(RNS) — The first two openly gay and married bishops in the United Methodist Church were elected to their positions under a cloud. The denomination’s rulebook did not allow LGBTQ+ people to be ordained, much less consecrated as bishops.
But for the first time in its history, the United Methodist Church has elected a third openly gay and married bishop — this time in the clear light of day.
Kristin Stoneking, an ordained pastor and the associate professor of United Methodist Studies and Leadership at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, was elected bishop last week in the Western Jurisdiction of the church. Her election comes three months after the United Methodists voted at their General Conference to eliminate all restrictions on the full participation of queer members.
Stoneking will oversee some 300 churches in the denomination’s Mountain Sky Conference, which includes congregations in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and a small part of Idaho. She will be based in Denver.
“We’re not done trying to make sure that the world is a welcoming and caring place for everyone, and that includes LGBTQ persons,” Stoneking said.
Following the departure of 25% of its U.S. churches who left over disagreements over LGBTQ+ inclusion, the United Methodist Church agreed at its General Conference it would not add any more bishops over the next four years. But in the weeks following the convention, one bishop decided to retire and another took long-term disability, leaving two unexpected vacancies.
The Western Jurisdiction of the church had two already planned bishop retirements in need of replacement and had hoped for a transfer of two bishops from other regions. But when it became apparent the denomination was down two additional bishops, the Western Jurisdiction decided to elect two new bishops: Stoneking and Sandra K. Olewine. Olewine will serve the California-Nevada Conference. Stoneking will replace Bishop Karen Oliveto, the denomination’s first openly gay married bishop, who, at age 66, is retiring.
On the 17th ballot, the Western Jurisdiction elected the Rev. Karen Oliveto to the episcopacy of the United Methodist Church in 2016. (Photo by Patrick Scriven, United Methodist Church PNW Conference)
Oliveto was elected to the Western Jurisdiction in 2016 in defiance of denominational rules that did not allow LGBTQ+ ordination. Then, in 2022, the Western Jurisdiction, the most liberal in the denomination, once again defied church rules and elected an openly gay married bishop — Cedrick D. Bridgeforth. He serves the Greater Northwest Conference that spans Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and small parts of Montana and Canada.
At April’s General Conference meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, United Methodists voted to repeal their denomination’s condemnation of homosexuality from its rulebook. For 52 years, the rulebook had stated that the practice of homosexuality was “incompatible with Christian teaching.”
At that same meeting, it dropped a ban on the ordination of gay clergy and eliminated a provision that forbade its ministers from officiating at same-sex marriages.
Stoneking is among the first to benefit from the lifting of all those restrictions. An estimated 324 UMC clergy or candidates for ordination are gay. Of those, about 160 are in same-sex marriages — many of them performed outside the church and in private because of the restrictions.
The Rev. Kristin Stoneking was elected bishop in the United Methodist Church on July 12, 2024, and will serve in the Mountain Sky Conference beginning Sept. 1. (Courtesy photo)
Stoneking is married to Elizabeth Campi, and they have two children. The two met at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and have been together as a couple for 32 years.