Summer 2008, No. 3 - United Methodist Men

Bishops that may retire in 2008Northeastern JurisdictionJane Middleton, Harrisburg AreaWith new legislation, she has anoption to continueViolet Fisher, New York West Area.Bishop Susan Morrison, AlbanyArea Morrison retired in 2006 forreasons of health. Bishop SusanHassinger serves as interim bishop.The number of bishops to beelected is undetermined at this time.Ernest Swiggett, chair of theNortheastern Committee onEpiscopacy, says that the committeeis presently proposing the electionof two bishops.North Central JurisdictionSharon Brown Christopher,Illinois Area.South Central JurisdictionBen Chamness, Fort Worth Area.Willliam Hutchinson, LouisianaArea. With new legislation, hehas an option to continue.reject the assignments. If the conferencerejects the assignments, the committee mustmake new assignments.The assignment for bishops elected at the2008 jurisdictional conferences is effective Sept.1, 2008.In rare cases, an Inter-jurisdictionalCommittee on Episcopacy, elected by GeneralConference delegates, can transfer bishopsacross jurisdictional lines if the bishops and thejurisdictions consent.Persons to be considered for the episcopacyare generally people nominated by an annualconference or endorsed by jurisdictionalconference delegates from the various annualconferences. Delegates from those annualconferences are not required to vote for thecandidate from their conferences and ballotingis not limited to nominees. In the NortheasternJurisdiction, a person can be endorsed by a16 l Summer 2008 l UM MENJoel Martinez, San Antonio Area.Rymes H. Moncure Jr., Dallas AreaBishop Moncure died in 2006Alfred Norris has been serving asbishop of the Dallas AreaSoutheastern JurisdictionLawrence McClesky, CharlotteArea.With new legislation, he hasan option to continue.The present formula would allowthe jurisdiction to appoint one morebishop, but since all jurisdictions arescheduled to lose a bishop in 2012,the jurisdiction is scheduled to onlyelect one bishop in 2008.Western JurisdictionBeverly Shamana, San FranciscoAreaEd Paup has been elected to theoffice of General Secretary of theGeneral Board of Global Ministries.The jurisdiction will elect twobishops.caucus listed in the UM DirectoryEach jurisdiction devises its own means ofproviding information about the candidates.Similar procedures are developed for personswho receive ten votes or 5 percent of the votes.In the Western Jurisdiction, nominees areinvited to give speeches and they later answerquestions from delegates during “fishbowl”meetings prior to the first ballot. In otherjurisdictions, candidates go from one smallgroup to the next answering questions posed bydelegates.Each jurisdiction can establish thepercentage of votes needed for election. TheBook of Discipline recommends 60 percent.Voting by ballot continues until someonereaches the required number of votes. Thenumber of ballots required varies from year toyear.The election process can happen rapidly.For example, in 2004, the NortheasternJurisdiction elected two bishops on thefirst two ballots. Or the process canbecome lengthy. It took 34 ballots for theSoutheastern Jurisdiction to elect the Rev.Mary Virginia Taylor as the sixth and finalbishop during the 2004 SoutheasternJurisdictional Conference.Record numberHowever, the record for lengthy electionswas established in 1980. In that year, theRev. Calvin McConnell attended the WesternJurisdictional Conference as chair of a RockyMountain Conference campaign to elect theRev. Jamison Jones to the episcopacy. Imaginehis surprise when, after 47 ballots, McConnellwas elected to that office. “I hope no oneever comes near to that many ballots,” saidBishop McConnell. The consecration servicewas scheduled for 1 p.m., but McConnellwas not elected until 5 p.m. The consecrationservice was held at 9 p.m., long afterthe other jurisdictional conferences hadadjourned. “I had to borrow a white shirt, tieand robe for the service,” said the now retiredbishop.Surprisingly candidates for the officeof bishop don’t even have to live within thejurisdiction where they are elected. In 1984,the Rev. Leonine T Kelly was serving as pastorof a church in Richmond, Va.––part of theSoutheastern Jurisdiction––when she waselected bishop in the Western Jurisdiction.A consecration service is held at theconclusion of the jurisdictional conferences inwhich bishops are consecrated (not ordained)to the office and bishops are assigned to theirepiscopal areas.New boundaries may be set inNortheastern JurisdictionJurisdictional Conferences are responsiblefor establishing the boundaries of the annualconferences.Meeting in concurrent adjournedsessions, members of North Central NewYork, Troy, Western New York and WyomingAnnual Conferences voted to ask theNortheastern Jurisdictional Conference tocreate a new episcopal area and a newannual conference from all or portions ofthese and/or other contiguous conferences.They suggest that the Pennsylvania churchesof the Wyoming Annual Conferenceconsidering aligning themselves with theCentral Pennsylvania Annual Conference, andthey suggest Vermont churches of the TroyAnnual Conference considering an alignmentwith the New England Annual Conference.Conversations have already taken placebetween Wyoming and Central Pennsylvaniaconferences regarding the merger ofWyoming churches in Pennsylvania.Mark Marino, director of connectionalministries for Wyoming Conference, toldUM News Service that Central PennsylvaniaConference has “been very welcoming” topastors serving in Pennsylvania. “There’s a lotof excitement about ministry in new areas.”“The resolution regarding easternboundary of the proposed conference willbe contingent on conversations among Troy,New England Conference, and the churchesof Vermont,” said Sidney Sadio, chair ofthe Northeastern Jurisdiction BoundariesCommittee and pastor of New Brunswick(N.J.) United Methodist Church. “We won’tput forth a resolution to the NortheasternJurisdictional Conference until we know whathappens in those annual conferences and theresponses of Vermont churches,” said Sadio.If approved by the July session inHarrisburg, Pa., the new structure would beimplemented in 2010. A New Conference/Area Team would then begin to resolve issuesof structure, policies, programs and practices.The plan would reduce the number of bishopsin the jurisdiction from ten to nine.The Bush Library––a flashpoint inthe South Central JurisdictionEach jurisdiction makes its own plans forministry within the area. A jurisdiction mayestablish a committee to oversee the ministryduring the quadrennium. In the South CentralJurisdiction, a 21-member Mission Councilserves as the executive committee of theconference.UM MEN l Summer 2008 l 17