GLEN ALLEN, VA – Bishop Sharma D. Lewis, the first African-American woman elected a bishop in the Southeastern Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church, has been assigned to lead the Virginia Conference of The United Methodist Church for the next four years. She will begin her term of office on Sept. 1.
Bishop Lewis will oversee the 1,169 local churches and faith communities and 327,647 United Methodists in the Virginia Conference. She follows Bishop Young Jin Cho who is retiring after leading the conference for the last four years.
A welcoming service of worship for Bishop Lewis will be held at Reveille United Methodist Church, 4200 Cary Street Road, Richmond, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon Saturday, Sept. 17.
Lewis, 52, was elected a bishop on the first ballot taken by the 376 delegates at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference that met July 13-15 in Lake Junaluska, N.C.
“I am excited, and I am really humbled” said Lewis.
At 52 years old, I am excited that my next phase of life will be as an Episcopal leader. I am humbled by the fact that this is historic.”
Lewis is the first African-American woman elected as a bishop in the denomination since 2000. The first ever African-American female bishop in The United Methodist Church, Bishop Leontine Kelly, was from the Virginia Conference but was elected in 1984 by the church’s Western Jurisdiction.Lifelong United Methodist
Currently serving as district superintendent of the Atlanta-Decatur-Oxford District in the North Georgia Conference, Lewis is a native of Statesboro, Ga., and a life-long United Methodist.
She is a graduate of Mercer University and the University of West Georgia, with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology. After graduating, she worked as a biologist in the academic and corporate sectors. After answering the call to ministry, she entered Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta, where she earned the Master of Divinity with honors.
United Methodist Bishops
A United Methodist bishop in the United States is elected for life. Typically, a bishop will serve a specific episcopal area for eight years, but can serve as long as 12 years in one area. The United Methodist Book of Discipline, the denomination’s governing document, directs each bishop to “guard the faith, order, liturgy, doctrine, and discipline of the Church.” Bishops provide oversight and support to The United Methodist Church’s mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. They also are charged to work “for the unity of the church” and “be the shepherd of the whole flock.”
The United Methodist Church
Within the United States, local United Methodist churches are organized into increasingly larger groups: numerous districts, dozens of conferences and five jurisdictions. A bishop can be assigned to lead one or more conferences. Thirteen active bishops lead the 15 conferences in the nine states that form the Southeastern Jurisdiction. States represented in this jurisdiction are: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
The Virginia Conference includes 1,169 local churches and faith communities covering the entire state of Virginia — except the section of the state west of Christiansburg, which is part of the Holston Conference.
