Bishop Paup to lead Board of Global Ministries
Bishop Edward Paup (center) is congratulated by
Bishop Joel Martinez following Paup's election as chief executive of the
United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. UMNS photos by Cassandra
Heller.
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By Linda Bloom*
March 11, 2008 | STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS)
Paup addresses board members following his election.
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United Methodist Bishop Edward Paup has been elected to lead the
church's Board of Global Ministries, which oversees global missions and
is the denomination's largest agency.
The election came March 11 during the board’s spring meeting. He will
assume the post of general secretary on Sept. 1. Until that time,
Bishop Felton May will continue as the interim top executive.
Paup, 62, is bishop of the Seattle area, which includes the Pacific
Northwest Annual (regional) Conference and Alaska Missionary Conference,
and is president of the Western Jurisdiction College of Bishops. He
said he will tender his resignation from the episcopacy, effective Aug.
31, when the United Methodist Council of Bishops meets in April. The
denomination will elect new bishops during jurisdictional meetings in
July.
No stranger to the Board of Global Ministries, Paup became a director
in 2004 and serves as president of the United Methodist Committee on
Relief. He chairs the board's health and relief committee and its audit
committee and also serves on its finance and executive panels.
Paup told United Methodist News Service that he strongly believes in
the importance of the role played by the general secretaries of the
denomination's agencies and commissions and the need for him to resign
as bishop in order to be "in the same category" as his fellow chief
executives.
Unprecedented move
The election of an active bishop to oversee a church agency is
unprecedented in the 40-year history of The United Methodist Church.
U.S. bishops are elected for life and, while some have resigned for
various reasons, none has left for full-time leadership of a church
agency. Paup said he wants to "model the possibility" of moving beyond
the episcopal role. "There are times when some of us are called to lead a
particular ministry in our church," he said.
Paup said his interest in mission grew through his longtime
involvement with the work of the Advance for Christ and His Church, the
denomination’s second-mile giving program. He served as chairperson of
the Advance from 1996 to 2000. Paup said he has been drawn "to the
importance of the mission opportunities that we have in Jesus Christ
across the globe."
"There are times when some of us are called to lead a particular ministry in our church." –Bishop Edward Paup
The mission agency’s previous chief executive, the Rev. R. Randy Day,
was dismissed during the board's annual meeting last October. Its
personnel committee did not re-nominate Day and instead called for a
vote on May as interim leader. The official reason cited was that the
board "was looking for a different style of administrative leadership."
Bishop Joel Martinez, board president, lauded Paup as a "highly
experienced" choice to lead the agency, with a deep commitment to
mission and a "great vision for the church."
Journey of leadership
A native of Oil City, Pa., and 1967 graduate of Lycoming College in
Williamsport, Pa., Paup earned a master of divinity degree from Iliff
School of Theology in Denver in 1970, where he was named Alumnus of the
Year in 1995 and received an Excellence in Ministry Award the following
year.
He was ordained a deacon in the Western Pennsylvania Conference in
1968 and transferred to the Rocky Mountain Conference a year later,
where he was ordained an elder in 1970. He served as a pastor in
Colorado 1970-89; superintendent of the Utah/Western District 1989-93;
and assistant to the bishop 1993-96 before his own election as bishop in
1996.
He served as bishop for the Portland (Ore.) Area until 2004, when he was appointed to the Seattle Area.
Paup served on the General Council on Ministries 1996-2004 and was
its president 2000-2004. He was a member of the World Methodist Council
Executive Committee 1996-2001 and served on the United Methodist
Commission on Communication 1992-96. He was a General and jurisdictional
conference delegate in 1988, 1992 and 1996.
He is a member of the board of governors of the Columbia Tower Club
in Seattle and the board of trustees of the University of Puget Sound in
Tacoma, Wash. From 1996 to 2004, he was a board member at Alaska
Pacific University in Anchorage, Willamette University in Salem, Ore.,
and the Northwest House of Theological Studies in Salem.
Paup and his wife, Carol, have three daughters and five grandchildren.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Video
Reflections: One on One with Bishop Paup
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Resources
Bishop Edward W. Paup bio
Board of Global Ministries
United Methodist Committee on Relief
Pacific Northwest Annual Conference |