Bishops gettin' elected

The official website of the United Methodist Church is tracking the ongoing episcopal elections at the Jurisdictional Conference sessions that are meeting around the country. If you'd like to check out your own jurisdiction, go to the "Episcopal Elections 2008" website.

I am a member of the South Central Jurisdiction, which has not yet elected a bishop (they're only on the third ballot). If you are a fellow SCJ'er, you can follow our elections here.

May God bless the voting in each jurisdiction as we choose the shepherds who will lead us forward.

UPDATE: It's Saturday morning, and Jurisdictional Conference sessions are wrapping up around the country. That means the church has a whole slew of new bishops. In the South Central Jurisdiction, we have elected W. Earl Blesdsoe, John Michael Lowry, and James (Jim) E. Dorff. Beka Miles, one of our Jurisdictional delegates, has been sending regular updates back to the annual conference. She said that the election of the third candidate (which ended up being Rev. Dorff) was a real roller coaster. He was eventually elected on the 23rd ballot overall. The Arkansas Conference's own endorsed candidate, Rodney Steele, did very well in the early balloting. He eventually fell behind Rev. Dorff and Rev. Cheryl Jefferson Bell, as it became a two-horse race. It would be been great to see Rodney elected, as I know he'd be a good bishop. Still, I have high hopes that our three new members of the episcopacy will lead us forward in faithful and courageous ways.