Bishops strengthen leadership, set up office in D.C.
11/12/2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn. For
additional coverage of the United Methodist Council of Bishops'
meeting, see UMNS stories #525, 531-534, 537-538 and 545-546. WASHINGTON
(UMNS) - In an effort to provide stronger leadership across the
denomination, United Methodist bishops have voted to lengthen the term
of their president and establish a permanent, staffed office.
With
the new structure approved during a Nov. 2-7 meeting, the Council of
Bishops' president will serve two years instead of the traditional
one-year term. Bishop Peter Weaver of the Philadelphia Area was elected
to that post. He will succeed Bishop Ruediger Minor of the Eurasia Area
during General Conference.
The council's new office will be in
the United Methodist Building, across the street from the Capitol and
the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington.
The bishops elected
additional officers, including president-designate, Bishop Janice Riggle
Huie of the Arkansas Area; secretary, Bishop Ernest Lyght of the New
York Area; and ecumenical officer, Bishop William Oden of Dallas. Minor
will remain on the council's Executive Committee as immediate past
president. Huie will take office during General Conference, and Oden
will take office Sept. 1. Lyght's effective date could not be confirmed
at press time.
In a newly created position, an executive
secretary will serve as chief operating officer for the council. The
executive secretary will be a retired bishop who will serve a four-year
term and receive compensation. Bishop Roy Sano of Oakland, Calif., was
chosen as the first executive secretary. He will take office Sept. 1.
The
changes in leadership structure and the approval of a permanent office
capped several years of work by the council. An earlier plan to have an
active bishop serve as executive secretary met with rejection from the
United Methodist Judicial Council, which ruled that such a "set-aside"
bishop would be against the church's constitution.
"We're at a
time in the church where it's really critical that the council have some
continuity and some clear direction on how it leads the church, and
this new leadership team, this new structure, will allow that," said
Bishop Bruce Ough, who leads the church's West Ohio Area.
"In my
judgment, so far as the life and style of leadership which the Council
of Bishops gives, this is the most significant meeting we have had since
I've been a bishop," said Bishop William Boyd Grove of Charleston,
W.Va. Technically retired, Grove was elected bishop in 1980.
The
council's semiannual meeting drew 112 active and retired bishops from
around the world to Washington. The bishops represent about 10 million
United Methodists in the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe.
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