By Rick Wolcott*

The morning business session on the last day of the postponed 2020 General Conference began with a report from the Interjurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy proposing a reduction from 39 to 32 bishops serving the five jurisdictions in the United States. Delegates approved the report with 631 voting in favor and 65 voting against. The North Central Jurisdiction, of which the East Ohio Conference is a part, will move from seven bishops to six effective September 1 when the 2025-2028 quadrennium begins.

Following adoption of the Committee’s report the North Central, South Central, and Northeaster Jurisdictions will each be served by six bishops, the Western Jurisdiction will have five bishops, and the Southeastern Jurisdiction will be served by nine bishops. One current bishop in the North Central Jurisdiction will likely transfer to another jurisdiction.

“The reduction in the number of bishops in the United States necessarily requires that every jurisdiction will have fewer bishops than we prefer. That also means that every bishop will likely bear a larger workload, working with multiple annual conferences as they lead the Church,” said Rev. Andy Call, who serves on both the Interjurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy and the North Central Jurisdiction Committee on Episcopacy.

“We already knew that East Ohio Conference and the West Ohio Conference will be sharing a bishop starting this summer, so the reduction in the number of bishops will not have a direct or discernable impact on us in East Ohio,” said Call. “But as we lean into the new realities of The United Methodist Church, we need to more closely examine the role and function of the episcopacy. We cannot simply expect our bishops and conferences to do more with less. This is a time that requires vision and strategy to maximize our impact with the resources available to us.”

Every four years, the jurisdictional conferences meet to elect new bishops, assign bishops, and select members of general boards and agencies. Lay and clergy delegates to jurisdictional conferences will meet July 10-13. The North Central Jurisdictional Conference will be in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

The proposal to move from funding 39 bishops to funding 32 is one of many proposed changes that will aid in reducing the 2025-2028 General Church budget. Following approval of the Interjurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy Report, delegates heard the report from the General Council on Finance & Administration, which presented the proposed budget. After debate, delegates approved the report, adopting the 2025-2028 General Church budget. Depending on giving rates in 2025 and 2026, the adopted budget for the 2025-2028 quadrennium will be 38% to 41% lower than the 2017-2020 quadrennium budget adopted at the last General Conference, held in Portland, OR in 2016.

*Rick Wolcott is executive director of Communications for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.