U.S. Methodists Elect 1st Filipino Bishop

The Rev. Carlo A. Rapanut, assistant to the bishop in the Greater Northwest Episcopal Area, has been elected a bishop by The United Methodist Church’s Western Jurisdiction, the first Filipino American bishop in the UMC.

Photo Insert: The Rev. Carlo A. Rapanut served in Baguio City before immigrating to Alaska.

Delegates elected Rapanut, 48, on Nov. 4 at the jurisdiction’s meeting at Christ United Methodist Church in Salt Lake City, on the 13th ballot. He received 67 votes out of 95 valid ballots cast. He needed 64 to be elected.

Current Western Jurisdiction rules require two-thirds of valid ballots. Rapanut was the first bishop elected at the Nov. 2 to 5 meeting. A graduate of the University of the Philippines, Rapanut served in Baguio City before immigrating to Alaska.

South Central Jurisdiction Conference also elected Rev. David Wilson as the first Native American bishop on Nov. 2 in Houston, David Burke reported for United Methodist News Service.

Delegates elected Wilson, age 59, Nov. 2 at the jurisdiction’s meeting in Houston on the first ballot. He received 92 votes out of 151 valid ballots cast. He needed 91 to be elected (60% of valid ballots).

All three of the jurisdiction’s bishops — Wilson, the Rev. Delores "Dee" Williamston, and the Rev. Laura Merrill — were elected on the first ballot. Rev. Williamston will head the Louisiana conference, the first female African American bishop in the conference, which has just approved the disaffiliation of 58 churches, out of 30,000 congregations in the US.

The election of the three bishops marks a progressive shift in the UMC, joining other Protestant denominations that have championed diversity, human rights, and gender equality, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

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