Seven areas in North Central assigned new United Methodist bishops
July 17, 2004
DAVENPORT,
IOWA (UMNS) – United Methodists in seven episcopal areas of the
denomination’s North Central Jurisdiction will welcome new bishops on
Sept. 1.
Assignments
for the 10 bishops—including three who are newly elected—who will serve
the 12 conferences in the nine-state region were announced July 17 at
the final business session of the July 14-17 jurisdictional conference
in Davenport, Iowa. Assignments run through Aug. 31, 2008.
New
bishops were consecrated July 17 at St. John’s United Methodist Church
in Davenport in a service concluding the jurisdictional conference.
Assignments for the bishops serving the North Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church are:
Bishop
Sharon Brown Christopher, 59, Illinois Area (Illinois Great Rivers
Annual Conference), will continue where she has served since 1996.
Bishop
Michael J. Coyner, 54, will move to the Indiana Area (North Indiana and
South Indiana conferences) from the Dakotas Area. He succeeds Bishop
Woodie W. White, who is retiring.
Bishop
Sally Dyck, 50, Minnesota Area (Minnesota Conference). A new bishop,
she was pastor of Garfield United Methodist Church in Pepper Pike, Ohio,
in the East Ohio Conference and succeeds Bishop John L. Hopkins.
Bishop
John L. Hopkins, 58, will move to the Ohio East Area (East Ohio
Conference) from the Minnesota Area where he has served since 1996. He
succeeds Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton.
Bishop
Hee-Soo Jung, 49, Chicago Area (Northern Illinois Conference). A new
bishop, he was superintendent of the Nicolet district in the Wisconsin
Conference and succeeds Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, who is retiring.
Bishop
Jonathan Keaton, 58, will move to the Michigan Area (Detroit and West
Michigan annual conferences) from Ohio East where he has served since
1996.
Bishop
Deborah Kiesey, 53, Dakotas Area (Dakotas Annual Conference). A new
bishop, she was superintendent of the Waterloo District in the Iowa
Conference and succeeds Bishop Michael J. Coyner.