LAKELAND — A special session of the Southeastern Jurisdictional (SEJ) Conference will be held Feb. 26-28 in Lake Junaluska, N.C., for the purpose of electing a new bishop to replace the late Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson.

The Southeastern Jurisdiction College of Bishops made that decision Jan. 18 at a meeting in Marietta, Ga.

Although Henderson was appointed to the Florida Conference, the new bishop will not necessarily take his place, according to Bishop Lindsey Davis, president of the college and bishop of the Atlanta Area. All of the jurisdiction’s episcopal appointments are open to review by the episcopal committee.

"We all understand that when we elect a new bishop, all appointments are back on the table," he said. "We trust the episcopal committee to make the best decisions for the whole church."

Henderson, 66, died last Dec. 7 after a two-year battle with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells. He began serving his second four-year appointment to the conference last June.

Mary Alice Massey, chairwoman of the Florida Conference’s delegation to the jurisdictional conference and a member of Jacksonville’s Southside United Methodist Church, said the decision to hold a special session was one that the Florida Conference’s cabinet, episcopal committee and delegation to the SEJ had requested. "I feel good about this decision as far as Florida’s needs are concerned," she said.

Bishop J. Lloyd Knox, who was appointed bishop of the conference following Henderson’s death, said the election is the right thing to do. "Florida needs a strong, active bishop," he said. "Florida is a strong conference with a lot going on. We need to plant a lot of new churches and attend to the great diversity in the state."

Each of the conferences in the jurisdiction can nominate a candidate for bishop, but are not required to, according to Massey, who is secretary of the jurisdiction’s episcopacy committee. The nominations from last July’s conference will not carry over to the special session, she said.

The Florida Conference’s delegation will meet Feb. 10 at First United Methodist Church, Lakeland, to select its nominee. "We’ll go through the same process as before, just briefer," Massey said.

Biographies of the nominees will be available at http://www.sejac-umc.org Feb. 13. Nominees will also be introduced the first day of the special session, and delegates will have an opportunity to talk with them before voting.

Davis said the college of bishops believes a new election is the best way to provide the Florida Conference with episcopal leadership, despite an anticipated cost of $250,000 for the session.

"We did consider the cost, but we felt the expense was necessary…to provide the kind of leadership Florida needs — a residential bishop who will live in Lakeland and be immersed in the ministry of the conference," he said.

Knox said the date of the new bishop’s arrival will be determined at the special session. "It will probably be at the end of the conference when we find out when moving day is," he said. "Until then, I’ll continue to serve. I’ve been honored to serve Florida and will continue to do my best to meet Florida’s needs."