Five bishops elected at SEJ 2016
July 13, 2016
It was a historic day at the Southeastern Jursidictional Conference being held at Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center, Lake Junaluska, N.C. The first African-American clergy woman was elected by the delegates of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference in its history. Rev. Sharma Lewis from the North Georgia Conference was the first African-American clergywoman elected as a bishop of The United Methodist Church since 2000. She was also the first bishop elected in the 2016 quadrennium. During the day, in a total of ten ballots, the delegates elected five new bishops between twelve-noon and 5:30 p.m. It was the consensus of leaders across the jurisdiction that this may have been the quickest that five bishops have ever been elected in the church. This early completion of voting will change the schedule for Thursday, with a longer time of recess following the Service of Remembrance scheduled for the morning. The assignments of all the bishops will be revealed on Thursday evening at the session that has been moved to 7:00 p.m. Consecration of the new bishops is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. at Stuart Auditorium at Lake Junaluska, and it will be live-streamed at: lakejunaluska.com/streaming.
Information on the Bishops-elect
Rev. Dr. Lawson Bryan




