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September 1, 2004
Michael Coyner becomes
Indiana Area Bishop
INDIANAPOLIS -- Bishop Michael J. Coyner began his new
responsibilities on Wednesday, Sept. 1 as temporal and spiritual leader
of the Indiana's 225,000 United Methodists.
He was assigned in July to the Indiana Area by the nine-state North
Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church meeting in
Davenport, Iowa. He and his wife Marsha have moved to the episcopal
residence in Carmel.
He has jurisdiction over the state's 1,253 congregations and its
pastors. As bishop he also has an official relationship to DePauw
University, the University of Indianapolis, the University of
Evansville, the state's Methodist hospitals, plus United Methodist
children's homes and retirement centers in Indiana.
Coyner, 54, will be formally welcomed during a special worship
celebration on Sunday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. in the sanctuary of St. Luke's
United Methodist Church, 100 W. 86th Street, in Indianapolis. The
service is open to the public. A reception will be held following the
service.
Retiring Bishop Woodie W. White moved to Atlanta, Ga., in August
where he began his responsibilities Sept. 1 as bishop-in-residence at
United Methodist-related Candler School of Theology on the campus of
Emory University.
Indiana's sixth United Methodist bishop, Coyner was elected to the
episcopacy in 1996 and served eight years as Bishop of the Dakotas Area
before moving to Indianapolis. He is a native of Anderson, Ind., and a
graduate of Purdue University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history.
He earned his Master of Divinity degree in 1974 from Duke Divinity
School in Durham, N.C. and a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1980 from Drew
Theological Seminary in Madison, N.J.
He was ordained an Elder in the North Indiana Conference in 1975. He
served Indiana congregations in Peoria, Peru (1974-1979), senior pastor
of Evangel Heights UMC in South Bend (1979-1984) and as senior pastor of
Good Shepherd UMC in Fort Wayne (1984-1990) before serving as a district
superintendent in Lafayette (1990-1995) and as executive assistant to
Bishop Woodie W. White (1995-1996). He was elected to the episcopacy and
consecrated a bishop in 1996.
The Coyners have two grown children: Laura, an engineer with General
Electric in Fort Wayne, and Steve, who is married and a pharmaceutical
sales representative in Fishers, Ind.
Coyner has written several published articles and is the author of
two books by Abingdon Press. Those books are Making a Good Move: Opening
the Door to an Effective Pastorate (2000) and Prairie Wisdom:
Reflections on Life in the Dakotas (2000).
To contact Bishop Coyner by e-mail, send to
bishopcoyner@inareaumc.org
or by phone, call 317-924-1321.
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2004 by Indiana Area United Methodist Communications.
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