Preparing for a New Bishop

Tomorrow, the new Bishop of the West Ohio Conference will be announced.  Bishop Ough, who has served our conference the past twelve years has finished his third term and will be assigned to a new area in the North Central Jurisdiction.  Bishop terms are four years and Bishop Ough has served us for three terms.  The Book of Discipline does not allow for a fourth term.

Bishops oversee an area such as West Ohio and have the responsibility of appointing each United Methodist Charge with a pastor to provide leadership in equipping the people to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  Bishops are aided in their responsibility with District Superintendents who are appointed to geographical areas in the conference.  Pastoral appointments are on an annual basis and begin on July 1st.  Typically, decisions on pastoral appointments are made between January and May of each year.

The Greek word for Bishop means to oversee and so Bishops oversee the spiritual direction of the conference they are assigned.  One of Bishop Ough's distinctive changes for our conference over the past twelve years has been to equip pastors to share in the ministry of overseeing the spiritual needs of our conference through the formation of clergy cluster groups.  Every pastor is expected to participate in a clergy cluster in which pastors support one another in their ministries.

My clergy cluster consists of pastors in the Lancaster and surrounding area.  This geographical cluster allows us to not only support each other in our individual ministries but to also find ways to share in ministry together.  My cluster serves as my small group.  This past January's Marty Ford Concert to raise money to help prevent and treat drug addiction was sponsored by my cluster.  Our plan is to find more ways for our churches to share in ministry together.

Recently, I was at a United Methodist Church located in a different conference and like our conference, they will be assigned a new Bishop September 1st (the starting date for Bishop assignments.)  Speaking with one of their District Superintendents, I asked him if he was ready for this transition.  He said, "Our present Bishop has worked hard to encourage the local church to be creative in starting new ministries to reach more people for Christ.  We're a little worried that our next Bishop will take us in a totally different direction and wipe out any progress we've made over these years."  I could sense his nervousness as he shared this concern with me. 

Just like congregations are concerned who their next pastor will be, pastors are on the edge of their seat waiting to hear who our new Bishop will be.  Regardless of who is announced, we are called to pray for our Bishop to lead us in our church's mission.  I have already invited whoever the new Bishop will be to preach at our church on Sunday, October 21st.  If the Bishop's schedule allows for this to happen, our congregation will have the opportunity to offer our welcome and words of encouragement that day.

Visit back tomorrow when I provide a blog post on who our new Bishop will be.  I type this as I sit on the edge of my seat.  :)