| Bishop announces future plans BY ERIK ALSGAARDUMCONNECTION STAFF  Bishop Felton Edwin May, episcopal leader of the Washington Area since 1996, has announced that, after he retires, he will become the Chair of Religion and Ethics at the Mission Center at Philander Smith College located in Little Rock, Ark.
The bishop will take the position effective Sept. 1. He made the unexpected announcement during the Sunday morning worship service at FaithFest in Ocean City, leaving many in the crowd of 600 silent. Phyllis and I are on a journey that goes back 41 years now, the bishop said. God has richly blessed us. We cannot explain it, except that it was God. Bishop May is expecting to work with students at Philander Smith studying for careers in health care and the prevention and treatment of drug and alcohol abuse and violence. He also will be working closely with Africa University, a United Methodist-related school located in Zimbabwe, bringing students from the two schools together for mutual educational opportunities. We rejoice that Bishop May will be joining Philander Smith in our Kendall Center, said President Trudie Kibbe Reed of Philander Smith. Bishop May has a deep understanding and appreciation for the mission of our new center. His spiritual leadership, compassion and wisdom make him the perfect individual to assume the chair role. The Kendall Center is one of only two international mission centers operated by The United Methodist Church in the United States. The Center expects to attract doctors, scientists, professors and experts in medicine to conduct seminars, mission programs and community outreach. A four-year liberal arts college affiliated with The United Methodist Church and the United Negro College Fund, the school sits on a 12-square-block campus in the Quapaw Quarter of downtown Little Rock, according to the schools Web site. | 
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