United Methodists elect 6 new bishops in Northeast

 

July 16, 2004                                      

 

By Linda Bloom*

 

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (UMNS) – United Methodists in the Northeastern Jurisdiction have elected six new bishops.

 

During a July 12-16 conference in Syracuse, N.Y., 288 delegates selected the new episcopal leaders and attended to other business.

 

New bishops, in order of election, are the Rev. Marcus Matthews, Baltimore-Washington Conference; the Rev. Sudarshana Devadhar, North Central New York Conference; the Rev. Jeremiah J. Park, Greater New Jersey Conference; the Rev. John R. Schol, Eastern Pennsylvania Conference; the Rev. Jane Allen Middleton, New York Conference; and the Rev. Thomas J. Bickerton, West Virginia Conference.

 

Their elections, which take effect Sept. 1, were to be formalized during a July 16 consecration service at Hendricks Chapel on the Syracuse University campus.

 

Balloting began just before lunch on July 14, with the first election coming on the third ballot, about 3:25 p.m. that day. The sixth and final election occurred on the 29th ballot, which was announced shortly after 1 a.m. on July 16.

 

Four Northeastern United Methodist leaders – Bishop Susan Morrison, Bishop Ernest Lyght, Bishop Peter Weaver and Bishop Violet Fisher – are continuing in office. All 10 bishops received assignments July 16 to episcopal areas throughout the region. 

 

Matthews, 58, an African-American pastor and native of Florence, S.C., currently serves as district superintendent of the Washington West District. From 1991-99, he was council director for the Baltimore-Washington Conference.

 

Other previous positions include district superintendent of the Baltimore East District, 1986-91; pastor of Epworth Chapel, Baltimore, 1982-86; pastor of Jones Memorial United Methodist Church, Washington, 1976-82; associate pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church, Washington, 1974-76, and student assistant pastor, Douglas Memorial United Methodist Church, Washington, 1972-74.

 

Matthews received a doctorate of ministry from New York Theological Seminary in 1981. He also holds a master of divinity degree from Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, and a bachelor’s degree from South Carolina State College.

 

He has been a member of the denomination’s General Council on Ministries and Africa University Development Committee, the World Methodist Council Executive Committee, and Black Methodists for Church Renewal. He is married to Barbara W. Matthews. They have two adult children, Jaime Matthews and Marci Michael, and three grandchildren.

 

Devadhar, 53, was born in India and served as a deacon with the Church of South India and a lecturer at Karnataka Theological College in Mangalore in the 1970s before coming to the United States. He holds a doctorate and a master’s degree from Drew University and a master of theology degree from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. He also holds bachelor’s degrees from United Theological College in Bangalore, India, and Vijaya College, University of Mysore.

 

He has served as district superintendent for the Ontario District, North Central New York Conference, since 1996, and before that was pastor at the Canton (N.Y.) United Methodist Church and at two different three-point charges.

 

On the general church level, Devadhar has been a member of the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and a delegate to three General Conferences. He was a delegate to the 1996 World Methodist Conference in Rio de Janerio and to the 2001 World Methodist Conference in Brighton, England.

 

He received an ecumenical service award in 1995 from the New York State Council of Churches. He and his wife, Prema, have one daughter, Trina.

 

Park, 52, currently Palisades District Superintendent in New Jersey, was born in Korea, and received a bachelor of divinity degree from Methodist Theological Seminary in Seoul in 1973. He was coordinator of World Vision of Korea and assistant to the pastor at First Methodist Church in Seoul during the 1970s.

 

He earned a master of divinity degree in 1979 and doctor of ministry degree in 1990, both from Drew University, The Theological School. Ordained as a deacon in what was then the Northern New Jersey Conference and as an elder in the Western New York Conference, he served as a pastor at the Rochester (NY) Korean United Methodist Church in 1979-85 before returning to a pastorate in New Jersey.

 

Park also served as a district superintendent, council director and associate council director for Northern New Jersey as well as associate director of the Northeastern Jurisdiction’s Multi-Ethnic Center for Ministry.

