Bishop Coyner to be welcomed Sunday

September 10, 2004

Bishop Coyner to be welcomed Sunday

INDIANAPOLIS -- Bishop Michael J. Coyner will be publicly welcomed as the new United Methodist Bishop of Indiana during a special state-wide worship celebration in the sanctuary of St. Luke' United Methodist Church, 100 W. 86th St., this Sunday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. Coyner began his new responsibilities on Sept. 1 as temporal and spiritual leader of the Indiana's 225,000 United Methodists.

The service will feature the DePauw University Chamber singers, Meridian Street UMC bell choir, a combined choir of African American United Methodist Church, soloist Char Harris Allen and congregational singing. A dozen lay and clergy representatives from all walks of church life will present Coyner with symbols of Indiana and his role as Indiana's United Methodist Bishop. Coyner will deliver a sermon titled "Making a Difference" based on Matthew 28:16-20. Representatives from other faith groups will be honored guests during the service.

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 in Indianapolis, Gary and Ft. Wayne, plus United Methodist children's homes and retirement centers in Indiana.

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.

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