OPINION: Bishop was elected using open and democratic process

As chair of the Episcopacy Committee of the Yellowstone Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, and as an elected member of the 2012-2016 Episcopacy Committee of the Western Jurisdiction of the UMC, I am writing in response to comments made by Rena Hagen of Kalispell in a letter which appeared in the Inter Lake a few days ago. Ms. Hagen wrote regarding the election of Bishop Karen Oliveto during our United Methodist Jurisdictional Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, this past July.

By virtue of the offices to which I was elected, I was present for the Jurisdictional Conference at which Karen Oliveto was elected bishop and assigned to our area. Ms. Hagen suggested that the procedures of the Jurisdictional Conference were secretive, without input from others in the church. Let me respond first to this charge:

Every session, and every vote, of the Western Jurisdiction was live-streamed via the internet. Members of the public from all over the world were able to watch the proceedings, and many did. Those who voted on Bishop Oliveto’s election were elected from their respective annual conferences. Every point of ministry, every congregation, of the United Methodist Church elects a representative to their annual conference, which meets annually within their geographical area. Every four years, the annual conference, in turn, elects delegates and alternates to represent them at both the General and Jurisdictional Conferences. We from Yellowstone Annual Conference had four representatives (two lay people and two clergy, all of whom happen to reside in Montana) voting at Jurisdictional Conference. So, Ms. Hagen, neither the voting nor the speeches nor the elections were exclusive of input from all members of our churches.

Regarding the bishop’s election process: I was among those who developed and asked a series of questions of the candidates. The questions asked were designed to help the elected delegates discern the various candidates’ abilities to lead the church. I listened while Bishop Oliveto responded to the questions asked of her. She answered the questions thoughtfully and, often, brilliantly. I read her submitted materials regarding her eight-year tenure as the pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in the Western Jurisdiction (Glide Memorial UMC in San Francisco) and her successful leadership in both church and community affairs in the San Francisco area. After a very thorough vetting by the voting delegates of the Western Jurisdictional Conference, she was elected unanimously, on the basis of merit alone.

Regarding her assignment to our area: We on the Jurisdictional Episcopacy Committee assigned Karen Oliveto to our area because we believed in July, and we continue to believe, that her amazing good gifts would serve this huge and diverse geographical area well. We knew that the folks of the Intermountain West measure people on the merits of their performance and behavior, and that they are willing to accept and befriend others without pre-judging them.

We who know Bishop Oliveto have been more than pleased with her job performance to date. She has made a huge effort to travel to churches large and small, throughout her assigned area. She’s taken time to meet with clergy and laity throughout the region. She listens carefully and kindly, and she speaks eloquently. We are so thankful she’s our bishop.

Whether or not Ms. Hagen is a member or constituent of a United Methodist Church in the Kalispell area, I encourage her to become involved in the very thorough and democratic systems of our denomination and to worship with us, so that she might help us become a church that truly is one of Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors.

Novak is a resident of Chester, Montana.