wfn.org | North Central Areas Get New Bishops

[umethnews-request@ecunet.org]

"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3071 notes).

Note 3068 by UMNS on July 22, 1996 at 16:07 Eastern (6051 characters).

SEARCH: United Methodist, bishops, election, assigned, episcopal
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Thomas S. McAnally                     354(12-21NC){3068}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470             July 22, 1996

Half of 10 areas in United Methodism's North
Central Jurisdiction assigned new bishops

     FORT WAYNE, Ind. (UMNS) -- When the quadrennial conference of
the nine-state North Central Jurisdiction adjourned here July 19
four new bishops had been elected and consecrated and half of the
regions 10 episcopal areas had been assigned new episcopal
leadership for the next four years.
     It took the delegates -- half clergy and half lay -- 21
ballots to elect the four bishops. 
     The Rev. C. Joseph Sprague, 57, pastor of North Broadway
United Methodist Church in Columbus, Ohio, was elected on the 12th
and the Rev. Jonathan D. Keaton, 50, superintendent of the Aurora
District of the Northern Illinois Annual Conference, an African
American, was elected on the 17th.
     Elected on the 21st and final ballot were two Indiana
clergymen: the Rev. John L. Hopkins, 50, pastor of The Methodist
Temple in Evansville, Ind., and the Rev. Michael J. Coyner, 46,
executive assistant to the bishop of the Indiana Area.
     Following the consecration service in a Catholic cathedral
across the street from the convention center, assignments to
geographical areas were announced.
     Sprague was assigned to the Chicago Area, succeeding Bishop
Sheldon R. Duecker who is retiring; Keaton was assigned to the
Ohio East Area, succeeding Bishop Edwin C. Boulton, who is
retiring; Hopkins was assigned to the Minnesota Area, succeeding
Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher; and Coyner was assigned to the
Dakotas Area, succeeding Bishop William B. Lewis, who is retiring. 
Christopher, who had served eight years in Minnesota, was assigned
to the Illinois Area (Central and Southern Conferences),
succeeding Bishop David J. Lawson, who is retiring.
     Sprague said his election is "really what community is when
it comes from the grassroots and is moved by the Holy Spirit" -- a
reference to the fact that his name appeared on the first ballot
even though he had not been formally nominated by his annual
conference.
     At a press conference following his election, Sprague
expressed concern for what he described as the "breadth and depth
of clergy leadership quality" -- an area he hopes to address as
bishop.
     In answer to a question, he said he did not bring "an agenda"
to his new role; still, he hoped to focus on encouraging pastoral
qualities through is work and through the cabinet.  "Qualities
that can't be taught," he emphasized, "integrity and a pastoral,
empathetic heart."
     After his election, Keaton acknowledged the applause and
spoke briefly:  "My grandmother claimed me for the ministry when I
was still a child."  He said he had resisted the idea but "god's
will eventually won out."
     Hopkins said he has often been asked what he wold do if
elected a bishop. "Bishops don't lead the church," he said. "God
is the leader of our church."
     Only after Hopkins finished his comments did the presiding
officer, Bishop Judith Craig, announce the second election on the
same ballot.  "Remind me never to play poker with Bishop Craig,"
Coyner quipped.
     "I came here telling people I didn't need to be a bishop,"
Coyner said.  "What I had to do, what I wanted to do, was to
respond to God's call.  I thank you for your support and I accept
this election as God's call."
     This was the first time since 1980 that the North Central
Jurisdiction elected two bishops on the same ballot.  In 1980,
meeting in Dayton, Ohio, following the 29th ballot, Bishop
Marjorie Matthews and Emerson Colaw were elected.  Following the
withdrawal of Rueben Job and his subsequent motion to suspend the
rules, both were elected by acclamation on the "30th" ballot. 
Matthews was the first woman bishop elected in the church.
     In 1964, on the 23rd ballot, Bishops Lance Webb and Francis
E. Kerns were elected in Cleveland.
     Following a predetermined process, the report of the first
ballot included only those individuals who had received 10 or more
votes.  Twenty people were on the ballot, announced at 7:40 p.m.
Tuesday, July 16.  Another ballot was not taken until shortly
after 9 p.m. so that delegates could have time to visit among
themselves.  
     Fourteen of the candidates had appeared at a forum held the
previous night sponsored by the jurisdiction's Black Methodists
for Church Renewal.
     The number of valid ballots cast each time numbered from 362
to 372.  Sixty percent of the valid ballots were necessary for an
election.  Individuals receiving at 100 or more votes on at least
one ballot included the four men elected, the Rev. Philip Brooks,
pastor of Armstrong Chapel United Methodist Church in Cincinnati,
Ohio; the Rev. Ellen Brubaker, pastor of Aldersgate United
Methodist Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., and the Rev. Minerva
Carcano, recently named director of the Mexican American Program
at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in
Dallas.
     Brooks, nominated by the West Ohio and West Michigan
Conferences, withdrew after the 20th ballot when he had received
106 votes (219 needed to elect). Brubaker, endorsed by the West
Michigan Conference, passed the 100-vote level six times and had
40 votes on the 21st and final ballot.  
     Carcano, a clergy member of the Rio Grande Annual Conference
in the church's South Central Jurisdiction, was supported by a
group of women within the Jurisdiction.  She received more than
100 votes on 11 ballots and recorded her highest number (113) on
the 21st and final ballot.  While rare, an ordained elder from one
jurisdiction can be elected by delegates at another jurisdictional
conference.
                              #  #  #
       

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 To make suggestions or give your comments, send a note to 
 umns@ecunet.org or Susan_Peek@ecunet.org

 To unsubscribe, send the single word "unsubscribe" (no quotes)
 in a mail message to umethnews-request@ecunet.org

-----------------------------------------------------------------------