Five bishops elected at SEJ 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.

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Information on the Bishops-elect

Rev. Dr. Lawson Bryan

Rev. Lawson Bryan of the Alabama-West Florida Conference was elected on the 10th ballot. Read the story from the Alabama-West Florida Conference More biographical information ___ Rev. Leonard Fairley Leonard Fairley from the North Carolina Conference was elected on the seventh ballot. Read the story from the North Carolina Conference More biographical information ___ Rev. David Graves Rev. David Graves of the Holston Conference was elected on the fourth ballot. Read the story from the Holston Conference More biographical information ___ Rev. Sue-Haupert Johnson   Rev. Sue Haupert-Johnson of the Florida Conference was elected on the tenth ballot. Read the story from the Florida Conference More biographical information ___ Rev. Sharma Lewis Rev. Sharma Lewis from the North Georgia Conference was elected on the first ballot. Read the election story from the North Georgia Conference More biographical information