A 21-member search committee has nominated three parish priests, a cathedral dean and a diocesan canon administrator as candidates for the May 20 election of the 13th Bishop of Maryland.

Those nominated are:

The Rev. William P. Baxter, Jr., rector of St. Thomas' Church, Garrison Forest, Md.; the Rev. James A. Diamond, rector of Christ Church, Andover, Mass.; the Rev. Robert W. Ihloff, rector of Grace Church, Madison, N.J.; the Rev. Canon Patricia A. Thomas, administrator of the Diocese of Washington; and the Very Rev. Gustave K. Weltsek, Jr., dean of St. John's Cathedral, Jacksonville, Fla.

The election is scheduled to take place immediately following the convention of the diocese at Frostburg State University. Additional nominations can be made in writing until April 7.

Maryland has been without a diocesan bishop since the retirement of the Rt. Rev. A. Theodore Eastman in January 1994. The Rt. Rev. Charles L. Longest, suffragan bishop, has been serving as bishop-in-charge.