What I believe is very much neglected in all this talk about "what we want" and "how this person should look" is a serious discussion of discerning the will of God as it moves to sometimes give us exactly what we do not want and does not look the way we expect. This is one of the shortcomings of our system. We're not just talking about electing a chairman of the board but a bishop.

Since they mostly tell you what you want to hear regardless of their real agenda - I think it is pure luck or maybe the grace of God we get any good bishops.

@Ann - I hope it's the grace of God ... but maybe it is just pure dumb luck. -- I'm pretty certain we don't the best bishops we could get, however. But God works with what we give God and things work out in the end.

It seems to me that we have been so influenced by the business model(s) of leadership that we forget that we also need to stand in contrast to those models. Yes, there are some helpful tools we can use from the "business toolbox" but we also need to be sure we are open to God's surprisingly different ways of doing things. Some years ago, in a diocese I know, there was an episcopal election that rapidly progressed to focus on two main candidates, and there it stayed, with tie vote after tie vote, for a very long day. There was concern about the cost of having to convene another convention if the impasse were not resolved. That is practical, certainly, but does it leave room for the Spirit to work? What if someone had been courageous enough to say, "We have an unresolvable tie. If either candidate were elected, there would be many people in the diocese who felt the final choice was not their choice nor the choice of a clear majority. Therefore, God must be telling us neither candidate is right for our diocese at this point in time. We need to dismiss, go away, and pray alone and together, to receive God's guidance and to be open to it. We can use this time to discern whether God wants us to consider some different candidates, and we can be open to God surprising us with some solution we don't expect."
To me this would be a faithful response to a situation where people had gotten terribly bogged down and frustrated. But it does take courage, because some folks would definitely say it was impractical to suspend the process for awhile. Impractical, yes, but faithful? Quite possibly.

Personally, I think that in the next few years we will be electing the last of this model of the episcopacy. I think we're going to see a HUGE shift "back to the future" and adapt a more ancient model vs. the business model of the episcopacy.

We need fewer "Nice Guys" and more prophetic voices - courageous leaders who are not afraid to take risks and step on a few toes in the name of Jesus. Someone whose vision stretches us and whose voice calls us - clergy and laity - to move ever closer to the Realm of God.

At least, that's my prayer.

Excellent Elizabeth!