Southeastern United Methodists elect Whitaker bishop

By Joretta Purdue*

LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. (UMNS) - A United Methodist clergyman who had  declined
nomination as a bishop of the church has been elected to that post by  delegates from the Southeastern Jurisdiction.

The Rev. Timothy W. Whitaker, 52, superintendent of the denomination's  Norfolk (Va.) District, was elected Feb. 27 by the first ever called  session  of a jurisdictional conference. He was elected at 7:37 p.m. Eastern time on the 17th ballot.

Some 524 delegates participated in the three-day session of the  Southeastern   Jurisdiction, which concluded with Whitaker's consecration on Feb. 28. The   new bishop was appointed to the church's Florida Area, which includes all  of   the state except the panhandle. He will begin his duties April 2.

"I came here to vote, not to be elected," he quipped. "I came without   wife,  robe or speech."

He said he had called his wife at 11:30 on the morning of his election to tell her to relax because he was not in the running. He disturbed her relaxed state when he called her back hours later, receiving more votes than  any other candidate on the 15th ballot of the session. At that point, he was more than 100 votes short of the 60 percent needed for election.

He said that he knew his wife, Melba, would support the new assignment because "we are Christians together." She loves the church and she loves the Lord of the church, he explained.

"I believe, through you, the Lord of the church has spoken," he told the delegates. "And I accept the call of the church and the call of the Lord of the church."

Whitaker was a nominee of the Virginia Annual (regional) Conference at the 2000 session of the Southeastern Jurisdiction in July. U.S. bishops in the denomination are ordinarily elected in regularly scheduled jurisdictional conferences held every four years. The Southeastern Jurisdiction is the largest of the five U.S. jurisdictions.

When Southeastern delegates voted on candidates for three bishops' positions last summer, Whitaker was a strong contender. However, when the competition for the third opening narrowed to him and one other candidate, Whitaker withdrew, paving the way for the election of the Rev. James R. King Jr.

Whitaker declined the efforts of the Virginia delegation to endorse him as its candidate for the special session, saying that he did not feel God was calling him to run at this time.

When he garnered 51 votes on the first ballot of this three-day special session, he reminded the 524 delegates about his decision and again refused to accept the nomination.

Later that day, Whitaker told United Methodist News Service that he had been surprised when he was asked to address the delegates, an opportunity that was afforded three men who received 10 or more write-in votes on the first ballot. At the time, he said he had not decided whether he would run or withdraw his name. He approached the podium, he said, deciding that he would talk through the decision with the people.

His remarks included a discussion of his understanding of the role of bishop. "I believe that a bishop should be a pastoral theologian who is a responsible administrator, but not a CEO," he observed. He said he has never wanted to be a chief executive officer.

On the first ballot, Whitaker received just fewer than 10 percent of the votes. After his withdrawal speech, he received few or no votes until he reappeared on the 13th ballot with 20 votes. Four ballots later, he was a clear winner with 395 votes. Only 299 had been needed to elect.

For several ballots, the leading candidates were the Rev. Alfred "Al" Gwinn Jr., a Kentucky pastor, and the Rev. Nancy Burgin Rankin, a district superintendent from Western North Carolina. Each of them drew more than 200 votes after most of the other candidates had withdrawn during the second day of voting. The Rev. Charles L. Johnson Sr., the South Carolina Conference's council on ministries director, had withdrawn after the eighth ballot, but he saw a resurgence of support toward the end of the election. On the final ballot, Johnson had 67 votes, Gwinn had 17 and Rankin had 15.

The death of Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson in December prompted the bishops of the jurisdiction to issue a call for the special session. The 270 clergy and 270 lay delegates that had served last summer were called to the assembly, but some were unable to attend.

The cost was estimated at $270,000 by the jurisdiction's financial  administration arm. The delegates voted to pay the expenses out of reserves and to replenish that fund by increasing the amount each of the 15 annual (regional) conferences in the jurisdiction would pay in the budget years of 2002, 2002 and 2003.

A native of Mississippi, Whitaker served churches there and in Georgia first as a student and then as a full-time pastor until 1975. He began serving churches in Virginia in 1975 and continued until he became a district superintendent in 1997.

Whitaker received academic awards for his scholarship while earning his associate of arts degree from Hinds Junior College, a bachelor of arts degree from United Methodist-related Millsaps College and a master of divinity degree from United Methodist-related Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He has also been a lecturer at Millsaps College and Eastern Shore Community College.

The Florida Annual (regional) Conference, which constitutes the church's  Florida Area, is the second largest of the denomination's 65 annual conferences in the United States. It has more than 340,000 members and 743 churches.

He is married to the former Melba Jane Jarvis, and they have two grown sons,  Stephen Scott and Richard Eric.

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Purdue is news director for United Methodist News Service's Washington  office.

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United Methodist News Service
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