The Vacancy in See Committee is a standing committee of the Diocesan Synod, but only becomes active when the retirement of a diocesan bishop is announced.
The committee is made up of around 20 people, including the diocese’s General Synod representatives, the Chairs of the House of Clergy and House of Laity, the Bishop of Dudley, Archdeacons, Diocesan Secretary and elected lay and clergy representatives from across Devon.
Once the committee is convened, it has two tasks – to write a Statement of Needs for the diocese (a document similar to a parish profile) and to elect six of its members to sit on the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) alongside six representatives from the national Church.
The Statement of Needs is drafted following considerable consultation across the Diocese, with which we hope as many people as possible will engage.
The CNC is a national Church of England body, which will be responsible for compiling a shortlist of candidates and discerning which nominee should be recommended to the King and Downing Street to be the next Bishop of Worcester.