For Immediate Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church is pleased to announce that Bishop Bruce Ough and Bishop Sally Dyck will become the new Executive Secretary and Ecumenical Officer of the Council effective September 1, 2020. Both were elected at the 2019 November meeting of the Council.
Bishop Ough will be succeeding Bishop Marcus Matthews as Executive Secretary while Bishop Dyck will be taking over the ecumenical portfolio from Bishop B. Michael Watson. The Executive Secretary serves as the operations officer of the Council and works closely with the President and Secretary to monitor actions of the Council and Executive Committee. The Ecumenical Officer is responsible for relationships with other denominations and/or ecclesial bodies. Both serve four-year terms.
In a plan proposed by the North Central Jurisdiction College of Bishops and approved by the Council of Bishops, Bishop Ough and Bishop Dyck will continue to serve in their residential areas until January 1, 2021. Bishop Ough is the resident bishop of the Dakotas-Minnesota Area while Bishop Dyck is the resident bishop of Chicago area which encompasses Northern Illinois Conference.
According to the approved plan, retired Bishop John Hopkins will be assigned to serve the Northern Illinois Conference from January 1, 2021 until another bishop is assigned, but no later than December 31, 2021 as per ¶409.3.
To serve the Dakotas/Minnesota Area after January 1, 2021, Bishop Laurie Haller of Iowa and Bishop David Bard of Michigan will be assigned as a team. Bishop Haller will focus on supervising the Dakotas Conference, and Bishop Bard will focus on supervising the Minnesota Conference. These assignments begin January 1, 2021, and continue until another bishop is assigned, but no later than December 31, 2021.
“The Council is pleased to have Bishop Ough and Bishop Dyck in these key roles in our denomination at this critical time,” said Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, president of the Council. “We are grateful for the leadership that Bishop Matthews and Bishop Watson have provided in the last four years that they have served as Executive Secretary and Ecumenical Officer respectively.”
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Media Contact: Rev. Dr. Maidstone Mulenga
Director of Communications – Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church
[email protected]
202-748-5172