Report from the SEJ Special Session  #6

Whitaker elected bishop

By Tita Parham

LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. --- Delegates to the special session of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference (SEJ) of the United Methodist Church here elected the Rev. Timothy Wayne Whitaker bishop elect on the 17th ballot during the evening session Feb. 27.

He received 395 votes out of a possible 497 valid ballots. A total of 299
votes were required to be elected. He will be consecrated bishop during the
morning session Feb. 28.

Whitaker has been serving as superintendent of the Norfolk District in the Virginia Annual Conference.

Following the announcement and brief remarks by Whitaker, members of the SEJ episcopacy committee began their deliberations to determine the appointments for bishop. They will be focusing much of their efforts on appointing a bishop to the Florida Conference. A decision is expected following the evening devotional.

The special session began Feb. 26 and was held to elect a bishop to fill a vacancy in the Southeastern Jurisdiction created by the death of Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson.

Henderson, 66, died Dec. 7 after a two-year battle with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, while serving in his second appointment as bishop of the Florida Conference.

Prior to his appointment as district superintendent, Whitaker served as pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in the Richmond District from June 1993 to June 1997 and other appointments in the Virginia Conference from 1975 to 1993.

Whitaker also served as pastor and student pastor of churches in the Mississippi Conference and student pastor and minister of youth in the Georgia Conference. He was ordained an elder in the Mississippi Conference in 1974.

He received a bachelor of arts degree in 1970 from Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., and a master of divinity degree in 1973 from Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.

The special session is scheduled to end Feb. 28 after the morning service to consecrate the newly elected bishop.

A total of 524 of 540 lay and clergy delegates are attending the session. The Southeastern Jurisdiction comprises 12,309 United Methodist congregations and 2,898,114 members.

For Whitaker's complete biographical sketch and photo visit http://umns.umc.org/sejspecialsession/default.   For daily reports also visit
that site, as well as http://www.sejac-umc.org/sej2001.

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