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BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF

For four days in mid-July, 251 delegates, 27 youth representatives and 18 bishops met in Harrisburg, Pa., for the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference.

With the theme, "Extreme Church, Extreme Expectations," they elected and consecrated the Rev. Peggy Johnson to serve as a bishop in The United Methodist Church, assigned eight bishops to the areas in which they will serve for the next four years, redrew annual conference boundaries, voted to support same-gender marriages and encouraged the expanded ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in their 13 annual conferences, which stretch from Maine to West Virginia.

Johnson elected bishop

At the conference, held July 14-18 in the Sunoco Auditorium of the Whitaker Center, the Rev. Peggy Johnson, of Christ UMC of the Deaf in Baltimore, was elected from a slate of 13 candidates, to serve as an episcopal leader.

Bishop Johnson, who was endorsed by the Baltimore-Washington Conference and the Association of Physically Challenged Ministers, was elected on the 10th ballot with 163 votes.

When she rose to acknowledge her election, Bishop Johnson spoke in both English and American Sign Language, "because there are two young people here who are deaf, and I would like them to think that a bishop can talk to them in their language," she said.

Bishop John R. Schol, who introduced Bishop Johnson, alluded to the impact that her passion for inclusion might have. "In the coming years, we, as United Methodists, will learn a whole new vocabulary," he said.

Bishop Schol praised her sense of call to the ministry of all people, especially those in society's margins, and her theology of empowerment.

"I am a strong believer in the love that draws people into our world. We have to be out there doing love," Bishop Johnson said in a press conference that followed her election.

More than 50 pastors from the Baltimore-Washington Conference, many of them clergywomen who have served beside the new bishop in her 30 years of ordained ministry, drove to Harrisburg to see her consecrated July 18.

The consecration service included a sermon by Bishop Susan Morrison, another Baltimore-Washington Conference pastor who was elected a bishop and retired this year; a performance by the choir from Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf, who Johnson has accompanied to more than 400 concerts; and a benediction by the clergywomen who gathered informally on the steps to sing to Johnson as she left the church.

Beginning Sept. 1, Johnson will serve the Philadelphia Area, which includes the Peninsula-Delaware and Eastern Pennsylvania conferences.

Bishop Marcus Matthews, another former member of the Baltimore-Washington Conference who was elected to the episcopacy in 2004, will move from the Philadelphia Area to serve the New York West Area, which covers the North Central New York and Western New York conferences.

Bishop Schol returns

Bishop Schol was reassigned to the Baltimore-Washington Conference for a second quadrennium. He accepted his assignment with thanksgiving.

"I am inspired and energized by the rich history of Baltimore-Washington Conference. Ours is a strong tradition of mission, inclusiveness and making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. I am committed to honoring this tradition and to building on it to meet the challenges ahead," he said.

In a meeting with the jurisdictional delegates and in a letter to conference leaders, Bishop Schol acknowledged that some people in the Baltimore-Washington Conference have expressed concern about his returning.

"Some of the concerns raised are understandable reactions to the kind and pace of change we have been experiencing. Discomfort and disagreements are natural in any organization risking change. They are actually desirable because they lead to greater clarity and faithfulness if they are discussed openly and faithfully," the bishop said.

He asked for prayer from the members of the conference and pledged to remain committed to God as he works with the conference episcopacy committee, the laity and clergy of the conference to "continue on the path to call, equip, send and support spiritual leaders to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world and to grow Acts 2 congregations."

Conference boundaries redrawn

In other action, the delegates of the Northeastern Jurisdiction voted to redraw the boundaries of several annual conferences.

In the realignment, the North Central New York, Western New York, Troy and Wyoming conferences merged to form a new conference and episcopal area. Pennsylvania churches in the Wyoming Conference joined the Central Pennsylvania Conference and Vermont churches in the Troy Conference aligned with the New England Conference.

This realignment, which is expected to be completed by 2010, will reduce the number of active bishops serving in the Northeastern Jurisdiction from 10 to nine. Bishop Susan Hassinger (retired) will assist with the transition by serving the Albany Area for two years.

Same-gender marriage addressed

Jurisdictional delegates also voted to support a resolution, brought to the conference by the Rev. Philip Wogaman, a member of the Baltimore-Washington delegation, that affirmed actions taken by the California-Pacific and California Nevada conferences concerning same-gender marriages.

On May 15, the California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage. The two Western annual conferences approved measures that support same-gender couples entering into the marriage covenant.

Members of the California Nevada Conference also made available a list of about 80 retired United Methodist clergy who have offered to conduct same-gender marriage ceremonies.

The Northeastern Jurisdiction's resolution expressed respect for pastors in those conferences "who as a matter of Christian conscience, spiritual discernment and prophetic witnessing" opt to participate in the celebration of same-gender marriages that are not approved by the church.

The resolution also asked for lenient disciplinary action against clergy who disobey church law on the issue.

In May, the General Conference, the conference's top legislative body, voted to retain its ban on same-gender marriages and to bar clergy from performing such marriages or consecrating them in the church. Pastors who perform same-gender unions risk losing their credentials.

The resolution was read at the Western Jurisdiction's Conference, meeting in Portland, Ore., and received a standing ovation.

However, Bishop Beverly J. Shamana, of the San Francisco Area, has issued a ruling of law stating that the California Nevada Conference, "steps over a disciplinary line when it commends these clergy to the congregations for the purpose of performing same-gender marriages or holy unions.''

The denomination's Judicial Council will consider her ruling when it meets Oct. 22-25.

Focus on business and ministry

Delegates to jurisdictional conference also:

• approved a $1,300,190 budget for the 2009-2013 quadrennium;
• heard a presentation on race and reconciliation from Bishop Forrest Stith and watched a video by John Coleman, of the General Commission on Religion and Race in Washington, about the history of African-Americans in the Methodist Church;
• Participated in lively Bible study led by the Rev. Safiyah Fosua, director of invitational preaching for the General Board of Discipleship;
• Heard reports from jurisdictional committees and created a young adult ministry council;
• Celebrated the retirement of Bishops Susan Morrison and Violet Fisher; and
• Listened to a sermon on "Extreme Church, Extreme Expectations," the conference's theme, by Bishop Roy Sano, the first Japanese-American bishop, who served in Washington, D.C., from 2004-2009 as the executive secretary of the Council of Bishops.

BWC plays leadership role

Members of the Baltimore-Washington Conference served in leadership positions throughout the four-day conference.

Bishop Schol is president of the jurisdiction's College of Bishops; the Rev. David Simpson of Bethany UMC in Ellicott City, served as director of the arrangements committee and was elected to be assistant treasurer for the new quadrennium. Darlyn McCrae of Ames UMC in Bel Air and the Rev. Vivian McCarthy, superintendent of the Central Maryland District, led the conference's worship committee. Sandy Ferguson, conference director of mission and justice ministries, and the Rev. David Argo, superintendent of the Washington Metropolitan District, served on the jurisdiction's episcopacy committee; and youth representatives Will Burnett and D'Andre White were called upon to pray for the conference.

Thirty-eight members of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, led by Delores Oden and the Rev. Laura Easto, served on the delegation to the jurisdictional conference.

The Northeastern Jurisdiction is one of five in the United States. It will meet next in 20012 in West Virginia. To learn more about the jurisdiction, visit www.nejumc.org.

The United Methodist News Service contributed to this report.