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By David Briggs*
3:30 P.M. EST May 7, 2010 | COLUMBUS, Ohio (UMNS)
Bishop Gregory Palmer passes the president’s gavel to Bishop Larry
Goodpaster at the close of the Council of Bishops meeting. A UMNS photo
by James D. DeCamp.
View in Photo Gallery
A former Mississippi pastor who is committed to engaging United
Methodists in hands-on mission took office May 7 as president of the
denomination’s Council of Bishops.
Bishop Gregory Palmer, outgoing leader, handed the presidential
gavel over to Bishop Larry Goodpaster with the words, “May you direct
and assist us in the building up of God’s work.“
Goodpaster, spiritual leader of the Charlotte (N.C.) Area, promised
to fulfill the office “for the glory of God and for the transformation
of the world.”
Following the installation service, United Methodist bishops stood
and applauded while Palmer embraced Goodpaster. Palmer, leader of the
Illinois Area, had served as president since 2008.
Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader of Chicago said she looks forward to Goodpaster’s leadership.
“He is a man with solid gospel presence and great integrity in all
the work he does,” she said. “He engages everyone with whom he works.”
The council comprises The United Methodist Church’s top clergy
leaders, who guide the 11.5 million-member denomination in Africa,
Europe, Asia and the United States.
In an interview, Goodpaster said he is ready to assume the office.
“I want to be where God wants me to be,” he said. “I want to be available. I want to trust God.”
Advocate of growth
Goodpaster received his bachelor’s degree from United
Methodist-related Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., in 1970 and was
ordained deacon in 1971 and elder in 1974.
He served several Mississippi churches
while earning a doctorate from Candler School of Theology in 1982. He
has served a five-church rural charge, a new congregation and several
large-membership churches.
He was elected a bishop in 2000 and appointed to the Alabama-West
Florida Conference. He was appointed to the Western North Carolina
Conference in 2008. He also provides oversight to the church in
Vietnam.
During his two-year term, the new president will face several
issues, including an effort to establish structures that more fully
reflect the growth of the church overseas and efforts to revive a
declining and graying membership in the United States.
As Palmer's successor, Goodpaster said he wants to play a role in
bringing the church together in mission. In particular, the bishop
said, he wants to embed the denomination‘s four areas of focus
(leadership development, congregational growth, global health and
ministry with people in poverty) into the life of the church.
As part of that effort, he wants to continue informal conversations
among several groups looking at the church’s future, including the Call
to Action Committee, the Connectional Table and the Committee to Study
the Worldwide Nature of The United Methodist Church. All of these
groups, along with the Council of Bishops, need to be sure they are
working together, said Goodpaster, author of the 2008 book "There's
Power in the Connection.”
In a rapidly changing world, there is a special challenge in finding
ways to serve the church in a timely way between the General
Conference gatherings, which occur every four years. Shortly after the
2008 legislative assembly approved the four-year budget, the economy
soured. The budget crisis that followed showed the need for the church
"to be able to respond quickly," Goodpaster said.
New life
Amid its challenges, there are signs of new life throughout the denomination, Goodpaster said.
Bishops Goodpaster and Palmer embrace following the passing of the gavel. A UMNS photo by James D. DeCamp.
View in Photo Gallery
He sees it in his own conference, which
plans to start eight churches this summer. In addition, he sees it
throughout the church in Southeast Asia, which continues to grow
despite many challenges.
“There is a certain amount of excitement and passion about extending
the gospel from village to village, from neighborhood to
neighborhood,” Goodpaster said.
When the going gets hard, he said, church members in Vietnam, Laos
and Cambodia have the attitude, “We’re going to trust God to get us
through this.“
It is also Goodpaster’s attitude as he assumes the presidency of the Council of Bishops.
“God’s grace is bigger than any of us and always sufficient,” Goodpaster said. “That’s what I’m going to rely on.”
*Briggs is news editor of United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: David Briggs, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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