The Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) Church elects five new Bishops at their Historical 37th General Conference

Mobile, AL (BlackNews.com) — The Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) Church, convening for its thirty-six quadrennial session and thirty-seventh General Conference in Mobile, Alabama during June 26-July 4, 2010, elected five new bishops including a female and an indigenous bishop for Africa.

The theme of the General Conference was, “An Essential Church: Poised for 21st Century Ministry.”
Bishop James B. Walker was elected the 56th bishop of the C.M.E. Church. He is the former pastor of Phillips C.M.E. Church in Hartford, Connecticut.
Bishop W.E. Lockett was elected the 57th bishop. He is the former pastor of Metropolitan C.M.E. Church in Houston, Texas, Bishop Sylvester Williams was elected the 58th bishop. He is the former pastor of Carter Temple C.M.E. Church in Chicago, Illinois. Bishop Teresa Snorton was elected the 59th bishop and the first female bishop of the denomination. She is the Executive Director of the National Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. (ACPE) in Atlanta, Georgia, Bishop Godwin Umoette was elected the 60th bishop and the indigenous bishop for Africa. He served as a distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, and pastor of Bishop Marshall Gilmore Cathedral CME Church, Uyo.
The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, under the leadership of Senior Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr. and its College of Bishops, is a 139-year old historically African American Christian denomination with more than 1.2 million members across the United States, and has missions and sister churches in Haiti, Jamaica, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan/Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda Rwanda and Burundi.

For additional information about the CME Church, visit www.c-m-e.org.

Senior Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr., CEO
Bishop Paul A. G. Stewart, Sr.
Bishop Lawrence L. Reddick, III
Bishop Henry M. Williamson, Sr.
Bishop Thomas L. Brown, Sr.
Bishop Kenneth W. Carter
Bishop James B. Walker
Bishop W.E. Lockett
Bishop Sylvester Williams
Bishop Teresa Snorton
Bishop Godwin T. Umoette
Bishop William H. Graves, Retired
Bishop Othal H. Lakey, Retired
Bishop Edward Lynn Brown, Retired
Bishop Ronald M. Cunningham, Retired
Bishop Dotcy I. Isom, Jr., Retired
Bishop Marshall Gilmore, Retired
Bishop Nathaniel Linsey, Retired