2014 UM Polity Series – Bishops

        “Bishops are elected from the elders and are set apart for a ministry of servant leadership, general oversight, and supervision.  As followers of Jesus Christ, bishops are authorized to guard the faith, order, liturgy, doctrine, and discipline of the Church.  The role and calling of the bishop is to exercise oversight and support of the Church and its mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” (Discipline ¶403.1)

Bishops (Episcopoi, or Overseers, in Greek) are elected from among the (ordained) elders by Jurisdictional and Central Conferences.  (The number of bishops in each Jurisdiction or Central Conference is determined by a formula.  There are currently 46 active bishops in the US and 20 outside the US.)  In the United States bishops are elected for life; some Central Conferences have term episcopacy.  Often candidates for bishop receive official endorsements by the vote of their annual conferences, but any elder can be elected a bishop.

Once elected, bishops serve the whole Church, however, bishops are assigned to particular service (for four year terms) in an Episcopal Area which may contain one or more annual conferences.  We are in the Iowa Episcopal Area which includes the Iowa Annual Conference.  The bishop currently assigned to our Episcopal Area is Bishop Julius Trimble (pictured left.)  For more information about Bishop Trimble go to www.iaumc.org/pages/detail/1925.

At the Jurisdictional and Central Conference level bishops are members of the College of Bishops.  At the General Church level they are members of the Council of Bishops.  Retired bishops are also members of the Council but only active bishops have vote.  The Colleges and the Council elect their own officers, including a president, however these officers also continue to serve their own episcopal areas and have no unique authority over the Church beyond that of other bishops.  (There was a move, which failed, at General Conference 2012 to provide for a “set aside” bishop without assignment to an episcopal area to represent the whole Church.)

In addition to general oversight and representing the whole Church, the particular duties of bishops include: their role in the judicial process (which I explained in a previous article,) presiding over Annual, Jurisdictional, Central, and General Conferences, consecrating, licensing, commissioning, and ordaining clergy (and lay people to special service,) and appointing clergy to their places of ministry.

Assisting the bishop in his or her duties, particularly in appointing pastors, are District Superintendents (also called Conference Superintendents.)  Superintendents are elders appointed by the bishop to assist in the oversight of the whole annual conference in general, and have particular oversight of one area of the annual conference called a District.  (More about Districts in a future article.)  The Superintendents of the annual conference (there may only be one) and the bishop meet together in what is called the Cabinet.  This is the meeting in which clergy appointments and other matters of annual conference leadership are discussed.