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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2009
Council of Bishops Elects Wenner President-Designate and Goodpaster President
Lake Junaluska, NJ:The United Methodist Council of Bishops has elected Bishop Rosemarie Wenner of the Germany Episcopal Area as its president designate. The council also elected Bishop Larry Goodpaster of the Charlotte Episcopal Area as president for a two-year term beginning May 6, 2010 and ending during the 2012 General Conference. Goodpaster will succeed Bishop Gregory Palmer of the Illinois Episcopal Area.
Bishop Goodpaster, who has served as president-designate for the past year and a half, said that he is looking forward to continuing work on reordering and rethinking church and what it might look like in the future. "Being in a position to make that vision happen-that keeps me energized."
Bishop Wenner is a native of Germany and attended the United Methodist Theological Seminary in Reutlingen. She was ordained in 1981 and served as pastor of congregations in Karlsruhe-Durlach, Hockenheim and Darmstadt-Sprendlingen before her appointment as superintendent of the Frankfurt District in 1996. In February 2005, she was elected bishop at the Germany Central Conference in Wuppertal--the first woman elected to the United Methodist episcopacy outside the U.S.
"We are clear about our priorities; we want to enable our local churches and our annual conferences to fulfill the task of making disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world," said Bishop Wenner. "I look forward to giving my contribution so that we all together might go forward in this direction and really focus on the four area of foci that we have agreed to as our priorities."
Bishop Wenner said that she looks forward to working in a worldwide perspective. "I hope that we can grow deeper into that relationship so that we really support each other in doing God's mission all over the world," she said.
The election took place during the Council's semi-annual meeting at Lake Junaluska, NC this week.
Media Contact: Diane Degnan
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