducted preaching and teaching missions throughout the United States and around the world. He was a founding member of S.O.M.A. (Sharing of Ministries Abroad), an Anglican ministry seeking to bring renewal to indigenous churches. He was also one of the founders of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. He is former President and Chairman of the Board of the National Organization of Episcopalians for Life (NOEL) and he is a former president of the Fellowship of Witness.

The last two orthodox bishops elected to dioceses in The Episcopal Church - The Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence of South Carolina and the Rt. Rev. Daniel Hayden Martins Bishop of Springfield - initially met with strong resistance to their elections.

Lawrence's election was first declared "null and void" by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on March 15 since the required number of consents, she said, had not been received. He later obtained consents and was elected September 16, 2006 to succeed Bishop Ed Salmon as South Carolina's 14th bishop.

Bishop Martins ran into trouble when Episcopal Bishop Jerry Lamb of the rump Diocese of San Joaquin said he had grave concerns about Martins' fitness to be the next Springfield bishop. He wrote a a letter to all TEC bishops and Standing Committees telling them that Martins lacks what he called "suitability" for the job and he hoped they would withhold consents. He failed.

It got more interesting when ten priests, including George Werner, past president of the House of Deputies, came out in favor of Martins getting the job. This was an interesting development because none of these people are, in theory, orthodox in faith and morals (though personally they might be). They toe the Episcopal party line. They believed charges that Martins would take the diocese out of The Episcopal Church were without foundation. Martins was elected on September 18, 2010.

Bishop Lawrence was recently charged with abandoning the communion of the Episcopal Church and now faces a trial and possible deposition if found guilty.

When asked by the Diocesan Standing Committee of Central Florida where the candidates stood on the pressing issue of gay marriage, six of the seven candidates reaffirmed the traditional role of marriage between a man and a woman without qualification. Only the the Rev. Mary Alvarez Rosendahl, Rector of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Port St. Lucie, dodged the bullet and gave an ambiguous reply by saying it was not a "defining issue" of Christianity or the Anglican Communion.

It is interesting to note that in the case of Central Florida six of the seven nominees are from within the diocese; only one, Fr. Gregory O. Brewer is from outside the diocese. He is currently the rector of Calvary St. George in New York City. Before that he was rector for ten years at an evangelical parish, the Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, PA, one of the largest in that diocese and on the East coast.

These two elections will pose an enormous test on the church's breadth of how it understands inclusivity and diversity, particularly by the Standing Committees, which are more virulently revisionist than the HOB who have generally been more charitable towards orthodox candidates.

In the current hedonistic and revisionist environment of The Episcopal Church, the stresses and strains of sexuality issues and the strident demands of the LGBTQI community these elections will test the Episcopal Church to the breaking point.

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