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BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF

The Rev. Laura Blauvelt Easto

The Rev. Rodney Thomas Smothers

The Revs. Rodney Thomas Smothers and Laura Blauvelt Easto were endorsed as nominees to the Baltimore-Washington Conference by the General and Jurisdictional Conferences delegation of the Baltimore-Washington Conference.

This endorsement will inform the voters at the annual conference session in Baltimore May 30 to June 1, where the conference will endorse a candidate(s) to be considered for three episcopal positions. These bishops will be elected at the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference in July 18-20 in West Virginia.

Smothers, who has a doctor of ministry degree, has been in the ordained ministry for 30 years and currently serves St. Paul and Corkran UMCs in Oxon Hill and as a part-time Guide for the conference.

Easto, who has a doctor of ministry degree, has been in the ordained ministry for 28 years and currently serves Westminster UMC in Carroll County.

The pair was endorsed by the delegations as candidates for bishop at a meeting Feb. 11, where they, along with the Rev. Wade Martin of Montgomery UMC in Damascus, shared the story of their ministries and their vision for The United Methodist Church.

After a period of prayer for discernment, the 30 delegates cast ballots. An agreed upon supermajority of 66 percent, or in this case 20 delegates, would be necessary to receive the delegations’ endorsement. Smothers and Easto led the vote count.

On the first ballot, Smothers received 14 votes and Easto received 12. On the second ballot, Smothers received 16 votes and Easto, 10. On the third ballot, Smothers received 15 votes; Easto, 11. On the fourth ballot, Smothers received 15 votes; Easto, 13.

After the fourth ballot, the delegation paused for prayer and holy conferencing. Their deliberations had begun that morning with a presentation on Quaker means of discernment at meetings for worship with attention to business. Among the questions they considered were: “When direction seems lacking, is this seen as a challenge to a more prayerful search for truth?” and “Do we humbly set aside our own preconceived notions as to proper action, seeking instead Divine guidance as to the right course?”

In a discussion of these questions, the delegates considered what they might discern about the endorsement based on the candidates and the voting.

Some expressed the belief that the fact that the candidates were separated by only two votes meant there was no clear endorsement to be made. Others thought Smother’s majority signified he was a person who might be endorsed and that voting should continue. And still others said that the close vote meant the delegation had two capable people who might be endorsed.

The Rev. Joseph Daniels of Emory UMC in Washington, D.C., made a motion that the delegation endorse two candidates for consideration by the annual conference. This resolution passed in a 17 to 11 vote.

At the BW Annual Conference Session, other candidates may be nominated from the floor. Any additional nominees will be eligible for endorsement by the annual conference. To be endorsed by the conference, a nominee needs to secure 66 percent of the vote within four ballots. If a candidate receives the necessary votes, the conference may choose to continue to ballot for a second nominee.

The conference’s policy for nominating a candidate for bishop is located here. For more information on the Northeastern Jurisdiction, visit www.nejumc.org.