Key Points:
- The Rev. Øyvind Helliesen served on the Judicial Council, The United Methodist Church’s top court, from 2016 until his passing on Nov. 25 at age 69.
- During his tenure, he provided crucial guidance to the denomination in a time of division and disaffiliations.
- United Methodist leaders around the globe say they will miss his calm demeanor and wisdom.
The Rev. Øyvind Helliesen’s name might not be familiar to many United Methodists, but they know the impact of his ministry.
Helliesen — a Norwegian church leader first elected to the denomination’s top court in 2016 and re-elected in 2024 — helped guide The United Methodist Church through one of the most turbulent periods in its 241-year history.
With a calm presence and deep understanding of church law, he contributed to Judicial Council decisions dealing with the denomination’s disputes over homosexuality, delays caused by COVID-19 and, eventually, the disaffiliation process used by thousands of congregations to leave.
Helliesen died Nov. 25 in his native Norway at the age of 69. His survivors include his wife, Tove, whom he married in 1979, as well as their three children, Anders, Jørgen and Kristine, and their families. At the time of his death, he was the Judicial Council’s vice president.
Fellow church court members and other leaders across the denomination say they grieve the loss of his friendship and wise, prayerful counsel as The United Methodist Church transitions to a new season after disaffiliations.
“His death leaves a hole in our hearts and leaves the absence of a sage and graceful voice in the Judicial Council,” said the Rev. Susan Henry-Crowe, current Judicial Council president and previously the church court’s president from 2008 to 2012.
Celebration of life
A funeral for the Rev. Øyvind Helliesen is scheduled at 11 a.m. local time Dec. 5 at Petrikirken Kjølberg, a United Methodist church in Sellebakk, Norway, with a procession to Borge Cemetery. Afterward, there will be an open memorial service at Petrikirken. The Rev. Susan Henry-Crowe, current Judicial Council president, plans to attend on behalf of the church court. The Rev. Luan-Vu “Lui” Tran also plans to attend.
“He was knowledgeable, wise, prudent and faithful. He loved The United Methodist Church and did all in his power to help it flourish.”
The Judicial Council is the denomination’s equivalent of a supreme court. Its nine members — currently five clergy and four laity — typically meet at least twice a year to consider whether actions by various church bodies are in line with the constitution and other rules in the Book of Discipline, the denomination’s law book.
General Conference, the denomination’s top lawmaking assembly, elects Judicial Council members and alternates who step in when a member is not available. All members serve on a voluntary basis. Most Judicial Council decisions are anonymous, and members only sign their names to dissents or concurring opinions.
While the work of the church court’s members is unpaid and often unsung, their efforts have a profound effect on United Methodist ministry — especially in how the denomination navigated a splintering that saw about a quarter of U.S. churches withdraw from the denomination between 2019 and 2023.
William “Bill” A. Waddell Jr., elected to the Judicial Council last year, first got to know Helliesen while making oral arguments before the church court as chancellor — legal counsel — for the Council of Bishops.
“It became evident that he was the center of gravity on the Judicial Council during a tumultuous time in our church,” Waddell recalled. “This was a great gift to the church and also a wonderful testament to how our global nature strengthens the denomination.”
Nordic-Baltic-Ukraine Area Bishop Knut Refsdal said in a statement on behalf of the Norway Conference’s leadership that Helliesen “possessed a wealth of experience and knowledge about the church.”
“He was dedicated and competent in everything he did,” said Refsdal, who, like Helliesen, hails from Norway. “Øyvind was a person who showed great care and was appreciated by many. He will be greatly missed by the whole church.”
Council of Bishops President Tracy S. Malone said she and her fellow bishops also give thanks to God for Helliesen’s life and witness.
“His leadership and ministry shaped the work of The United Methodist Church across many decades, most especially through his distinguished service on the Judicial Council,” she said. “Rev. Helliesen served with a deep love for Christ, a steadfast commitment to the church, and a devotion to justice and fairness. May the peace of Christ surround all who mourn his passing.”
Helliesen was born on March 2, 1956, in Stavanger, a city on Norway’s southwestern coast. Influenced by the Jesus movement — an evangelical revival that began in California and spread to Europe in the 1970s — he became a committed Christian and also felt the call to pastoral ministry.
In 1975, he moved to Halden, near the Swedish border, to work as a youth leader. There he met Tove, his wife of more than 45 years.
His first appointment was as pastor in Kristiansund in 1979. Since then, he served as a pastor in Trondheim, Stavanger and Øståsen, and as a teacher at the United Methodist seminary in Norway.
He later served two terms as a Norway Conference district superintendent, helping to advise the bishop in clergy appointments and other matters. He was dean of the conference’s cabinet when he joined the Judicial Council. For the past four years, he worked as a chaplain at Østfold Hospital. He also acted as a mentor to other pastors.
