27 Jun Phil Whipple Re-elected as Bishop

Phillip Whipple was re-elected a bishop of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA. He was first elected in 2009, and will now serve another four-year term as bishop. The election came Thursday morning, June 27, during the business session of the US National Conference.

Todd Fetters, assistant chairman, introduced the ballot for bishop, and gave some background, noting that they would follow much the same procedure employed in 2009, when there was also just one name on the ballot. Then Kevin Cherry, chairman of the Nominating Committee, gave some remarks about how they were led to present a ballot with just one name.

The “Rules and Procedures” states that ballot must contain twice the number of persons to be elected. So first, they had to suspect that rule (this has been done many times in the past—just once for bishop, but various times when we elected national directors).

Todd Fetters then invited additional nominations from the floor.

Molly Kesler, a member of the Executive Leadership Team, came to a microphone. She said she had approached two persons about letting their names run for bishop, and that both had said yes. One, she said, was Chuck Malson, pastor of Brown Corners UB church in Clare, Mich. However, she said, Malson subsequently declined, saying he was still committed to serving his local church.

The other person, however, and said “yes”–Lester Smith, pastor of the UB church in Hillsdale, Mich. She placed his name in nomination.

Lester Smith came to the microphone. He said he was “wired for personal evangelism,” and didn’t think the bishop’s position—“in the unlikely event I was elected to it”—would provide the right opportunities to fit his gifting. He thanked Molly for the nomination, but then declined to let his name run.

The vote then proceeded. When the written ballots were counted, they showed the following:

321 votes cast for Phil Whippe
1 “no” vote
6 abstentions
5 blank ballots
1 vote each for Chuck Malson, Dennis Miller, and Tim Hallman.

“This body has elected Phil Whipple as its bishop,” declared Todd Fetters.

Applause.

Fetters continued, “Thank you for celebrating that decision. It’s also important to consecrate that decision.”

He invited the bishops emeriti—C. Ray Miller, Ray Seilhamer, Paul Hirschy, and Ron Ramsey–to come gather around the bishop on the platform. All four bishops laid hands on Bishop Phil Whipple, and bishops Miller and Seilhamer offered prayer.