Assignment of Bishops across the five Jurisdictions of the United Methodist Church

South Central Jurisdiction

Newly elected bishops in the South Central Jurisdiction are:

Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe, who succeeds Bishop Alfred L. Norris in the North Texas Annual Conference. Norris, who retired in 2004, re-entered active service following the 2006 death of Bishop Rhymes Moncure Jr. A new bishop, Bledsoe was superintendent of the Bryan/West District in the Texas Conference.

Bishop James E. “Jim” Dorff, San Antonio Area (Rio Grande and Southwest Texas conferences). A new bishop, he was area provost of the North Texas Conference. He succeeds Bishop Joel Martinez, who is retiring.

Bishop John Michael Lowry, who succeeds retiring Bishop Ben R. Chamness in the Fort Worth Area (Central Texas Conference). Lowry was executive director of new church development and transformation of the Southwest Texas Conference.

Bishops returning to their geographical assignments are:
Bishop Robert E. Hayes Jr., Oklahoma Area (Oklahoma and Oklahoma Indian Missionary conferences).
Bishop Charles N. Crutchfield, Arkansas Area (Arkansas Conference).
Bishop Scott Jones, Kansas Area (Kansas East and Kansas West conferences).
Bishop William W. Hutchinson, Louisiana Area (Louisiana Conference).
Bishop Robert C. Schnase, Missouri Area (Missouri Conference).
Bishop Ann B. Sherer, Nebraska Area (Nebraska Conference).
Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, Houston Area (Texas Conference).
Bishop D. Max Whitfield, Northwest Texas-New Mexico Area (Northwest Texas and New Mexico conferences).

Southeastern Jurisdiction

Bishop Paul L. Leeland, the new Southeastern bishop, was assigned to the Alabama-West Florida Area (Alabama-West Florida Conference) for the next four years. He has been serving as assistant to the bishop in the Raleigh (N.C.) Area. Leeland succeeds Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster, who is moving to the Charlotte Area (Western North Carolina) from Alabama-West Florida.

Three other active Southeastern bishops who have served in their current locations for at least four years have received new assignments. They are:
Bishop Lindsey Davis, Louisville Area (Kentucky and Red Bird Missionary conferences). He is moving from North Georgia.
Bishop James R. King Jr., South Georgia Area (South Georgia Conference); moving from the Louisville Area.
Bishop B. Michael Watson, North Georgia Area (North Georgia Conference); moving from South Georgia.

Eight bishops will return to their areas:
Bishop Alfred Wesley Gwinn Jr., Raleigh Area (North Carolina Conference).
Bishop Charlene Payne Kammerer, Richmond Area (Virginia Conference).
Bishop James E. Swanson Sr., Holston Area (Holston Conference).
Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor, Columbia Area (South Carolina Conference).
Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, Mississippi Area (Mississippi Conference).
Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker, Florida Area (Florida Conference).
Bishop William Willimon, Birmingham Area (North Alabama).
Bishop Richard Wills Jr., Nashville Area (Memphis and Tennessee conferences).

North Central Jurisdiction

United Methodists in the North Central Jurisdiction, meeting in Grand Rapids, Mich., elected Julius Calvin Trimble as a new bishop.

Bishop Trimble was assigned to the denomination’s Iowa Area for the next four years. Trimble was elected to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher.

Bishop Gregory V. Palmer, president of the Council of Bishops, will move to the Illinois Area, where Christopher was leading the church’s Illinois Great Rivers Conference. Palmer has been serving the Iowa Area (Iowa Conference).

The North Central College of Bishops requested that Bishop Bruce R. Ough remain in the Ohio West Area (West Ohio Conference), where he has already served two terms.

The seven other active North Central bishops are being reassigned for second terms in their areas:
Bishop Michael J. Coyner, Indiana Area (North and South Indiana conferences).
Bishop Sally Dyck, Minnesota Area (Minnesota Conference).
Bishop John L. Hopkins, Ohio East Area (East Ohio Conference).
Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, Chicago Area (Northern Illinois Conference).
Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton, Michigan Area (Detroit and West Michigan conferences).
Bishop Deborah Lieder Kiesey, Dakota Area (Dakotas Conference).
Bishop Linda Lee, Wisconsin Area (Wisconsin Conference).

Northeastern Jurisdiction

Meeting in Harrisburg, Pa., United Methodists in the Northeastern Jurisdiction elected Peggy Johnson bishop. Johnson has been serving as pastor of Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf in Baltimore. She was assigned to the Philadelphia Area, comprising the Eastern Pennsylvania and Peninsula-Delaware conferences

Because of an earlier vote to redraw conference boundaries, two episcopal areas – New York West and Albany (N.Y.) – will be changed in 2010, becoming part of a new Upper New York Area.

Bishop Marcus Matthews, who has led the Philadelphia Area, has been assigned to the New York West Area, covering the North Central New York and Western New York conferences. The jurisdiction’s college of bishops is requesting the United Methodist Council of Bishops appoint retired Bishop Susan Hassinger to the Albany Area, according to Bishop John Schol. She has served there since the early retirement of Bishop Susan Morrison in 2006.

Seven other Northeastern bishops were assigned for second terms to their areas:
Bishop Peter Weaver, Boston Area (New England Conference).
Bishop Jane Allen Middleton, Harrisburg Area (Central Pennsylvania Conference).
Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar, New Jersey Area (Greater New Jersey Conference).
Bishop Jeremiah J. Park, New York Area (New York Conference).
Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton, Pittsburgh Area (Western Pennsylvania Conference).
Bishop John Schol, Washington Area (Baltimore-Washington Conference).
Bishop Ernest Lyght, West Virginia Area (West Virginia Conference).

Western Jurisdiction

In Portland, Ore., delegates to the Western Jurisdictional Conference elected Grant Hagiya and Elaine J.W. Stanovsky as bishops.

Hagiya was appointed to lead the Seattle-based Pacific Northwest Conference and the Alaska Missionary Conference. A former district superintendent in Los Angeles, he is most recently executive director of Leadership Development and the Center of Leadership Excellence, a joint project of the church’s California-Pacific Annual Conference and the Claremont School of Theology.

Stanovsky is being sent from Seattle, where she has been a district superintendent, to the Denver Area, where she will oversee the Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone conferences.

Bishop Warner H. Brown Jr., who has served the Denver Area for eight years, is returning to the San Francisco Area (California-Nevada Conference), where he served for 20 years as a pastor, district superintendent and conference council director.

Bishops returning to their current areas for second terms are:
Bishop Minerva Carcaño, Phoenix Area (Desert Southwest Conference).
Bishop Robert Hoshibata, Portland Area (Oregon-Idaho Conference).
Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, Los Angeles Area (California-Pacific Conference).