All seven addressed the House of Bishops in a March 19 evening session devoted to hearing the nominees' views on the ministry of the Presiding Bishop in church, national and global contexts. Bishop Peter Lee of Virginia -- who co-chairs the Nominating Committee with Diane Pollard of New York -- convened the two-hour session.

I had to decide last Friday night whether or not I would agree to the request of twelve Bishops who asked me to allow them to nominate me from the floor for consideration as the next Presiding Bishop. As you may know, I had been previously dropped from the process by the Nominating Committee. These twelve Bishops who asked me were from across the specturm of the Church and included liberal and conservative, male and female and are of various colors.

"It is important to note that the House of Bishops did not consider any draft document, and no legislative process was engaged," Sisk said after addressing the bishops, who are meeting here through March 22 at the Kanuga Conference Center.

"They're quite diverse in background," says Monika Bickert, assistant attorney general in the Northern District of Illinois. She is prosecuting four of the Americans, including Winebrenner, who she says is unemployed. She says two others, from the Chicago suburbs, held jobs: Gregory Sweezer, 48, a mailman, and David Holst, 27, software instructor.

Bickert is also prosecuting Brian Annoreno, who a court indictment says transmitted his molestation of an infant live via the chat room.