Eastern PA clergy and lay members are invited to submit, by January 15, up to two names of clergy the Annual Conference may consider, when it meets in May, to nominate for election to the office of Bishop in 2024.

The UMC’s Northeastern Jurisdiction (NEJ) is expected to elect bishops to fill vacancies when it meets July 8-12 in Pittsburgh. Elected delegates from the 10 NEJ conferences will interview nominees and elect bishops through a balloting process. The Eastern PA and Greater New Jersey conferences will receive a new bishop when Bishop John Schol retires in August.

The EPA General & Jurisdictional conference delegates “are now engaging in a prayerful and careful process to select our nominee(s),” announced Judy Ehninger and the Rev. Dawn Taylor-Storm in a December 7 letter. The two co-chair the 16-member delegation. “This process includes soliciting nominations from clergy and lay members of the Annual Conference, informing those nominated and securing their consent to participate in the selection process for Conference nominee(s).”

Nominees must be ordained elders in EPA or another annual conference and must not reach age 68 by July 1. They must provide written materials and submit to interviews March 16.

“We are also inviting individuals who may be sensing a call to the Episcopacy in their own life to submit their name following the same process,” the letter states.

All nominations should be sent by January 15 to the Rev. Johnson Dodla, on behalf of the delegation, at johnson@mthope.org.

Read about the Episcopal Candidate Criteria prepared by the EPA delegation–Vision for a Bishop—and use the official Nomination Form: