close
close

The 2024 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference will meet July 10-12

Posted on by angelo

July 3, 2024


The 2024 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference (SEJ) will meet July 10-12 in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. The conference’s most anticipated task is the assignment of bishops to episcopal areas within the SEJ, including the bishop who will serve north Alabama beginning September 1.

In The United Methodist Church, elected clergy and lay delegates from annual conferences in the United States meet every four years in five concurrent jurisdictional conferences. Delegates elect officers to serve on jurisdictional and general church committees, approve a jurisdictional budget for the next quadrennial, vote on additional administrative matters for the jurisdiction, and elect and appoint bishops to serve episcopal areas within that jurisdiction.

While the Jurisdictional Conferences typically meet every four years, the 2020 Conferences were postponed to November 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The July 2024 Conferences will be the regularly scheduled sessions for all five jurisdictions.

SEJ 2024 – Forward in faith

The theme for YES 2024 is “Forward in Faith.” The YES conference will begin on Wednesday, July 10 at 8 a.m. CDT and will conclude on Friday morning, July 12 with a closing worship service featuring Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett. (Click here for the full conference schedule.)

The 2024 SEJ Conference is not planning to elect new bishops. During General Conference earlier this year, the Interjurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy (ICOE) recommended that no jurisdiction elect new bishops. The ICOE also provided a recommendation on the assignment of the 32 active U.S. bishops for the upcoming quadrennium. General Conference approved that recommendation, which assigned nine bishops to the SEJ. However, on July 3, the ICOE announced that the SEJ and the Northeastern Jurisdiction (NEJ) had agreed to share one bishop between the two jurisdictions, meaning there will be a total of 10 bishops assigned within the SEJ for the 2025-28 quadrennium. (See the full ICOE statement below.) The SEJ Committee on Episcopacy will announce bishop assignments on Thursday evening, July 11. Rev. Dr. Dedric Cowser and Steve Lyles of North Alabama serve on this committee.

Jurisdictional Conferences are composed of an equal number of clergy and lay delegates. The North Alabama delegation includes 8 clergy and 8 lay members and reserves:

  • Reverend Dr. Dedric Cowser

  • Steve Lyles

  • Reverend Kelly Clem

  • Pat Meadows

  • Rev. Sherri Reynolds

  • Precious Kufarimai

  • Rev. Dr Tiwirai Kufarimai

  • Gail Hiett

  • Reverend Dr Mary Henley

  • Lisa Keys-Mathews

  • Rev. Sheri Ferguson

  • Laura Ellis

  • Reverend Brian Erickson

  • Rachel McKelvy Boggs

  • Reverend Steve West

  • Hal Riddle

Reserves

  • Reverend Dr Rick Owen

  • David Miller

The SEJ conference will be streamed live on the Southeast Jurisdiction website: https://www.sejumc.org.

Press Release from the United Methodist Church Interjurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy

July 3, 2024

At the 2024 General Conference, the Interjurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy recommended a total of 32 bishops in the jurisdictions and the distribution of bishops as 6 in the NCJ, 6 in the NEJ, 6 in the SCJ, 9 in the SEJ, and 5 in the WJ. This recommendation was approved by the General Conference and would have required the transfer of three bishops.

Since the General Conference, the Executive Committee of the Interjurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy has met five times and consulted with each bishop regarding the transfer. The ICOE has discovered a reluctance or inability to transfer bishops through the process outlined in the Discipline. THE Discipline clearly states: “No bishop may be transferred without his specific consent.” (Par. 49)

Two new events have occurred that have impacted the number of bishops in jurisdictions. Bishop Frank Beard of the NCJ has filed for long-term disability effective August 1. Bishop Robert Schnase of the SCJ has announced his retirement effective September 1. This has created two unexpected vacancies in the number of bishops eligible for assignment.

Based on these developments, the Interjurisdictional Committee on the Episcopate met on July 2nd and overwhelmingly approved the following points:

  • The NCJ will appoint the six remaining bishops in its jurisdiction.

  • The SCJ will appoint the six remaining bishops in its jurisdiction.

  • The NEJ and SEJ will share a bishop who will serve in both jurisdictions and be a member of both colleges of bishops.

  • The NEJ will appoint six bishops to serve in its jurisdiction.

  • The SEJ will assign nine bishops to serve in its jurisdiction, with one additional bishop shared with the NEJ and assigned to both jurisdictions.

  • The WJ will elect two bishops and appoint five bishops to serve in its jurisdiction.

There has been unprecedented collaboration across jurisdictions to get to this point. This plan gives each jurisdiction the minimum of five bishops required by our Discipline and maintains the total number of 32 bishops in jurisdictions to be funded by the Episcopal Fund. The vast majority of Bishop Beard’s long-term disability expenses are funded outside the Episcopal Fund.

This report responds to the needs of annual conferences, episcopal leaders, and the mission of The United Methodist Church. It is a report that focuses on the next four years, recognizing that more work will be needed in 2028, when the number of bishops will be further reduced.

The ICOE continues to consider the good of the entire United Methodist Church in the United States, now and in the future. Each jurisdiction gives to the whole in specific and sacrificial ways. There are fewer bishops than annual conferences in each jurisdiction. Each jurisdiction will have bishops who serve multiple annual conferences.

The work of the jurisdictional conferences next week will be to receive from their respective committees on episcopacy a recommendation regarding episcopal areas and the assignment of bishops in their jurisdictions.

The ICOE recognizes that we are in a time of significant transition and invites The United Methodist Church to pray for the election of two bishops in the West, the assignment of each bishop, and the work of the whole church that now lies before us.