Bishops Process
United Methodist bishops process during opening worship at General Conference. (Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS)
Fifty-five candidates -- including three openly gay clergy and a nominee who has been suspended pending charges -- will vie for 15 bishop seats in five U.S. jurisdictions of The United Methodist Church during the week of July 11.
The three openly gay clergy came out this spring in a letter signed by more than 100 United Methodist clergy acknowledging their sexual orientation. Two are in the Western Jurisdiction, the Rev. Karen Oliveto, pastor of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco (California-Nevada Annual Conference) and the Rev. Frank Wulf, pastor of Echo Park United Methodist Church in Los Angeles (California-Pacific Annual Conference. The third, the Rev. David Meredith, pastor of Clifton UMC and Director of Urban Ministry, Ohio River Valley District (West Ohio Annual Conference).
Oliveto and Wulf have been endorsed by their respective annual conferences; Meredith has not. Oliveto and Meredith are in legal same-sex marriages; Wulf says he is in a "covenanted relationship."
The United Methodist Church forbids ordaining LGBT people, but this past spring more than 110 clergy have publicly acknowledged their sexual orientation in protest of the denomination's continued stances that hold homosexual behavior to be "incompatible with Christian teaching." If any of the gay candidates are elected bishop, they could immediately be brought up on charges for violating the Book of Discipline, and likely would be barred from taking office.
The fourth episcopal nominee whose candidacy is uncertain is the Rev. Jisun Kwak, who was endorsed by the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference where she served as superintendent of the Delaware Bay District. She has been suspended from ministry pending the outcome of an investigation into charges brought against her by the bishop and cabinet of the annual conference.
The nature of the charges brought against Rev. Kwak has not been specified by Bishop John Schol, who has recused himself from the disciplinary process because of their working relationship. However, in a statement circulated to members of the National Federation of Asian American United Methodists, Dr. Kwak's church advocate, the Rev. Robert Costello, stated:
"Rev. Kwak is not accused of murder, robbery, abuse, assault, pornography, LGBT issues or sexual misconduct. It is worth noting that she is not involved in any cases in the civil or criminal court systems.
"Rev. Kwak is an elected member of the General and Jurisdictional Conference delegation from the Greater NJ Annual Conference. She is the only individual endorsed by the annual conference as an episcopal candidate for the July elections in the Northeast Jurisdictional Conference. Since 2011 she has been serving as the first Asian woman District Superintendent appointed in the jurisdiction. If elected, she would be the first Asian woman bishop."
Rev. Kwak's status as an episcopal nominee has not been publicly clarified to date.
In addition to the announced candidates, other clergy may be nominated from the floor of each regional meeting. The dates, places and announced candidates for bishop in each jurisdiction are:
Northeastern Jurisdiction, July 11-15, Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square, Lancaster, PA, two bishops to be elected. Candidates:
- Adrienne Brewington, New York Conference
- We Chang, New England Conference, Naafum
- Irving Cotto, Eastern Pennsylvania
- LaTrelle Easterling, New England Conference
- Joseph S. Kenaston, West Virginia Conference
- Kenneth J. Kieffer, New York Conference
- Jisun Kwak*, Greater New Jersey Conference
- Cynthia Moore-Koikoi, Baltimore-Washington
- Derrick Porter, Peninsula-Delaware
- Cathy Hall Stengel, Upper New York
- Rebekah B. Sweet, Upper New York
North Central Jurisdiction, Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Ill. July 13-16, four bishops to be elected. Candidates:
- Rev. Armando Arellano, East Ohio Conference
- Rev. Dr. David Bard, Minnesota Conference
- Rev. Dr. Frank Beard, Indiana Conference
- Rev. Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai, West Michigan Conference
- Rev. Dr. Charles Boayue, Detroit Conference
- Rev. Susan Brown, East Ohio
- Rev. Dr. Jerome R. DeVine, Detroit Conference
- Rev. Dr. Lillian Gallo Seagren, Iowa Conference
- Rev. Dr. Gary George, East Ohio Conference
- Rev. Laurie Haller, West Michigan Conference
- Rev. Dr. Tracy Smith Malone, Northern Illinois Conference
- Rev David W. Meredith, East Ohio Conference
- Rev. Dr. Christopher Ritter, Illinois Great Rivers Conference
- Rev. Dr. Samuel J. Royappa, Wisconsin Conference
- Rev. Dr. Barrie M. Tritle, Iowa Conference
- Rev. Sylvester Weatherall, Illinois Great Rivers Conference
- Rev. Zaki Labib Zaki, Northern Illinois Conference
Southeastern Jurisdiction, July 13-16, 2016 Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center, Lake Junaluska, NC, five bishops to be elected. Candidates:
- Bryan, Lawson, Alabama-West Florida Conference
- Fairley, Leonard, North Carolina Conference
- Graves, David, Holston Conference
- Grieb, Tom Kentucky Conference
- Haupert-Johnson, Sue Florida Conference
- Howell, James Western North Carolina Conference
- Lewis, Sharma North Georgia Conference
- McClendon, Tim South Carolina Conference
- McCracken, Sky Memphis Conference
- Scott, Robin, North Alabama Conference) Responses
- Smith, Ted, Black Methodists for Church Renewal of Virginia Conference
- Sparks, Stephen, Mississippi Conference
- Stuart, Farley, Red Bird Missionary Conference
South Central Jurisdictional Conference will be held July 13-16, 2016 at the Hyatt Hotel in Wichita, Kansas. three bishops to be elected. Candidates (profile links not provided by the jurisdiction)
- Bob Farr – Missouri Conference
- Lynn Dyke – Missouri Conference (Endorsed by the Women’s Leadership Team.}
- Jimmy Nunn – Northwest Texas Conference
- Eradio Valverde – Rio Texas Conference (Endorsed by MARCHA)
- Ruben Saenz, Jr. – Rio Texas Conference
- David Wilson – Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference
- Morris Matthis – Texas Conference
- Janice Gilbert – Texas Conference (Endorsed by BMCR)
Western Jurisdiction July 13 -16, 2016 Scottsdale, Arizona, one bishop to be elected. View or download complete information about endorsed candidates and their profiles.
- Dottie Escobedo-Frank, Desert Southwest Conference
- Karen Oliveto, California-Nevada Conference
- Lyda Pierce, Pacific Northwest Conference
- Donna M.L. Pritchard, Oregon-Idaho Conference
- Walter “Skip” Strickland, Rocky Mountain Conference
- Frank D. Wulf, California-Pacific Conference
In addition to the five U.S. jurisdictions, bishops are elected in the seven Central Conferences, which are regions outside the United States of America. Central Conference meetings are scheduled as follows according to United Methodist News Service:
- Africa Central Conference: Aug. 11-14
- Northern Europe and Eurasia Central Conference: Oct. 19-23
- Philippines Central Conference: Nov. 28-Dec. 4
- West Africa Central Conference: Dec. 13-16
- Congo Central Conference: March 6-10, 2017
- Central and Southern Europe Central Conference: March 8-12, 2017
- Germany Central Conference: March 15-19, 2017
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor & Founder of United Methodist Insight.