Eight months before the elections of new Bishop

  Dear brothers and sisters!

The Central Conference of Northern Europe and Eurasia will meet in October 2012 and a new bishop for Eurasia area will be elected there. Let all the time that we have before that be filled with our prayers for God’s will for the United Methodist Church in Eurasia, for a special blessing for those who accepted God’s call to Episcopal ministry and for the wisdom to reign in our parishes, annual conferences

Following the rules of the Book of Discipline the Central conference council combined the guidelines for the nomination and election process in 2012. The document is available on web-site of the UMC in Eurasia. Members of the Administrative Council, annual conferences’ councils and district superintendents are to inform all pastors, churches and UMC institutions in Eurasia (Theological seminary and camp Voronezh) about the process and rules. Therefore, the process is declared open since the time the Central conference council guidelines are published on the web-site. Written presentations of nominees in English ought to be sent to the Central conference committee on episcopacy. Your presentations must be signed, with full first name and last name of the signers. Send the scanned copy to Lilli Uth’s email: lu@umc-ne.org, and the original document to Sergei Pugachev by regular mail to Khamovnicheskiy val 24, stroenie 2, Moscow, Russia 119048. Presentations sent before July 15, 2012 will be part of pre-conference materials. Let this long and uneasy way to the result of the elections reveal the Glory of God and become a real blessing for our church.

On behalf of the Central conference council and

Central conference committee on episcopacy,

Yours in Christ,

Yelena Chudinova

Nomination and election of bishop in Eurasia 2012

1. Book of Discipline

The NEBOD 2009 has the following procedures concerning nomination and election of bishops:

¶ 405. Election and Consecration of Bishops—1. Nomination—An annual conference, in the session immediately prior to the next regular session of the jurisdictional or central conference, may name one or more nominees for episcopal election. Balloting at jurisdictional and central conferences shall not be limited to nominees of annual conferences nor shall any jurisdictional or central conference delegate be bound to vote for any specific nominee. Each jurisdictional or central conference shall develop appropriate procedures for furnishing information about nominees from annual conferences. This shall be done at least two weeks prior to the first day of the jurisdictional or central conference. Similar procedures shall be developed for persons nominated by ballot who receive ten votes, or 5 percent of the valid votes cast, and the information shall be made available to the delegates at the site of the conference.

2. Process—a) Jurisdictional and central conference delegates, in electing bishops, shall give due consideration to the inclusiveness of The United Methodist Church with respect to sex, race, and national origin. In addition, consideration shall be given to the nature of superintendency as described in ¶¶ 401.

b) The jurisdictional and central conferences are authorized to fix the percentage of votes necessary to elect a bishop. It is recommended that at least 60 percent of those present and voting be necessary to elect.

c) Consecration of bishops may take place at the session of the conference at which election occurs or at a place and time designated by the conference. The consecration service may include bishops from other jurisdictional and central conferences. It is strongly urged that the consecration service also include representatives from other Christian communions (see ¶¶ 124, 427.2, 1901).

543. Powers and Duties—

2. A central conference, when authorized by a specific enabling act of the General Conference, may elect one or more bishops from among the travelling elders of The United Methodist Church. The number of bishops to be elected by each central conference shall be determined from time to time by the General Conference.

3. When a central conference shall have been authorized to elect bishops, such elections shall be conducted under the same general procedure as prevails in the jurisdictional conferences for the election of bishops. A central conference shall have power to fix the tenure of bishops elected by the said central conference.

2. Nomination and Election Guidelines 2012

The Northern Europe & Eurasia Central Conference is composed of two episcopal areas: Nordic and Baltic Area and Eurasia Area. When the Northern Europe & Eurasia Central Conference will meet in Kaunas, Lithuania on October 17-21, 2012, a new bishop for the Eurasia Area is to be elected.

All United Methodists in Northern Europe & Eurasia can nominate

All members, groups of members, disciplinary entities, and organizations of The United Methodist Church in Northern Europe & Eurasia can place a nomination to the election after reception of consent of the nominee.

All nominations must be made in writing to the Central Conference Committee on Episcopacy.

Eligibility

All ordained Elders with full membership in a United Methodist annual conference and in active service are eligible to the episcopacy.v Hans V?xby has served since 2005 and does not stand for reelection.

Presentation of nominees

All nominations, when submitted to the Central Conference Committee on Episcopacy, shall be accompanied by a presentation of the candidate in writing – half a page A4 (500 words, 30 lines). The chairperson of the Committee must approve the presentation before further distribution.

The nominees will be presented in a press release together with pictures sent out from the Bishop’s office in Copenhagen.

Nominations including presentations submitted before July 15, 2012 will be included in the pre-conference material. The Northern Europe United Methodist magazines will follow the nomination process on their own initiative from a journalistic perspective. Nominators as well as nominees can make themselves available for additional information.

At the Central Conference

Nominators shall, in cooperation with the Central Conference Committee on Episcopacy, make it possible for the nominees to be present at the central conference.

A public hearing will take place at the Central Conference.

Nomination will be closed after the first ballot at the Central Conference.

Debate and election speeches are allowed until nomination is closed.

Election

• Election is by written ballot and takes place in a session set by the central conference.

• A bishop , representing the Council of Bishops, presides at the election

• Tellers assigned by the conference will count the votes.

• The ballot is closed and personal. Delegates cannot be bound to vote for any specific nominee.

• Two thirds of given and valid votes are necessary to elect a bishop.

Consecration and assuming of office

The new bishop will be consecrated in the Sunday Worship Service at the Central Conference. Inauguration of the new bishop in Moscow will take place at new year 2012/13. The date for assuming of the office is January 1, 2013.