Did You Know?: Many Different Kinds of Bishop

Did You Know?

An Education & Communication Series from the Bishop Nominating Committee*

There are many different types of bishops, such as Bishop Coadjutor, Bishop Suffragan, Assistant Bishop, Missionary Bishop, Presiding Bishop, and more. There are even "baby bishops," an informal term that refers to a newly ordained bishop, reflecting the assumption that a period of time will be required for the newly elected bishop to gain experience and grow into the new position.

The Diocese of West Texas is in the process of discerning a Bishop Coadjutor, who will be elected on February 18, 2023. A Bishop Coadjutor assists the Bishop Diocesan, and upon the retirement or resignation of the Bishop Diocesan, he or she succeeds the diocesan bishop in office.

A Bishop Suffragan is a bishop elected to assist the Bishop Diocesan, but he or she does not have the right of succession, and their tenure is not determined by the tenure of the Bishop Diocesan.

An Assistant Bishop is appointed by the Bishop Diocesan with consent of the Standing Committee to assist in service to the Bishop for a set amount of time. They are already serving as a bishop, as opposed to a priest who must be consecrated a bishop. Assistant Bishops have no right of succession upon resignation of the diocesan bishop.

For even more information about leadership roles in The Episcopal Church, see Glossary of Terms at episcopalchurch.org/glossary.

More Information & Resources

• Click here to read the Diocesan Profile online.
• Click here to save a printable Diocesan Profile; the PDF will automatically save to your Downloads folder.
• Click here to read recent written and video communications from the Standing Committee.
• Click here to open the Bishop Election webpage.

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News and updates from the Standing Committee will be shared by email, the diocesan Facebook and Instagram feed, and online, at dwtx.org/bishop-election.

• Click here to subscribe to the Diocesan General Interest email list, which will receive all Standing Committee communications.

*Bishop Nominating Committee

The Standing Committee Members
President - the Rev. Dr. Ben Nelson, TMI Episcopal, San Antonio
Mrs. Nancy Beauchamp, Good Shepherd, Corpus Christi
The Rev. Scott Brown, TMI Episcopal, San Antonio
Dr. Liz Manning, Holy Spirit, Dripping Springs
Mr. Richard Mosty, St. Peter’s, Kerrville
The Rev. Matthew Wise, St. Mark’s, San Antonio

The Assisting Members

Mrs. Thurma Hilton, St. Richard’s, Round Rock
The Rev. Alex Holloway, St. Margaret’s, San Antonio
The Rev. John Inserra, St. Alban’s, Harlingen
Ms. Andrea Knight, Resurrection, Windcrest
The Rev. Karen Morris, Emmanuel, Lockhart
The Rev. Arnoldo Romero, St. James, Del Rio