Presiding officers make interim appointment to General Convention executive officer

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church’s presiding officers have promoted the Rev. Molly James, General Convention deputy executive officer, to the position of interim General Convention executive officer, filling a vacancy created by the recent retirement of the Rev. Michael Barlowe.

This interim appointment allows the presiding officers additional time to plan for and launch a search for Barlowe’s permanent replacement as executive officer, one of the church’s most prominent and essential governance officials as head of the General Convention Office. James also will assume Barlowe’s former duties as General Convention secretary.

“Molly has served as deputy executive officer since 2019, and we are grateful to her for offering her experience, gifts and collaborative spirit during this time of change,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris said in a Sept. 15 letter to Executive Council that was also signed by Presiding Bishop-elect Sean Rowe.

Curry’s nine-year term ends Oct. 31, and Rowe takes office on Nov. 1. Executive Council is the church’s governing body between meetings of General Convention, and its canonical role includes providing advice and consent to the presiding officers’ choice for General Convention executive officer. Executive Council’s next meeting, in suburban New Jersey, is scheduled for Nov. 7-10.

“This interim appointment is intended to ease this transition period and facilitate greater collaboration in our governance work, not to preempt the process for determining the joint appointment of the next executive officer,” Curry, Ayala Harris and Rowe said. “At the November Executive Council meeting, we will begin the process of reviewing the job description of the executive officer, studying the current needs of the church, and making recommendations for any necessary changes.”

The presiding officers had aimed to make their appointment of a new executive officer by February 2025, according to a timeline Curry and Ayala Harris outlined in an April 2024 letter to Executive Council. Their new letter neither affirms that goal nor specifies any changes.

Barlowe had announced in January 2024 his plans to retire after 11 years as executive officer and more than 40 years as an Episcopal priest.

The executive officer, as head of the General Convention Office, is the central churchwide official responsible for the administration of church governance. The General Convention Office’s duties include negotiating contracts for venues and accommodations at each General Convention, coordinating the meetings of all the church’s interim governing bodies, receiving and tallying parochial report data from dioceses and congregations, facilitating the consent process for bishop elections, and ensuring the church has the technology needed to achieve all those goals.

James previously served as dean of formation on the Connecticut bishop’s staff, and she has prior experience as chair of the Standing Commission on Structure, Governance, Constitution and Canons, and as a deputy to General Convention and legislative committee officer and chair. She has a doctorate in theology from the University of Exeter in England, a Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School in Connecticut and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tufts University in Massachusetts.

In their April letter about the process for filling the executive officer position, Curry and Ayala Harris said they planned to develop an advisory committee that will include members of Executive Council, the House of Deputies and House of Bishops. That advisory committee will work with the presiding officers to “review the job description of the executive officer, study the current needs of the church, make recommendations to them for any necessary changes, and assist them in their discernment with regard to candidates for the position.”

After conducting their review of the position, the presiding officers said they plan to publish a job description and begin recruiting and interviewing candidates, while providing updates to Executive Council. If an appointment is ready by February, Executive Council presumably would be able to vote on it during its meeting scheduled for that month in Chicago, Illinois.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.