| dc.description.abstract | This capstone project documents the identity and role exploration process for Episcopal Church bishops. The Rt. Rev’d David E. & Helen R. Richards College for Bishops and the "Living Our Vows" program help the new bishops understand their regional oversight responsibilities and equips them for transformative leadership. New bishops often struggle in their transition, grappling with an identity shift, a very different role from their previous one, external expectations, and a steep learning curve. Using the identity change provisional selves framework, this qualitative research project used individual interviews with bishops at five stages of ministry to capture their stories, role and identity shifts. This research finds that new bishops take years to fully transition into their new regional oversight role, which also requires necessary but unexpected changes in behavior. Finally, symbolic authority and identity role are intertwined for external interactions; these are often not recognized either by the new bishops or those within the community. Recommendations from these findings are then presented to enhance the identity exploration process, aiding bishops to transition quickly and successfully into their executive roles | |
