Who will be the next Archbishop of Polynesia?

Answer according to scuttlebutt in our church: no one knows, no one can guess, no one is placing a bet, it could be anyone!

Here is a report from the Fiji Times (H/T Titus One Nine, which is remarkably well informed about places faraway):

"REPRESENTATIVES from the different Anglican Church congregations in the Diocesan of Polynesia gathered at the Novotel Convention Centre in Lami yesterday to begin the electoral process for a new Diocesan Bishop.

Diocesan secretary and registrar Reverend Sereima Lomaloma said when the late Bishop of the Diocese of Polynesia, Reverend Jabez Leslie Bryce, died in February this year, his seat became vacant. "We usually have our synod, which is the parliament of the church, every three years," she said.

"But this meeting was already planned by the late Bishop Bryce in 2009 after he announced his retirement in 2008.

"This synod has to take place. It is an electoral synod where the electoral college of the church is going to sit and elect a new bishop of Polynesia. It's a process that the electoral college goes through and hopefully it will be over by Thursday evening."

The retired Bishop of Auckland John Paterson is the presiding president of the synod meet and the archbishops and primates commissary for Polynesia.

"When the bishop's seat becomes vacant, the archbishops will appoint somebody to be their commissary to look after the diocese until we have a new election," Rev Lomaloma said.

"Bishop Paterson took over in February until May where another Bishop will become that commissary until we install a new Bishop of Polynesia in August."

She said all proceedings within the electoral process will be kept confidential until a new Bishop is installed.

She said nominations from the synod meeting will be sent to the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Once the nomination is sanctioned by other parts of the Church, a new Bishop will be announced.

The Synod meeting continues today."