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Northeastern Jurisdiction elects only one bishop and assigns seven
November 8, 2022 / By Shannon Hodson / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Editor's Note: On Nov. 16, 2022, the Northeastern Jurisdiction College of Bishops and Committee on the Episcopacy announced retired Bishop Peggy A. Johnson will serve as Interim Bishop for the New England Annual Conference beginning Jan. 1, 2023, through Aug. 31, 2024. Click here to read more.
There were two bishop elections on the docket for the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference that took place Nov. 2-4, 2022, in College Park, MD.
On Nov. 2, the Rev. Hector Burgos was elected as bishop on the third ballot. Fifteen more ballots followed to vote for the second bishop. The top episcopal candidate would need at least a two-third vote for the person to be elected bishop. The first and second candidates in most of the votes were the Rev. Alyce Weaver Dunn of the Western Pennsylvania Conference and the Rev. Dr. Jay Williams of the New England Conference.
Late in the evening on Nov. 3, the conference body voted to suspend the rules to fulfill the two bishop vacancies. They then voted to delay the election of the second bishop to the 2024 Conference.
Once this decision was made, the Rev. Alyce Weaver Dunn with the entirety of the Western Pennsylvania delegation behind her addressed the conference body. She acknowledged her honor and privilege at having been the first female candidate endorsed for bishop in Western Pennsylvania. She then lifted the names of female clergy from Western Pennsylvania who she stands there for and expressed optimism for the future.
The Rev. Dr. Jay WIlliams was a write-in endorsement for the election of bishop. At the end of the evening, after the body decided to postpone the election of the second bishop until the 2024 Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference, Rev. Williams also addressed the conference body. He said, "I am hurt but not broken. I will continue to bear witness to the unconditional love of God. I am thankful for those of you who stood with me…God sees us and loves us. May we continue to bear witness to God’s truth, to God’s love, to God’s promise that we will flourish."
On Nov. 4, bishops were assigned to all Conferences except New England.
The assignments are as follows:
Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware: Bishop LaTrelle Easterling
Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey: Bishop John R. Schol
New York: Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton
Susquehanna: Bishops Sandra L. Steiner Ball and Cynthia Moore-Koikoi
Upper New York: Bishop Héctor A. Burgos-Núñez
West Virginia: Bishop Sandra L. Steiner Ball
Western Pennsylvania: Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi
A new servant leadership coverage model for New England will be determined by the College of Bishops very soon.