In my previous post, I reflected upon the retirement of Wesleyan General Superintendent, Dr. Earl Wilson. That event, of course, meant that The Wesleyan Church needed to elect at least one new G.S. (and, as it turns out, the other two incumbents were re-elected).
It is with great joy that I congratulate The Wesleyan Church on the election of the Rev'd. Dr. Jo Anne Lyons (seen below, on the left). While The Wesleyan Church, like the Church of the Nazarene, has, from its very beginning, ordained women*, Dr. Lyons is the very first woman to serve that denomination as a General Superintende
nt.
It is with great joy that I congratulate The Wesleyan Church on the election of the Rev'd. Dr. Jo Anne Lyons (seen below, on the left). While The Wesleyan Church, like the Church of the Nazarene, has, from its very beginning, ordained women*, Dr. Lyons is the very first woman to serve that denomination as a General Superintende
nt.The Wesleyans made this move on the heals of the 2005 General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene, when we elected the Rev'd. Dr. Nina Gunter (on the right side, in the picture) as the very first woman to serve our denomination as a General Superintendent.
Making this move a bit more exciting is the fact that Dr. Gunter was present, representing the Church of the Nazarene at The Wesleyan General Conference.
May God's grace, guidance and blessings be upon Dr. Lyons and the Board of General Superintendents of The Wesleyan Church.
Making this move a bit more exciting is the fact that Dr. Gunter was present, representing the Church of the Nazarene at The Wesleyan General Conference.
May God's grace, guidance and blessings be upon Dr. Lyons and the Board of General Superintendents of The Wesleyan Church.
For more information on this historic vote, click here
*The Wesleyan/holiness churches were ordaining women long before the "liberal" mainline denominations (e.g., it took the United Methodist Church a quarter of a century to catch up with the Church of the Nazarene on this point). However, it has taken the Nazarenes and the Wesleyans far too long to catch up with the UMC regarding women in the episcopal role.
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Thought you might be interested in this news item from Evangelicals for Social Action:
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, an Evangelicals for Social Action board member since 1978, has just been elected the first-ever woman General Superintendent of the Wesleyan Church. An ordained minister in the Wesleyan Church, Dr. Lyon is founder of World Hope International; she has led that organization to develop successful relief and development projects in more than 30 countries.
The Wesleyan Church is an evangelical, Protestant denomination, which has its roots in John Wesley’s Methodism. The denomination has nearly 400,000 constituents in 5,000 churches and missions in 86 countries around the world.
Congratulations to the Wesleyan Church for making such a wise and groundbreaking choice. Congratulations to Dr. Lyon for being the best candidate for the job. Everyone here at ESA is proud to know you, and has loved working with you over the past three decades. We look forward to your continued insight and wisdom as you advise ESA in the coming years.
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