The 2025 ELCIC National Convention will take place July 10-13, 2025 at the Univerity of Manitoba in Winnipeg, MB. More information will be shared here as it is available.
Spiritual Discernment on the Election of a New Bishop
At the 2025 ELCIC National Convention, delegates will elect a new bishop following 18 years of service from our current National Bishop Susan Johnson, who has indicated her desire to retire.
The ELCIC’s National Church Council has approved a discernment process leading up to the election proceedings at convention. This process does not impact the ELCIC Bylaws process for elections of a bishop, rather, the discernment process is about an intentional process leading up to the election of consideration, prayer and pre-identification of potential individuals for election.
The timeline for this process is as follows:
Starting Immediately – Individuals and groups are invited to download the Spiritual Discernment process and follow the steps outlined for discussion.
January to March 31, 2025 – In accordance with the discernment process for electing a new national bishop, the ELCIC is providing the following link for the pre-identification process, to which individuals have the opportunity to identify someone with the skills and gifts for the call to serve as national bishop. This pre-identification process will take place through March 31, 2025.
Pre-identified candidates will need endorsement from eight ELCIC members – four rostered and four lay. Each ELCIC member is eligible to provide endorsement of one individual throughout this process.
The pre-identification form can be found here.
Delegates will vote for a new national bishop at 2025 National Convention. If you have questions on the process, please submit them via email to discernment@elcic.ca .
Beginning April 1 – A NCC Task Force will collect bios from all eligible nominees for distribution, as well as work on video introductions from each candidate.
July 2025 – Voting will proceed at the ELCIC National Convention as per the ELCIC Administrative Bylaws.
Read more about this process here.
