South Central Jurisdiction Committee On the Episcopacy Holds Spring Meeting

News February 27, 2020

The South Central Jurisdiction Committee on the Episcopacy held its spring meeting February 24-25 which included conversations with the College of Bishops about episcopal leadership needs for the upcoming quadrennium. Episcopal elections occur during Jurisdictional Conference every four years. One of the committee’s duties is to recommend the number of bishops to elect. The committee is mindful of various factors that could impact that recommendation including actions taken by General Conference and subsequent annual conference sessions. Therefore, a final recommendation will be developed prior to the SCJ Jurisdictional Conference, probably in late June.

The committee can affirm the following at this time:

1. Jurisdictional Conference will be held in The Woodlands, Texas, July 15-18, 2020 (https://www.txcumc.org/jc2020 for more information);

2. During the Conference, three retiring bishops will be celebrated, up to three new bishops will be elected, and episcopal assignments will be made;

3. The Episcopacy Committee will meet again, along with the College of Bishops, on June 23, 2020 to discuss the decisions of General Conference and any relevant actions of the constituent
annual conferences. At that meeting, the committee will discern the exact number of elections to propose to the Jurisdictional Conference. The Jurisdictional Conference will decide the final
number to elect on the opening day of the conference;

4. Episcopacy Committee members will meet with their conference delegations in the coming weeks to share more about possible scenarios and to receive input;
5. The committee remains open to the possibility that a special session of the Jurisdictional Conference may be needed in 2021 or 2022 if further elections are needed.

We welcome your prayers for our bishops and our committee in the months ahead.

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The South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church is one of the five geographic regions of the United Methodist Church in the United States. Founded in 1968, the Jurisdiction is composed of 10 bishops who oversee 12 annual conferences covering eight states, nearly 5,500 churches, and over 1,500,000 members. The Jurisdiction also supports local educational ministries and disaster response ministries in its geographic area. For more information, visit scjumc.org.

South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church
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(405) 570-2159