At a diocesan convention in February 2009, Kevin Thew Forrester was elected the next bishop of the diocese.

[2] A majority of the dioceses' standing committees and a majority of the church's bishops rejected his election because of Forrester's practice of Zen Buddhist meditation, revisions that he made to the baptismal liturgy, and his beliefs about salvation.

[2] After the deadline for consent passed, in July 2009, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori announced that Forrester had become the first bishop-elect in 77 years to have his election declared "null and void" by the church.

[3] The last candidate rejected on strictly theological grounds was James DeKoven in 1875 for his high church practices.

His election was confirmed by the Episcopal Church, and after his consecration in May 2011 he became the 11th diocesan bishop of the diocese.