Bishop (Methodism)

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A bishop is a senior role in many Methodist denominations that have an episcopal polity.

Contents

Origins of Methodist episcopacy

Francis Asbury's ordination as bishop by Thomas Coke at the 1784 Christmas Conference The Ordination of Bishop Asbury.jpg
Francis Asbury's ordination as bishop by Thomas Coke at the 1784 Christmas Conference

John Wesley consecrated Thomas Coke a "General Superintendent" and directed that Francis Asbury also be consecrated for the United States in 1784, where the Methodist Episcopal Church first became a separate denomination apart from the Church of England. Coke soon returned to England, but Asbury was the primary builder of the new church. At first he did not call himself bishop, but eventually submitted to the usage by the denomination.

Notable bishops in Methodist history include Coke, Asbury, Richard Whatcoat, Philip William Otterbein, Martin Boehm, Jacob Albright, John Seybert, Matthew Simpson, John S. Stamm, William Ragsdale Cannon, Marjorie Matthews (the first female Methodist bishop), Leontine T. Kelly, Vashti Murphy McKenzie, William B. Oden, William Willimon, R.S. Williams (the first Methodist (CME) bishop elected from Louisiana), Teresa Elaine Jefferson-Snorton, and Thomas Bickerton.

Duties

African Methodist Episcopal Church

In the African Methodist Episcopal Church, "Bishops are the Chief Officers of the Connectional Organization. They are elected for life by a majority vote of the General Conference which meets every four years." [1]

Free Methodist Church

The Book of Discipline of the Free Methodist Church states that "Bishops are the overseers of the church. They lead the church to fulfill its mission which requires them to be holy examples with skill and experience to provide oversight. They must understand the nature and purpose of our church. They must also be able to communicate clearly the gospel, the church's mission and the vision of the Free Methodist Church; possess a well cultivated understanding of other cultures; and identify, develop, and lead godly, competent leaders." [2]

United Methodist Church

In the United Methodist Church, a resident bishop is appointed to a specific episcopal area (i.e., the bishop resident in the area; unless a bishop happens to be retired and simply residing in the area, not assigned to it). A resident bishop is the Presiding Bishop of any and all annual (i.e., regional) conferences of the church within the area. Such bishops are said to have residential as well as presidential duties within his/her area.

In the UMC, bishops serve as administrative and pastoral superintendents of the church. They are elected for life from among the ordained elders (presbyters) by vote of the delegates in regional (called jurisdictional) conferences, and are consecrated by the other bishops present at the conference through the laying on of hands. (Central conferences may choose to elect their bishop for a term shorter than life; in many cases the practice is election for a term of four years.) In The United Methodist Church bishops are not ordained in the traditional sense (i.e. belonging to the threefold ministry of bishop, presbyter, deacon) but remain members of the "Order of Elders" while being consecrated to the "Office of the Episcopacy." Within The United Methodist Church only bishops are empowered to consecrate bishops and ordain clergy. Among their most critical duties is the ordination and appointment of clergy to serve local churches as pastor, presiding at sessions of the annual, jurisdictional, and general conferences, providing pastoral ministry for the clergy under their charge, and safeguarding the doctrine and discipline of the church. Furthermore, individual bishops, or the Council of Bishops as a whole, often serve a prophetic role, making statements on important social issues and setting forth a vision for the denomination, though they have no legislative authority of their own. In all of these areas, bishops of United Methodist Church function very much in the historic meaning of the term. According to the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church , a bishop's responsibilities are

Leadership.—Spiritual and Temporal.

1. To lead and oversee the spiritual and temporal affairs of The United Methodist Church, which confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and particularly to lead the Church in its mission of witness and service in the world. 2. To travel through the connection at large as the Council of Bishops (¶ 526) to implement strategy for the concern of the Church. 3. To provide liaison and leadership in the quest for Christian unity in ministry, mission, and structure and in the search for strengthened relationships with other living faith communities. 4. To organize such Missions as shall have been authorized by the General Conference. 5. To promote and support the evangelistic vision of the whole Church. 6. To discharge such other duties as the Discipline may direct.

Presidential Duties.—1. To preside in the General, Jurisdictional, Central, and Annual Conferences. 2. To form the districts after consultation with the district superintendents and after the number of the same has been determined by vote of the Annual Conference. 3. To appoint the district superintendents annually (¶¶ 517-518). 4. To consecrate bishops, to ordain elders and deacons, to consecrate diaconal ministers, to commission deaconesses and home missionaries, and to see that the names of the persons commissioned and consecrated are entered on the journals of the conference and that proper credentials are funised to these persons.

Working with Ministers.—1. To make and fix the appointments in the Annual Conferences, Provisional Annual Conferences, and Missions as the Discipline may direct (¶¶ 529-533).

2. To divide or to unite a circuit(s), stations(s), or mission(s) as judged necessary for missionary strategy and then to make appropriate appointments. 3. To read the appointments of deaconesses, diaconal ministers, lay persons in service under the World Division of the General Board of Global Ministries, and home missionaries. 4. To fix the Charge Conference membership of all ordained ministers appointed to ministries other than the local church in keeping with ¶443.3. 5. To transfer, upon the request of the receiving bishop, ministerial member(s) of one Annual Conference to another, provided said member(s) agrees to transfer; and to send immediately to the secretaries of both conferences involved, to the conference Boards of Ordained Ministry, and to the clearing house of the General Board of Pensions written notices of the transfer of members and of their standing in the course of study if they are undergraduates. [3]

Annual conference

In each annual conference, United Methodist bishops serve for four year terms, and may serve up to three terms before either retirement or appointment to a new annual conference.

