Seven areas in South Central assigned new United Methodist bishops July 17, 2004 By Douglas Cannon* CORPUS
CHRISTI, Texas (UMNS) — United Methodists in seven episcopal areas of
the South Central Jurisdiction will welcome new bishops on Sept. 1. Assignments
for the 11 bishops – including four who are newly elected – who will
serve the eight-state region were announced July 16 at the final
business session of the July 14-17 jurisdictional conference in Corpus
Christi. Assignments run through Aug. 31, 2008. New bishops were
consecrated July 17 at First United Methodist Church, Corpus Christi, in
a service concluding the jurisdictional conference. Assignments for the bishops serving the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church are: Bishop
Charles N. Crutchfield, 60, Arkansas Area (Arkansas Conference). A new
bishop, he was pastor of Central United Methodist Church, Albuquerque,
N.M. Bishop Crutchfield succeeds Bishop Janice Riggle Huie. Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, 58,
succeeds retiring Bishop Alfred L. Norris in the Houston Area (Texas
Conference), after serving the Arkansas Area since 1996. Norris had
served the area since 2000. Bishop Ben R. Chamness, 64, will continue in the Fort Worth Area (Central Texas Conference), where he has served since 2000. Bishop
Scott C. Jones, 50, succeeds retiring Bishop A. Frederick “Fritz” Mutti
in the Kansas Area (Kansas East and Kansas West conferences). Jones
will move to Kansas from Dallas, where he was McCreless associate
professor of evangelism at Perkins School of Theology, Southern
Methodist University. Mutti had served the area since 1992. Bishop William W. Hutchinson, 62, will continue in the Louisiana Area (Louisiana Conference), where he has served since 2000. Bishop
Robert C. Schnase, 46, succeeds Bishop Ann B. Sherer in the Missouri
Area (Missouri Conference). Schnase moves to the episcopacy after being
senior pastor of First United Methodist Church, McAllen, Texas. Bishop
Ann B. Sherer, 61, who has served the Missouri Area since 1992,
succeeds Bishop Rhymes H. Moncure Jr. in the Nebraska Area (Nebraska
Conference).
Bishop
Rhymes H. Moncure, Jr., 59, who has served the Nebraska Area since
2000, succeeds retiring Bishop William B. Oden in the Dallas Area (North
Texas). Oden had served the area since 1996. Bishop
D. Max Whitfield, 59, continues in the Northwest Texas-New Mexico Area
(Northwest Texas and New Mexico conferences), where he has served since
2000. Bishop
Robert E. Hayes Jr., 56, succeeds retiring Bishop Bruce P. Blake in the
Oklahoma Area (Oklahoma and Oklahoma Indian Missionary conferences).
Hayes has been treasurer of the Texas Conference. Blake has served the
area since 1996. Bishop
Joel N. Martinez, 64, continues in the San Antonio Area (Rio Grande and
Southwest Texas conferences), where he has served since 2000. Bishops
may serve one episcopal area for up to 12 years. The traditional tenure
is two four-year terms. Bishops in the United Methodist Church are
elected for life but must retire from active administration at the
jurisdictional conference following their 66th birthdays.
The United Methodist Book of Discipline
charges bishops “to lead and oversee the spiritual and temporal
affairs” of the denomination and to “lead the church in its mission of
witness and service in the world.” *Douglas Cannon is director of communications for the Southwest Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. News Media Contact: Linda Green, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470, newsdesk@umcom.org.
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