LAKELAND — The race was deadlocked on the 12th ballot between the Rev. Al Gwinn, 57, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Lexington, Ky., and the Rev. Nancy Rankin, 49, superintendent of the Statesville District in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference.

Delegates were expecting one to take the lead and become the jurisdiction’s new bishop, but the Rev. Timothy Whitaker, 52, re-emerged on the 13th ballot after an earlier withdrawal from the election, garnering enough votes to turn the tide and lead him to win the election.

Whitaker pulled ahead on the 15th ballot with 194 votes and was elected bishop Feb. 27 on the 17th ballot during the evening session of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference’s (SEJ) special session in Lake Junaluska, N.C. He received 395 out of a possible 497 valid votes, but needed only 299 to be elected.

The session began Feb. 26 and ended two days later with Whitaker’s consecration as bishop.

Whitaker declined his nomination after the first ballot telling delegates he had refocused his life and ministry after withdrawing from the elections held during the jurisdictional conference last July. He said he felt the session’s election process would be a distraction. Whitaker was a strong contender during the summer elections, but when competition for the third opening narrowed to him and one other candidate, Whitaker withdrew, paving the way for the election of the Rev. James R. King Jr.

Whitaker served as superintendent of the Virginia Annual Conference’s Norfolk District prior to the special session.

After results of the 13th ballot were read, Florida Conference delegates expressed concern and surprise over the direction the voting had taken.

"The last ballot [13th] shows a little of the restlessness here," said the Rev. Dr. Keith Ewing, administrative assistant to the bishop. "It’s like we’re wanting something to happen, yet we don’t know how to make it happen."

The Rev. Dick Wills said he sensed delegates wanted to offer another alternative, causing the re-emergence of nominees who had previously withdrawn. "My sense is that the group wants to make a decision," he said. "I would hope whoever gets it feels called to do it."

Wills is a member of the SEJ episcopacy committee, along with Mary Alice Massey, leader of Florida’s delegation.

"This is very, very strange," Florida delegate Jimmy Garrett Sr. said. "I don’t know if we are listening to the word of God or trying to make a decision."

Florida delegate Joyce Walden Bright summarized the feeling of many delegates. "I have no idea where we’re going," she said. "What people [those who withdrew] say does not count. People apparently did not accept their decision."

"My prayer is that we hold to integrity," said Florida delegate Marta Burke, "and that our egos and power struggles not dominate."

Gwinn and Rankin emerged as the leaders on the seventh ballot, then flip-flopped between the lead position on ballots that followed.

Martha Forrest received 17 votes on the 14th ballot, despite her withdrawal after the sixth ballot. Rankin received 103 votes on the 15th ballot, then withdrew.

A total of 524 of 540 lay and clergy delegates attended the session, held to elect a new bishop to fill the vacancy in the jurisdiction created by the death of Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson.

Henderson, 66, died Dec. 7 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was serving in his second appointment as bishop of the Florida Conference.

United Methodist bishops in the United States are ordinarily elected in regularly scheduled jurisdictional conferences held every four years.

By Tita Parham

LAKELAND — Delegates to the special session of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference (SEJ) in Lake Junaluska, N.C., named the Rev. Dr. David Brazelton a nominee for bishop Feb. 26 during the first voting ballot. Brazelton is superintendent of the Tampa District.

Brazelton was nominated at the session with two other delegates, the Rev. Dr. Walter Kimbrough, senior pastor of Cascade United Methodist Church in the North Georgia Annual Conference, and the Rev. Timothy Whitaker, who served as superintendent of the Virginia Annual Conference’s Norfolk District prior to being elected bishop at the special session.

The Florida Conference’s SEJ delegates decided during their pre-conference meeting Feb. 10 not to name a nominee for bishop from the Florida Conference.

"When we met [Florida delegation] we prayed as a delegation," Brazelton said in a 10-minute presentation to delegates after being nominated. The eight other nominees endorsed by their annual conferences prior to the session made their presentations during the afternoon session.

"God has been so good to me, and I do not close this door," Brazelton said. "But we felt so good as a delegation about the gift that you had given us [to hold the special session]. I’m going to continue to vote for someone else because we want to thank you for the gift you have given to us."