“He became a good friend and a trusted partner in conversation and in the leadership of the Norway Annual Conference,” said retired Bishop Christian Alsted, who previously led the Nordic-Baltic-Ukraine Area. Helliesen served on Alsted’s cabinet.
“He possessed a unique ability to build relationships and to lead and facilitate challenging conversation, gifts he offered to the church during demanding dialogue processes on human sexuality and unity in diversity in Norway and across the episcopal area.
“Øyvind’s deep understanding of The United Methodist Church’s teaching and discipline made him a trusted adviser to several bishops on matters of interpreting and applying the Book of Discipline,” Alsted added. “When he became the first European member of the denomination’s Judicial Council, he assumed the role with humility, joy and a profound sense of responsibility and dedication.”
Even before his tenure on the Judicial Council, Helliesen served the denomination in a variety of international leadership roles. He was a delegate to General Conference and a member of the denomination’s General Council on Ministries and its successor, the Connectional Table, which coordinates denomination-wide ministries. He also was a member of the European Methodist Council and World Methodist Council.
He was among the relatively few Judicial Council members from what were then known as central conferences — church regional bodies in Africa, Europe and the Philippines. He was a member of the Central Conference Council. He also was an editor of the Northern Europe and Eurasia Book of Discipline, helping to make clear how his central conference adapted the Discipline to its legal and missional contexts.
Central conferences are now renamed “regional conferences” with the recent ratification of a new structure that allows such adaptations denomination-wide.
Multiple Judicial Council members said his central conference experience proved critical to the church court’s deliberations.
“The depth of his knowledge and his ability to recall the Discipline’s various provisions relating to, and bearing on, the process of a central conference’s adaptation of the Discipline was invaluable and truly informed the decision-making,” said Beth Capen, a Judicial Council veteran who served alongside Helliesen from 2016 to 2024.
She also said that she will always remember his desire to earnestly engage in discussion rather than let conflict define the decision-making process. “It appeared to me that Øyvind grieved over unresolved conflict,” she said.
The Rev. Dennis Blackwell, another Judicial Council veteran, said it was a privilege to work alongside Helliesen.
“He was unfailingly kind, deeply collaborative and a gifted writer,” Blackwell said. “His words carry both wisdom and compassion. His genuine heart for humanity shaped everything he touched.”
Lidia Romão Ngulele, an attorney in Mozambique and a fellow central conference member on the church court, said in Portuguese that Helliesen’s service was marked by a deep commitment to truth, justice and integrity.
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“His calm demeanor, his conciliatory spirit and his dedication to dialogue built lives, strengthened the mission of the church and brought light in times of uncertainty,” she said. “Øyvind was a servant who walked according to grace, and his contribution will remain as a testament to living faith and exemplary service.”
Deanell Reece Tacha, a retired U.S. federal circuit judge and a member of the Judicial Council from 2016 to 2024, offered a similar sentiment.
“He literally exemplified the Gospel and Wesleyan messages of compassion, reflection, service and humility,” she said. “He brought to his work on the Judicial Council a powerful intellect, commitment to excellence and practical understanding of the effects of our work.”
When last year’s delayed General Conference opted to hold elections for all nine Judicial Council slots, most of the then-Judicial Council members had to decide whether to stand for re-election. Both Capen and Blackwell were term-limited, and others opted to step aside. Helliesen and the Rev. Luan-Vu “Lui” Tran, also elected in 2016, agreed to try to stay on and were re-elected. Tran said they both wanted to maintain stability between the new membership and its predecessors.
“Øyvind and I sought re-election — not for the sake of position, but to help ensure continuity and to transmit a complex body of case law, nearly 200 decisions, to the newly elected members,” he said.
Tran added that Helliesen had a wonderful sense of humor.
“In tense moments during our Judicial Council meetings, he could disarm a room with a well-timed story — one that made us laugh, breathe again and rediscover our bond as colleagues,” Tran said.
Tran stepped down from the church court in June to take on a heavier workload with the California-Pacific Conference. But he kept in regular contact with Helliesen.
“Øyvind was more than a colleague and more than a friend to me. He was, in every meaningful way, the brother I never had,” Tran said.
The Rev. J. Kabamba Kiboko, who also served with Helliesen on the Judicial Council from 2016 to 2024, said she likewise viewed him as part of her family.
“Øyvind and I called each other brother and sister, and he lived that truth with gentleness, humility and grace,” she said. “Serving with him on the Judicial Council was a blessing I will carry in my heart.”
With Tran’s departure and Helliesen’s passing, two clergy alternates will now be full Judicial Council members. The Rev. Tim Bruster already serves on the court, and the Rev. Taylor Walters Denyer of Congo is the next elected clergy alternate.
Hahn is assistant news editor for UM News. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.
