Key points:
- A United Methodist group has approved a proposal for two additional U.S. bishops, starting in 2028.
- The recommendation is the result of a new process for bishop distribution approved at the 2024 General Conference.
- While acknowledging the denomination’s strained finances, the group’s leaders see more bishops as key to fulfilling the denomination’s disciple-making mission.
A United Methodist leadership body is recommending an increase in U.S. bishops, starting in late 2028.
The Interjurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy at a July 1 online meeting approved a proposal for the number of active U.S. bishops to go up from 32 to 34.
Under the plan, the North Central and South Central jurisdictions would each get one additional bishop.
This is just the first step in a lengthy process. The group’s recommendation next goes to the General Council on Finance and Administration, the denomination’s finance agency, as it begins developing the four-year denominational budget that will go before the next General Conference.
The denomination’s top policymaking body — scheduled May 8-16, 2028 — ultimately will decide the total number of United Methodist bishops in 2028-2032.
“We recognize that there are implications and considerations in putting together the quadrennial budget and are open to ongoing conversation as the work continues,” said the Rev. Kim Ingram, the committee’s chair.
For now, the group recommends the following distribution of U.S. bishops:
- Southeastern Jurisdiction: Nine.
- North Central Jurisdiction: Seven.
- South Central Jurisdiction: Seven.
- Northeastern Jurisdiction: Six.
- Western Jurisdiction: Five.
In 2028, 14 U.S. bishops will reach mandatory retirement age. If this plan prevails, jurisdictions will hold elections to fill all 14 vacancies and serve two newly formed episcopal areas. While General Conference sets the number and overall distribution of bishops, individual U.S. jurisdictions and regional conferences outside the U.S. set the boundaries of their episcopal areas.
The recommendation results from a new process for U.S. bishop distribution that the 2024 General Conference approved and put into immediate effect.
The denomination’s top lawmaking assembly eliminated the membership-based formula long used to calculate each U.S. jurisdiction’s allotment of bishops. In its place, General Conference revised Paragraph 404 in the Book of Discipline to say the number of U.S. bishops “shall be determined on the basis of missional reasons.”
The revisions also left the responsibility for recommending the number of bishops on that basis to the Interjurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy. The committee, elected by General Conference, has seen its role expand from typically only meeting during General Conference to meeting regularly between sessions.
The Judicial Council, the top United Methodist court, in April reviewed the changes General Conference made to Paragraph 404. While the church court struck down some of the revisions, it upheld the elimination of the formula and the interjurisdictional committee’s new role.
But even before the Judicial Council’s ruling, the interjurisdictional committee has been meeting regularly with an eye toward sustaining both the denomination’s funds and the episcopacy itself. The committee also formed what it calls the “Super Task Force” to examine the nature of bishops’ superintendency.
The new process comes as The United Methodist Church is adapting to reduced giving and rebuilding after a season of church disaffiliations.
At the same time, the General Council on Finance and Administration has warned that the denomination’s Episcopal Fund that sustains the work of bishops is in danger of running out of money.
In February, representatives from the interjurisdictional committee, the finance agency and other stakeholders in the episcopacy held a summit to discuss how to maintain bishops’ leadership for generations to come. Participants came away with a sense of shared purpose but also a better understanding of the denomination’s finances.
Beata Ferris — the Super Task Force convener and interjurisdictional committee’s secretary — acknowledged that given the denomination’s financial stress, many expected the group would recommend a reduced number of bishops.
Previously, 2024 General Conference reduced the number of active U.S. bishops from 46 in 2016 to the current 32.
Based on surveys of bishops and discussions with other church leaders, Ferris said, the committee has learned that bishops have stepped up but also have felt the strain of ever larger geographic areas.
With fewer bishops, district superintendents, conference staff and church pastors also have more work. That leaves everyone trying to do more with less, said Ferris, who is also a Dakotas Conference rural ministry consultant.
“We know that in this season in The United Methodist Church,” she said, “there are people who need to know Jesus, who are striving for relationship and connection and we’re spread so thin we can’t reach them.”
The interjurisdictional committee consists of members of each jurisdiction’s committee on episcopacy. The interjurisdictional committee’s recommended distribution came after the group reviewed the current state of the Episcopal Fund and heard presentations from each jurisdictional committee about its missional needs. Each jurisdiction also previously had submitted a written report.
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Church law still says each jurisdiction is entitled to a minimum of five bishops.
Ingram, who is also the Western North Carolina Conference’s director of ministerial services and conference secretary, said the committee plans another collaborative financial summit later in July with GCFA representatives.
She added that the committee is also aware that the denomination’s regional conferences in Africa, the Philippines and Europe also may request more bishops. Any request for additional bishops outside the United States would come from the Standing Committee on Regional Conference Matters Outside the USA. The 2024 General Conference asked the standing committee to work to increase the number of African bishops after the 2028 General Conference.
“We celebrate the leadership of our bishops,” Ingram said. “We recognize that we are in times of challenge and opportunities. And we acknowledge that churches, conferences and the denomination are under financial constraints requiring conversation and creativity.”
Ferris asked for prayers for the budgeting work ahead. She also stressed that the church is different from business.
“We are a faith-based compassion organization that needs more leadership to get our message out there,” she said, “and to love the people the way God wants us to.”
Hahn is assistant news editor for UM News. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or [email protected]. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.
