wfn.org | United Methodist Bishops Elected

[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 3061 by UMNS on July 22, 1996 at 16:02 Eastern (8523 characters).

SEARCH: bishops, elected, jurisdictional conference, Davis,
Pennel, Kammerer, Johnson, Henderson, Hassinger, McCleskey, Lyght,
Huie, Edwards, Sprague, Weaver, Keaton, Chamberlain, Hopkins,
Coyner

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                 347(10-21-30-71){3061}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470             July 22, 1996

U.S. United Methodists elect 17 new bishops;
assign 50 to geographic areas for next four years

                 by United Methodist News Service

     Seventeen new bishops were elected by United Methodists in
five simultaneous U.S. regional conferences during the week of
July 15-19 to replace those who have died or retired.  
     The newly-elected bishops, along with 33 other U.S. bishops
already under appointment, were assigned to geographic areas for
the next four years.
     Elected to the highest office in the church were 14 men --
four of whom are African American -- and three women.
     The quadrennial conferences include an equal number of lay
and clergy delegates representing smaller regions called annual
conferences. Normally, 60 percent of the votes cast on a ballot
constitute an election.  Delegates may vote for any ordained elder
in full connection.
     The United Methodist Church was created in 1968 by a merger
of the Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) and Methodist churches. 
Methodists elected their bishops at one national gathering until
1940 when the jurisdictional system was instituted.  Bishops in
the EUB Church were elected at one national gathering until the
1968 Uniting Conference.
     The Western Jurisdictional Conference was held in Seattle;
Southeastern at Lake Junaluska, N.C.; North Central in Fort Wayne,
Ind.; Northeastern in Amherst, Mass.; South Central in Kansas
City, Mo.
     The largest number to elect in any jurisdiction was seven in
the nine-state Southeastern region.  On their second ballot,
delegates at the Lake Junaluska gathering elected the first of the
17 new bishops -- the Rev. G. Lindsey Davis, 48, a district
superintendent from Lexington, Ky. 
     They also elected the first woman bishop in the jurisdiction
-- the Rev. Charlene Payne Kammerer, 48, a pastor in Tallahassee,
Fla., on the eighth ballot.  
     The Rev. Joe E. Pennel Jr., 56, a pastor from Brentwood,
Tenn., was elected on the seventh ballot; the Rev. Cornelius L.
Henderson, 62, an African American who has been president-dean of
Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta, was elected on the ninth
ballot; the Rev. J. Lawrence McCleskey, 55, a pastor in Charlotte,
N.C., was elected on the 11th ballot; and the Rev. Marion M.
Edwards, 57, a pastor in Columbus, Ga., was elected on the 12th;
and the Rev. Ray Chamberlain, 58, superintendent of the Richmond 
(Va.) District was elected on the and 22nd and final ballot.
     Electing only one bishop this year were the South Central and
Western Jurisdictions.  Delegates from the eight-state South
Central elected the Rev. Janice Riggle Huie, 49, superintendent of
the San Angelo (Texas) District on the 16th ballot but delegates
in the 12-state Western Jurisdiction cast 24 ballots before
electing the Rev. Edward W. Paup, 50, administrative assistant to
Bishop Mary Ann Swenson of the Denver Area.
     Delegates to the 10-state Northeastern Jurisdiction,
including the District of Columbia, elected the Rev. Alfred
Johnson, 46, an African American who is superintendent of the
Harry Hosier District of the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual
Conference, on the 13th ballot.  The Rev. Susan Wolfe Hassinger,
53, a staff member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, was
elected on the 16th ballot and the Rev. Ernest S. Lyght, 52, an
African American who is superintendent of the Raritan District of
the Northern New Jersey Conference, was elected on the 19th. 
Elected on the 29th ballot -- greatest number cast in any
jurisdiction -- was the Rev. Peter D. Weaver, 51, a pastor from
Pittsburgh.
     North Central delegates, representing a nine-state region,
elected the Rev. C. Joseph Sprague, 57, a pastor in Columbus,
Ohio, on the 12th ballot and the Rev. Jonathan D. Keaton, 50, an
African American who is superintendent of the Aurora District of
the Northern Illinois Annual Conference, on the 17th.  Two Indiana
clergyman -- the Rev. John L. Hopkins, 50, a pastor in Evansville
and the Rev. Michael J. Coyner, 46, assistant to the bishop of the
Indiana Area -- were elected on the 21st and final ballot.
     The election of Kammerer, Hassinger, and Huie bring to 10 the
number of women bishops in the church.  The first woman bishop in
the church, the late Marjorie Matthews, was elected by the North
Central Jurisdiction in 1980.  Before the July elections, the six
active bishops were: Susan Morrison, Sharon Z. Rader, Sharon Brown
Christopher, Judith Craig, Mary Ann Swenson and Ann Sherer. 
Bishop Leontine T. C. Kelly is retired.  
     Bishops are elected for life but must retire when their 66th
birthday falls on or before July 1 of the year in which the
jurisdictional conference is held.  Ages of bishops in this year's
class range from Johnson and Coyner, who are 46, to Henderson who
is 62.
     Assignments were approved by the respective conference
delegations for the 1997-2000 quadrennium.  Bishops are normally
assigned to no more than two four-year terms but may be assigned
to a third under unusual circumstances. Assignments begin Sept. 1.

