wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS - W. Earl Bledsoe elected a bishop of The United Methodist Church

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W. Earl Bledsoe elected a bishop of The United Methodist Church

>Jul. 17, 2008

NOTE: A photograph is available at http://umns.umc.org.

>By Linda Green*

DALLAS (UMNS)-The Rev. W. Earl Bledsoe of College Station, Texas, has
been elected a bishop by the South Central Jurisdictional Conference of
the United Methodist Church.

Bledsoe, 57, an African-American pastor and superintendent of the
Bryan/West District in the Texas Conference was elected July 17. He will
fill one of the vacancies created in the denomination's South Central
College of Bishops by the retirements of two bishops and the death of
another.

The new bishops are being elected by 297 delegates attending the
conference. Bledsoe will become one of 11 active bishops serving one of
the episcopal areas of the 15 annual conferences that make up the
eight-state jurisdiction. The South Central Jurisdiction is home to 1.8
million United Methodists in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri,
Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

A consecration service for the three new bishops will be held at 10:30
a.m. Saturday, July 19, at First United Methodist Church in downtown
Dallas.

An episcopal assignment committee is already considering where Bledsoe
and the other active bishops in the jurisdiction will serve for the next
four years. Their assignments will be effective Sept. 1.

Endorsed by the Texas Annual Conference and Black Methodists for Church
Renewal, Bledsoe was elected on the third ballot, receiving 186 of  294
votes cast, with 174 votes needed for election.

While the South Central Jurisdictional Conference is occurring, four
other United Methodist jurisdictional conferences are meeting to elect
five other bishops.

A United Methodist bishop is elected for life and, although eight years
is the standard term for a bishop to serve in an episcopal area, it is
not unusual for a bishop to be assigned to one area for 12 years for
"missional reasons."

Bishops are charged by the church's Book of Discipline to "guard the
faith, order, liturgy, doctrine and discipline of the church" and "lead
all persons entrusted to their oversight in worship, in the celebration
of the sacraments, and in their mission of witness and service in the
world." They are also charged "to be prophetic voices and courageous
leaders in the cause of justice for all people."

A champion of evangelism and church growth, Bledsoe said his philosophy
is that "the church is either growing or dying, and if it is standing
still, it is dying." In a briefing after his election, he said the
connectional system, the diversity of theological thought and
differences of opinion are what he views as hopeful about The United
Methodist Church. "We are a church that allows people to develop their
faith and grow in their faith experience," he said.

A jurisdictional conference has the following power and duties:

*	To promote the evangelistic, educational, missionary and
benevolent interests of the Church and to provide for interests and
institutions within their boundaries. The South Central Jurisdictional
Conference institutions are Mt. Sequoyah, Fayetteville, Ark.; the Lydia
Patterson Institute, El Paso, Texas; and Southern Methodist University,
Dallas.
*	To elect bishops. 
*	To establish and constitute jurisdictional conference boards as
auxiliaries to the general boards of the church.
*	To determine the boundaries of annual conferences. 
*	To make rules and regulations for the administration of the
church's work within the jurisdiction. 
*	To appoint a committee on appeals.

The United Methodist Church was created in 1968 by a merger of the
Evangelical United Brethren 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 1968.

News media contact: Linda Green, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

>********************

United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org

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