Bishop to Return to Western PA
By Jackie Campbell
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7/20/2012
Clergy delegates Mark Stewart, left, and John Seth discuss the West Virginia topography with Bishop Thomas Bickerton at the close of NEJ activities Monday night.
Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton has been assigned to serve as the spiritual leader of the Western PA Conference for the next four years. He was first named as resident Bishop of the Pittsburgh Area after being elected a bishop in 2004 and returned for his second four-year term in 2008.
All nine bishops in the Northeastern Jurisdiction (NEJ) received news of their 2012-2016 assignments at 6 a.m., Friday, July 20 after the Episcopacy Committee which determines the appointments met through the night. The announcements were made to delegates about 10 a.m. at a morning plenary session of the NEJ Conference in Charleston, West Virginia. Following that, a consecration service for three newly elected bishops was held at St. Mark's United Methodist Church.
The NEJ is one of five regional jurisdictions of the nation’s second-largest protestant denomination, and includes 11 northeastern states and the District of Columbia.
It took a record 35 ballots to elect three new bishops during the quadrennial NEJ event. The new bishops are:
- Sandra Steiner Ball, 50, director of connectional ministries in the Peninsula-Delaware Conference, elected on the fifth ballot;
- Martin McLee, 56, superintendent of the Metro Boston Hope District, elected in the 21st ballot, and
- Mark Webb, 47, superintendent of the York District in the Susquehanna Conference, elected on the 35th ballot.
The Episcopacy Committee recommended the following assignments following hours of deliberation:
- Washington - Bishop Marcus Matthews
- New Jersey - Bishop John Schol
- Boston Area – Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar
- New York – Bishop Martin McLee
- Philadelphia Area - Bishop Peggy Johnson
- Harrisburg Area - Bishop Jeremiah Park
- Upper New York Area- Bishop Mark Webb
- Pittsburgh Area (Western PA) -Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton
- West Virginia – Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball
Steiner Ball will be the first woman ever to serve as the bishop in West Virginia.
All assignments begin September 1, 2012.
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