The General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) is in prayer for the delegates to the upcoming jurisdictional conferences, and wishes to thank them for giving their valuable time as they meet this week. We also wish to thank the Interjurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy (IJCOE) for its many hours spent in service to our denomination. As GCFA has previously communicated to the IJCOE and others, GCFA must comply with the decision of General Conference regarding the number of jurisdictional bishops – nine in the Southeastern Jurisdiction, six each in the Northeastern, North Central, and South Central Jurisdictions, and five in the Western Jurisdiction, for a combined total of 32 bishops. We have also shared our view that The Book of Discipline considers a bishop to be active/effective until they retire, regardless of disability or medical leave status. There is a momentum of hope after our historic General Conference, and a palpable excitement for the ministry we do as The United Methodist Church. Again, we remain in prayer for our jurisdictional delegates as they meet this coming week.
If you have questions, please contact Brandy Bivens, Chief Communications Officer at bbivens@gcfa.org.