Aug-Sept 2012.pub - the Sodus United Third Methodist Church

Mark Webb named as new bishop of Upper New York Area
By Maidstone Mulenga
Newly elected Bishop Mark Webb was Friday morning assigned to be the new episcopal leader of the Upper New York Area of The United Methodist Church.
Bishop Webb will take over on Sept. 1, 2012. The Northeastern Jurisdiction (NEJ) Episcopacy Committee made the assignments at the end of the 2012 NEJ
Conference in Charleston, W.Va. Bishop Webb will succeed Bishop Marcus Matthews, who has been assigned to the Washington Area, where he will lead the
Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference. Hours later, Bishop Matthews presided over the Consecration Service for Bishop Webb and two other newly elected
bishops, Sandra Steiner Ball and Martin McLee, at St. Marks United Methodist Church in Charleston.
In his sermon, Bishop Matthews reminded the new bishops that ministry was not about themselves. “I invite you to remember, as I and everyone else who sits
were you sit, it’s not really about us; it is and always will be about God and living out the fullness of God’s purposes for us in the world,” Bishop Matthews said.
Until his election, Bishop Webb was district superintendent of the York District of the Susquehanna Annual Conference “I came with the ministry of healing,”
Bishop Webb told a gathering of delegates, staff and members of Upper New York Annual Conference after he was introduced to them by Conference Lay Leader
Scott Johnson. Bishop Webb acknowledged that he was following a beloved leader in Bishop Matthews, “and there will be some pain but I am here to help
with the healing.” Bishop Webb was elected Thursday afternoon on the 35th ballot, a record for the NEJ Conference. In introducing Bishop-elect Webb on
Thursday, Bishop Jane Allen Middleton said: “You are receiving a gift to the Church. This is a man who loves God deeply and lives that every day of his life. He
is a man of marvelous conviction and great gifts; the gift to not only to create a vision, but enroll others in that vision.” In response, the new bishop was graceful.
“I appreciate your love prayerful spirit and desire to do what God wants. We are a great Church, and God isn’t finished with us yet.” Webb, 47, is a native of
York, Pa., and is married to Jody Webb and they have two sons, Tyler, 18, and Benjamin, 16. He holds a M. Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s
from Shippensburg University. Before being named superintendent in 2007, Webb served pastor at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Mechanicsburg,
Pa. He earlier served St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Wormleysburg, Pa. Includes reporting by staff writer Beth DiCocco.
Bishop Mark Webb
Bishop Marcus Matthews consecrates the Rev.
Mark Webb as a bishop
of The United Methodist Church during the consecration
service at
St. Marks UMC in Charleston, W. Va. Bishop
Webb was earlier named resident bishop of the
Upper New York Area.
Bishop Mark Webb’s wife, Jody, and their two
sons, Tyler and Benjamin, watch during the consecration
service at St. Marks UMC in Charleston,