Western Methodist Justice Movement Provides Episcopal Discernment- Through a Social Justice Lens

The Western Methodist Justice Movement (WMJM) hosted a Jurisdiction-wide web event in July 2022 to “develop questions with a social justice focus for episcopal candidates.” The intention for these questions is to “assist annual conference delegations and other groups to keep social justice concerns before episcopal candidates through the discernment process of electing new bishops this November 2022.”

During the web event, the 60 participants were organized in small groups and asked to share their thoughts via Menti polling and conversation. Two documents were provided as resource materials for these conversations that originated from jurisdictional work groups that met in July of 2021:

1. The theological and missional context of the work of bishops with a report section entitled “the role of the episcopacy.”

2. A Values Rubric “that lifts up inclusion, contextualization, connectionalism, and decolonization. The rubric is designed to assist in viewing the work of ordering and administering the ministry of the church in a new way.”

You can find videos explaining each of these resources here (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Participants considered what the Book of Discipline outlines as the role of Bishops as well as what the Western Jurisdiction looks for in Bishops. Participants were invited to lift up values, and questions were developed around 9 values via small groups. You can access the list of the 14 questions here.