                     Southeastern Jurisdiction
New assignments:                 
Holston Area (headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., with portions of
     the conference in Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia) --
     Bishop Ray W.  Chamberlain
Atlanta Area (North Georgia) -- Bishop G. Lindsey Davis
Charlotte (N.C.) Area -- Bishop Charlene Payne Kammerer
Richmond (Va.) Area -- Bishop Joe E. Pennel Jr.
Raleigh (N.C.) Area -- Bishop Marion M. Edwards
Columbia (S.C.) Area -- Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey
Florida Area -- Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson

Continuing assignments:
Nashville Area (Middle Tennessee) -- Bishop Kenneth L. Carder
Birmingham Area (North Alabama) -- Bishop Robert E. Fannin
Louisville (Ky.) Area -- Bishop Robert C. Morgan
Mississippi Area -- Bishop Marshall "Jack" Meadors Jr.
Alabama-West Florida Area -- Bishop William W. Morris.
South Georgia Area -- Bishop Richard C. Looney

                     Northeastern Jurisdiction

New Assignments
Albany Area -- Bishop Susan Morrison
Boston Area -- Bishop Susan Wolfe Hassinger
Harrisburg (Pa.) Area -- Bishop Neil Irons
New Jersey Area -- Bishop Alfred Johnson
New York Area -- Bishop Ernest Lyght
Philadelphia Area -- Bishop Peter Weaver
Washington Area -- Bishop Felton May

Continuing Assignments
New York West Area -- Bishop Hae-Jong Kim
Pittsburgh Area -- Bishop George Bashore
West Virginia Area -- Bishop S. Clifton Ives

                    North Central Jurisdiction

New Assignments:
Chicago Area -- Bishop C. Joseph Sprague
Dakotas Area -- Bishop Michael J. Coyner
Illinois Area (Central and Southern) -- Bishop Sharon Brown
     Christopher
Minnesota Area -- Bishop John L. Hopkins
Ohio East Area -- Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton

Continuing Assignments:
Indiana Area -- Bishop Woodie W. White
Iowa Area -- Bishop Charles W. Jordan
Michigan Area -- Bishop Donald A. Ott
Ohio West -- Bishop Judith Craig
Wisconsin -- Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader

                    South Central Jurisdiction

New Assignments:
Arkansas Area -- Bishop Janice Riggle Huie
Dallas Area -- Bishop William B. Oden
Louisiana Area -- Bishop Dan E. Solomon
Oklahoma Area -- Bishop Bruce P. Blake

Continuing Assignments:
Fort Worth Area -- Bishop Joe A. Wilson
Houston Area -- Bishop J. Woodrow Hearn
Kansas Area -- Bishop A. Frederick "Fritz" Mutti
Missouri Area -- Bishop Ann B. Sherer
Nebraska Area -- Bishop Joel L. Martinez
San Antonio Area -- Bishop Raymond H. Owen
Northwest Texas-New Mexico Area -- Alfred L. Norris
                       Western Jurisdiction

New Assignments:
Phoenix Area -- Bishop William W. Dew Jr.
Portland Area -- Bishop Edward W. Paup
Seattle Area --  Bishop Elias G. Galvan

Continuing Assignments:
Denver Area -- Bishop Mary Ann Swenson
Los Angeles Area -- Bishop Roy I. Sano
San Francisco Area -- Bishop Melvin G. Talbert

                              #  #  #

Head-and-shoulder photos of most bishops available on request:
(615) 742-5470.

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

 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

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