Goodpaster, Wenner win election to lead bishops
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Bishop Larry
Goodpaster
Bishop Rosemarie Wenner
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By Kathy Gilbert*
Nov. 4, 2009 | LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. (UMNS)
Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster of Western North Carolina will be the next president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops.
The council at its fall meeting on Nov. 4 elected Goodpaster
president and Bishop Rosemarie Wenner of Germany president-elect by a
“staggering” majority, announced Bishop Gregory Palmer, current council
president.
Goodpaster will take over leadership of the worldwide council
May 6, 2010. Wenner will serve as president in 2012. The bishops serve
for two-year terms.
“It was exciting two years ago when I was in Bishop Wenner's
place as president-elect, but now making it official I also feel the
weight and the excitement of the possibilities,” said Goodpaster, 61.
“I am energized for this great opportunity to do something for Christ
and his church that will have lasting benefits.”
Power in the connection
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United Methodist Bishops Larry M. Goodpaster (left) and Rosemarie Wenner are prayed over by other bishops.
A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert.
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Goodpaster was appointed to serve as the leader for the
Western North Carolina Annual (regional) Conference at the 2008
Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. Elected
to the episcopacy in 2000, Goodpaster led the Alabama-West Florida
Conference for eight years. Before his election, he served as a pastor
and district superintendent in the Mississippi Conference.
His pastoral experience includes a five-church rural
charge, a new congregation and several larger membership churches. He
has taught in a variety of settings and published in various
denominational publications. His latest book, “There’s Power in the
Connection,” was published in 2008 by Abingdon Press.
Goodpaster earned a bachelor of arts degree from
Millsaps College, Jackson, Miss., and master of divinity and doctor of
ministry degrees from Candler School of Theology in Atlanta.
A sign of trust
Wenner, 54, was elected bishop in 2005, becoming the
denomination’s first woman elected to the episcopacy outside the United
States.
“When you are one of the central conference bishops, you don't
come here thinking you are going to be a leader for the Council of
Bishops,” she said. “It was surprising when they asked me and a great
sign of trust and expectations. The past presidents have set the stage
for us to focus on the most important thing in the world, to make
disciples for the transformation of the world.”
A native of Eppingen in southern Germany, she had served as
superintendent of the church’s Frankfurt District since 1996. She
studied at the United Methodist Theological Seminary in Reutlingen and
has held pastorates in Karlsruhe, Hockenheim and Darmstadt.
The Council of Bishops represents 11.5 million United
Methodists in the United States, Africa, Europe and Asia. It includes
69 active and 98 retired bishops.
*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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