At the first convention of the newly-created Diocese of Washington in December 1895, there were seven candidates, nominated from the floor, on the first ballot. On the first day, the combination of high and low church, local and out-of-town nominees caused the balloting, which was clergy only, to go until midnight. After one dropped out, Alexander Mackay-Smith telegraphed the Rev. Henry Yates Satterlee, rector of Calvary Church, New York to see if he would agree to have his name submitted. As a total outsider and compromise candidate, he was elected on the 10th ballot. After expressing surprise to a New York reporter at his election and reluctance to leave his successful work at Calvary, Satterlee was besieged with letters and telegrams asking him to come. Like many of us, he made a list of pros and cons and ultimately decided to become the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

After Bishop Satterlee’s death in February 1908, the next election began on May 6. Lay delegates could vote and a simple majority of lay and clerical votes were needed to win. The 13 candidates, all nominated from the floor, were quickly winnowed down and Bishop Charles Henry Brent, missionary Bishop in the Philippines, was elected on the second ballot. However, a month later Bishop Brent cabled the president of convention to decline his election. The convention met again in June and a list of seven nominees was presented, with Brent still among them. Brent won again, highlighting his overwhelming popularity among the delegates. He again declined. At an October session of convention the high and low church factions reappeared. The two leading candidates of those factions wrangled at the top of the voting until one withdrew his name. On the seventh ballot a compromise candidate, Alexander Mann, rector of Trinity Church, Boston emerged victorious. However, he declined the honor, publicly citing his extraordinary opportunities in Boston, although newspapers rumored that he was disturbed by the internal dissention in churchmanship in Washington, that his salary couldn’t be matched, and the challenge of fund raising to build the Cathedral. In November the convention reassembled with a ballot of names from the previous elections. On the fourth ballot, Alfred Harding, rector of St. Paul’s, Washington, was elected. A dedicated parish priest, he was highly respected throughout the diocese. This rough and tumble process required four sessions and 18 ballots over six months.

One month after Bishop Harding’s death in April 1923, the Diocesan Convention met on May 31 to again work on the election of a bishop. This time the arguing point was whether to elect a local clergyman or a prominent outsider. There was again no preliminary procedure to identify or even sort through candidates before the casting of ballots. Eight were nominated, but voting came down to three: one from New York City and two from Washington. James Freeman, rector of Epiphany, Washington finally won after 17 ballots over two days. The outsider, and a favorite among the clergy, was dropped after growing hostility from his having preached in a Unitarian church in New York and that he had gone to Italy for his health at the time of the convention.

Twenty years later a new era in diocesan elections dawned. After Freeman’s death in June of 1943, a special session of Convention was called at the end of July – not for endless ballots, but to consider the process of electing a bishop. The first Nominating Committee had members from all parts of the diocese, as well as two women. Chaired by Owen Roberts, associate justice of the Supreme Court, the committee took names in writing and on the floor. The candidates were narrowed down from 52 to four nominees, none from the diocese. In November at a special convention three local candidates were nominated from the floor, but Angus Dun, dean of the Episcopal Theological School, in Cambridge, Mass., won on the third ballot. The planning and leadership of the Nominating Committee saved time and resources.

For the first time a Bishop Coadjutor was going to be elected rather than allow a vacancy in the bishopric by death. In November of 1958, after a request by Bishop Dun six months earlier, a special election was held. The month before the Nominating Committee had presented a report listing a slate of four candidates, reduced from the 35 names presented from three public meetings. John Coburn, dean of Episcopal Theological School, in Cambridge, Mass., asked that his name be withdrawn from nomination. Since the Nominating Committee didn’t feel it had the charge to create a new report, it was decided that his withdrawal letter would be read at the convention instead of a nominating speech. However on the third ballot Coburn was elected and he declined the election two weeks later. In January 1959 the convention reconvened with the three remaining candidates and three other candidates from the floor. Over four ballots William Creighton of St. John’s, Norwood, kept a thin lead from a candidate outside of the diocese. After several of the local candidates had withdrawn, Creighton, who had been a close second to Coburn in November, won. He became Diocesan Bishop in November 1962.

When Bishop Creighton decided to call for a coadjutor in 1976 the Nominating Committee was charged to produce a slate of five to 10 names. For the first time, the committee used consultants in the process and gathered information from other dioceses that had recently elected bishops. In order to elicit feedback from members of the diocese about what qualities were need in their bishop, mass mailings were used to gather and share that information. After a screening process for the 34 submitted names, five were on the ballot, of whom two were local. At the election in June there were no nominations from the floor and Suffragan Bishop John T. Walker was elected in minutes on the first ballot.

After Bishop Walker’s sudden death in 1989, the Standing Committee of the diocese appointed 10 clergy and 10 laity to the Nominating Committee, equally divided between men and women. The search for candidates followed the formula of sorting through credentials of nominees, bringing a select number to Washington for interviews and then announcing candidates. The ballot had six which included two local clergy. There were informal meetings for the public to meet with the candidates, a brochure was published with biographies and a videocassette of the candidates talking about themselves was made available to be shown by parishes. The special convention was held at Epiphany, D.C., on June 30, 1990 and Bishop Haines was elected on the second ballot.

Ten years later, in December 2000, Bishop Haines retired. At the January 2001 convention, 23 people were elected for eligibility to serve on either a Search Committee or Transition Committee. Membership was from around the diocese and brought a range of experience in diocesan ministries. Electronic media played a large part in this process. A profile of the diocese was created and sent to all clergy, wardens and lay delegates. It was also available on the Internet. E-mail was vital in communications. One hundred and thirty-two names had been submitted for consideration or found via CDO computer match. A questionnaire and profile was sent to these, with 46 individuals expressing interest. Twenty were interviewed by phone and a group of six names were submitted to the diocese. None were local or nominated by petition. An extra day was added to the beginning of the Diocesan Convention in January 2002 and John Bryson Chane was elected as eighth Bishop of Washington on the second ballot.

Susan L. Stonesifer is the Diocese of Washington’s historiographer. Sources include “Electing the Bishops of Washington 1895-1990: the Evolution of a Process,” by Richard Hewlett.