Jonathan LeMaster-Smith

With the passing of Calendar Item 547 we have changed the formula and rationale for the number of bishops we elect in The United States (and elsewhere, but the US is the focus of the post).

It used to be that The Jurisdictions received bishops based on numbers and land area. We determined that this was no longer a helpful metric.
Therefore, we decided that each of the five jurisdictions would receive five bishops each. If a jurisdiction wants more bishops, they can request them, but the jurisdiction, not General Church, will have to pay for them.
This goes to my suggestion that we are fading out bishops, slowly.

But, one thing that we note here, is that we are giving a different reason for electing additional bishops. It is no longer based on population and land area, but on missional needs and priorities.

We will begin to elect bishops beyond the minimum because we have a missional and formational need in our regions. We get to use context to determine our needs, not “we need to fill a space.”

I am fine with several conferences sharing bishops. I am fine with merging conferences when it make sense. But, I am overjoyed with the idea that we can now add bishops based on our missional needs and hopes for the future of the church.