Key points:
- Many of the denomination’s U.S. jurisdictional conferences, meeting this week across the country, have realigned their episcopal area boundaries to allow for a smaller number of bishops.
- Only the Western Jurisdiction held episcopal elections this year due to a substantially reduced denominational budget.
- Two bishops will be overseeing conferences across jurisdictional lines.
The denomination’s five U.S. jurisdictional conferences are meeting this week around the country to make decisions that will help shape the future of the denomination.
While jurisdictions typically elect bishops every four years following General Conference, only the Western Jurisdiction is holding episcopal elections this year due to a substantially reduced denominational budget. In May, the denomination’s international legislative assembly voted to cut the number of active U.S. bishops from 39 to 32.
Jurisdictional conferences determine the boundaries of episcopal areas that bishops serve and the boundaries of the conferences within those episcopal areas. Each jurisdictional conference also votes on where its allotted bishops are assigned. Most jurisdictions have realigned their episcopal area boundaries to allow for the smaller number of bishops, and some are planning to share bishops across jurisdictional lines.
All active bishops are eligible for reassignment at jurisdictional conferences; episcopal assignments are effective Sept. 1.
Here are the assignments announced so far, by conference.
North Central Jurisdiction
Dakotas-Minnesota: Bishop Lanette Plambeck
Illinois Great Rivers: Bishop David A. Bard and Bishop Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai
Indiana: Bishop Tracy S. Malone
Iowa Area: Bishop Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai
Michigan Area: Bishop David A. Bard
Northern Illinois-Wisconsin: Bishop Dan Schwerin
Ohio Area: Bishop Hee-Soo Jung
The North Central Jurisdiction includes the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Northeastern Jurisdiction
Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware: Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling
Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey: Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi
New York and New England: Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton
Upper New York and Susquehanna: Bishop Héctor A. Burgos-Núñez
Western Pennsylvania: Bishop Sandra L. Steiner Ball
West Virginia: Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, who also will lead the Holston Conference in the Southeastern Jurisdiction.
The Northeastern Jurisdiction includes the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia.
South Central Jurisdiction
Arkansas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma Indian Missionary: Bishop Laura Merrill
Great Plains: Bishop David Wilson
Louisiana: Bishop Delores Williamston
Missouri: Bishop Robert Farr
New Mexico: Bishop Carlo A. Rapanut, who also will lead the Desert Southwest Conference in the Western Jurisdiction.
North Texas, Central Texas and Northwest Texas: Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. (the jurisdiction approved the unification of the three conferences into the Horizon Texas Conference, starting Jan. 1)
Texas and Rio Texas: Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey
The South Central Jurisdiction includes the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Southeastern Jurisdiction
Alabama-West Florida and North Alabama: Bishop L. Jonathan Holston
Florida: Bishop Tom Berlin
Holston: Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, who also will lead the West Virginia Conference in the Northeastern Jurisdiction.
Kentucky, Tennessee-Western Kentucky and Central Appalachian Missionary: Bishop David Graves
Mississippi: Bishop Sharma Lewis
North Carolina: Bishop Connie Mitchell Shelton
North Georgia and South Georgia: Bishop Robin Dease
South Carolina: Bishop Leonard Fairley
Virginia: Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson
Western North Carolina: Bishop Kenneth Carter
The Southeastern Jurisdiction includes the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Western Jurisdiction
California-Nevada: Bishop Sandra K. Olewine
California-Pacific: Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank
Desert Southwest: Bishop Carlo A. Rapanut, who also will lead the New Mexico Conference in the South Central Jurisdiction.
Greater Northwest: Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth
Mountain Sky: Bishop Kristin Stoneking
The Western Jurisdiction includes the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
