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Indiana Area Office of The United
Methodist Church
1100 West 42nd Street Suite #210
Indianapolis, IN 46208
317.924.1321 (Voice)
317.924.4859 (Fax)
July 26, 2000
CONTACT:
The Rev. James Jones, executive assistant to
Bishop Woodie W. White: 317.924.1321
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bishop Woodie W. White reappointed to Indiana
After having served the Indiana Area's approximately 250,000 United Methodists as their episcopal leader for the past eight years, Bishop Woodie W. White, the state's first black bishop, has had his tenure in Indiana extended for another four years.
The decision of the United Methodist Committee on Episcopacy (bishops) was announced recently at the quadrennial meeting of the Church's North Central Jurisdiction, in Madison, Wisc. In reassigning White to Indiana, the committee acceded to the request of both the North and South Indiana (regional) Conferences, as well as that of the bishop, himself. In practice, it has been unusual for a bishop to be appointed to an area for more than eight years; however, Church law allows for an extension of that limit when in the best missional interests of the area.
Bishop White has been widely known for his leadership in racial healing and reconciliation. He has given special leadership to Africa University in Zimbabwe. Through his initiative, United Methodists of Indiana have given financial and human resources to build four residence halls at Africa U., which currently has students from 17 African nations. In addition, White has launched a special Indiana Initiative on Children and Poverty, and continues to support anti-legalized gambling efforts in this state.
North Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church is one of five such regions in the U.S. and consists of seven states, including Indiana. In addition to assigning bishops to areas of service, the jurisdictional conferences also elect new bishops. Three bishops retired this year and three new ones were elected in the Jurisdiction; a total of 13 were elected nationally.
Four Hoosier United Methodist clergy had been nominated for bishop but were not elected: the Rev. Thomas Rough, superintendent of the Calumet District; the Rev. Gregory McGarvey, senior pastor of Old Bethel UMC in Indianapolis; the Rev. Phillip Granger, senior pastor of College Ave. UMC in Kokomo; and the Rev. Katherine Lehman, superintendent of the Lafayette District. Each of the Indiana candidates withdrew during the course of the 19 ballots taken.
Four years ago, the Jurisdictional Conference was held in Fort Wayne, and two Hoosiers were elected: Michael Coyner (Indianapolis) now bishop of the Dakotas, and John Hopkins (Evansville), now bishop of Minnesota.
The denomination has 8.4 million members in the United States. Following the elections this month, 15 of the 50 active U.S. bishops are African American, eleven are women, one is Korean American and two are Mexican Americans.
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