Southwestern Virginia diocese announces bishop slate
[Diocese of Southwestern Virginia] The Diocese of Southwestern Virginia Standing Committee on Nov. 21 announced a slate of four candidates to serve as the diocese’s seventh bishop diocesan.
The candidates are:
- The Rev. Paul Canady, rector of Christ Episcopal Church, New Bern, North Carolina, in the Diocese of East Carolina.
- The Rev. Karin MacPhail, rector of St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, Roanoke, Virginia, in the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia.
- The Very Rev. Becky McDaniel, rector of Westover Episcopal Church, Charles City, Virginia, in the Diocese of Virginia.
- The Very Rev. Grant Stokes, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, Virginia, in the Diocese of Southern Virginia.
In its announcement, the committee said it had accepted the candidates recommended by the Search Committee, which it noted had “spent the last several months hard at work identifying and discerning … candidates to serve as our next bishop.”
The committee also announced three meet-and-greet opportunities for people of the diocese to engage with the candidates. Those will take place Jan. 6-8, 2026, in Lexington, Lynchburg and Marion. More information is on the diocesan website.
The committee also announced the start of the petition process by which additional nominees may be added to the final slate. The deadline to submit petition materials is Dec. 5.
The bishop election will take place during the diocese’s annual convention, set for Jan. 30-31, 2026.
The next bishop will succeed the Rt. Rev. Mark Bourlakas, who had led the Roanoke-based diocese since 2013 and who resigned in June to become an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Virginia.
