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Council of Bishops

Bishops
The Holston Conference’s Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor embraces the Rev. David Graves following his election as United Methodist bishop at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference in 2016. On April 30, the Council of Bishops affirmed its decision to delay electing any new leaders until after the postponed General Conference. File photo by Annette Spence, Holston Conference.

Bishops’ election plans draw mixed reaction
Many General Conference delegates praised the bishops for retracting an earlier recommendation of four-year hold on United Methodist elections. But some still have misgivings about a delay until 2022.
Bishops
The Virginia Conference’s Bishop Sharma D. Lewis (upper right corner) leads the devotional during the April 30 session of the United Methodist Council of Bishops spring meeting. The bishops maintained that no elections of bishops or agency board members would be held this year, despite some delegates urging otherwise. Screengrab courtesy of the Council of Bishops via ZOOM by UM News.

Bishops: No episcopal elections until 2022
United Methodist bishops declined General Conference delegates’ calls for episcopal elections this year but opened the door to a vote on new leaders in 2022.
General Church
United Methodist Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey gives the presidential address during an online meeting of the denomination’s Council of Bishops. Harvey challenged both bishops and General Conference delegates to focus on shared mission, not frustrations. UM News screenshot via Zoom.

Bishops, delegates called to mission focus
At a time when many United Methodists feel stuck, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey challenged church leaders to focus on what they can do instead.
Jurisdictional Conferences
This blog appears in the Blogs and Commentaries section of UM News. UM News is a ministry of United Methodist Communications.

An urgent call for leadership
A group of delegates is advocating for special sessions of jurisdictional conferences to be called so new leaders may be elected.

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