 

He currently is a member of the Advisory Commission on Faith-Based Initiatives for the Governor of New Jersey. He also was a General Conference delegate in 2000 and 2004. Park and his wife, Lisa, have a son, Matthew, and a daughter, Cathy Wang.

 

Schol, 48, a Philadelphia native, has an extensive background in urban ministry. In 1981-93, he directed a four-church cooperative in Philadelphia, the Frankford Group Ministry that developed programs for housing, job training, community organizing and other social needs. Eventually, a comprehensive plan was developed for the community in conjunction with other organizations, businesses and churches.

 

He then took that experience to the national and international level as the executive in charge of Communities of Shalom for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries in 1993-97. He organized the denomination’s Communities of Shalom initiative, a congregational and community development strategy implemented in 530 sites in the United States and in the African countries of Zimbabwe and Ghana.

 

Since then, Schol has served as pastor of West Chester (Pa.) United Methodist Church. He earned a doctor of ministry degree in 1995 and a master of divinity degree in 1981, both from Boston University School of Theology. In 1978, he received a bachelor’s degree from Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa.

 

Schol and his wife, Beverly Anne, have three children – Mark, Kristin and Rebecca.

 

Middleton, 63, was born in St. Louis, and has served as district superintendent of the Connecticut/New York District since 1999 and as dean of the New York Conference cabinet since 2003. As district superintendent, she helped the district forge a relationship of mutual ministry with the Bolivian Methodist Church

 

Her previous positions include senior pastor, New Canaan (Conn.) United Methodist Church, 1991-99; spiritual life director, New York Conference, 1987-91; pastor, Naugatuck United Methodist Church, 1979-87, and associate pastor, Simsbury United Methodist Church, 1977-79.

 

She earned a master of divinity degree from Yale Divinity School in 1978 and a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University in 1962.

 

Middleton, a director of the denomination’s General Council on Ministries, served as a General Conference delegate in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004, and as a delegate to the 2001 World Methodist Conference in Brighton, England. She has been involved with denominational consultations on spirituality.

 

She and her husband, Jack, have two daughters, Mari and Laura, and three grandchildren.

 

Bickerton, 46, was born in Glen Dale, W.Va., and has served as the Northern District superintendent in the West Virginia Conference since 1998. Previously, he was senior pastor of Forrest Burdette Memorial United Methodist Church, Hurricane, 1989-98; pastor, Perry Memorial United Methodist Church, Shady Spring, 1983-89; and pastor, Adrian United Methodist Church, a six-point circuit, 1979-80.

 

He earned a doctor of ministry degree from United Theological School in 1994, a master of divinity degree from Duke University Divinity School in 1983 and a bachelor’s degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1980. He has been an adjunct professor at United Theological School since 1997.

 

Bickerton is a member of the United Methodist Commission on Communication and previously served on the denomination’s Commission on Archives and History and Commission on the Status and Role of Women. He was a General Conference delegate in 1996, 2000 and 2004.

 

He and his wife, Sally, have four children – Elizabeth Anne (Liz), Thomas James II (T.J.), Ian Robert and Bruce Nicholas (Nick).

 

Six retiring bishops were recognized during the conference. They were Bishop Neil Irons, Harrisburg (Pa.) area; Bishop Hae-Jong Kim, Pittsburgh area; Bishop Felton May, Washington area; Bishop S. Clifton Ives, West Virginia area; Bishop Susan Hassinger, Boston area, and Bishop Alfred Johnson, New Jersey area.

 

Both Hassinger and Johnson were granted early retirement during the conference. Johnson also acknowledged during the meeting that a complaint had been filed against him and that he intended to follow denominational procedure in dealing with the complaint. The nature of the complaint has not been specified.

 

*Linda Bloom is a United Methodist News Service writer based in New York.

 

News media contact: Linda Bloom·(646)369-3759·New York· E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org .

 

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