Council of Bishops

The collegial expression of episcopal leadership in the United Methodist Church is known is the Council of Bishops. The Council of Bishops speaks to the church and through the church into the world and gives leadership in the quest for Christian unity and interreligious relationships. [4] The Conference of Methodist Bishops includes the United Methodist Council of Bishops plus bishops from affiliated autonomous Methodist or United churches.

Related Research Articles

Apostolic succession

Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bishops. Christians of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Old Catholic, Moravian, Hussite, Anglican, Church of the East, and Scandinavian Lutheran traditions maintain that "a bishop cannot have regular or valid orders unless he has been consecrated in this apostolic succession." Each of these groups does not necessarily consider consecration of the other groups as valid.

A bishop is an ordained or appointed member in a religious institution, who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. The title is most often used in Christian churches, but is also used in some Japanese Buddhist institutions, and by the Japanese new religion Tenrikyo.

Holy orders Sacraments in some Christian churches

In certain Christian churches, holy orders are the ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders include the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Assyrian, Old Catholic, Independent Catholic and some Lutheran churches. Except for Lutherans and some Anglicans, these churches regard ordination as a sacrament. The Anglo-Catholic tradition within Anglicanism identifies more with the Roman Catholic position about the sacramental nature of ordination.

The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelicalism. The present denomination was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, by union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley in England, as well as the Great Awakening in the United States. As such, the church's theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces liturgical worship, holiness, and evangelical elements.

Deacon Ministry in the Christian Church

A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Scandinavian Lutheran Churches and the Anglican Church, including the Free Church of England, view the diaconate as part of the clerical state.

Methodist Episcopal Church Religious organization in the United States

The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In 1939, the MEC reunited with two breakaway Methodist denominations to form the Methodist Church. In 1968, the Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the United Methodist Church.

African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Predominantly African American Christian denomination

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or the AME Zion Church or AMEZ, is a historically African-American Christian denomination based in the United States. It was officially formed in 1821 in New York City, but operated for a number of years before then. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology.

Christmas Conference

The Christmas Conference was an historic founding conference of the newly independent Methodists within the United States held just after the American Revolution at Lovely Lane Chapel in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1784.

The Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) is an Anglican church of evangelical Episcopalian heritage. It was founded in 1873 in New York City by George David Cummins, formerly a bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Robert Richford Roberts

Robert Richford Roberts distinguished himself as an American Methodist Circuit Rider, Pastor, Presiding Elder, and Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1816. He was the first married man in America to serve as Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Robert Eric Hayes Jr. is an American bishop of the United Methodist Church (U.M.C.), currently serving in the Oklahoma Annual Conference. Before being elected to the episcopacy in 2004, Hayes served as treasurer of the Texas Annual Conference. He has served as a pastor, district superintendent, and college chaplain.

Leroy Charles Hodapp distinguished himself as a Methodist Pastor, District Superintendent, Annual Conference Official, and Bishop of the United Methodist Church (U.M.C.) who was elected in 1976.

Evangelical Methodist Church

The Evangelical Methodist Church (EMC) is a Christian denomination in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The denomination reported 399 churches in the United States, Mexico, Burma/Myanmar, Canada, Philippines and several European and African nations in 2018, and a total of 34,656 members worldwide.

General Conference (Methodism)

The General Conference, in many Methodist denominations, is the denomination's top legislative body for all matters.

Thomas Coke (bishop) Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Thomas Coke was the first Methodist bishop. Born in Brecon, Wales, he was ordained as a priest in 1772, but expelled from his Anglican pulpit of South Petherton for being a Methodist. Coke met John Wesley in 1776. He later co-founded Methodism in America and then established the Methodist missions overseas, which in the 19th century spread around the world.

Elder (Methodist)

An elder, in many Methodist churches, is ordained minister that has the responsibilities to preach and teach, preside at the celebration of the sacraments, administer the church through pastoral guidance, and lead the congregations under their care in service ministry to the world.

A district superintendent (DS), also known as a presiding elder, in many Methodist denominations, is a minister who serves in a supervisory position over a geographic "district" of churches providing spiritual and administrative leadership to those churches and their pastors.

The United Methodist Council of Bishops is the organization of which all active and retired Bishops in the United Methodist Connection are members. In the United Methodist system of polity, the Council of Bishops is the Executive Branch of United Methodist Church government.

Ordination of women in Methodism

Methodist views on the ordination of women in the rite of holy orders are diverse.

History of Methodism in the United States

The history of Methodism in the United States dates back to the mid-18th century with the ministries of early Methodist preachers such as Laurence Coughlan and Robert Strawbridge. Following the American Revolution most of the Anglican clergy who had been in America came back to England. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, sent Thomas Coke to America where he and Francis Asbury founded the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was to later establish itself as the largest denomination in America during the 19th century.

References

  1. "Bishops of the Church". African Methodist Episcopal Church. 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  2. 2011 Book of Discipline. Free Methodist Publishing House. 2011. p. 81.
  3. The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church: Specific Responsibilities of Bishops — ¶ 514–516 (retrieved 27 May 2007).
  4. The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church: Council of Bishops — ¶ 526 (retrieved 27 May 2007).