5 questions with Bishop David Graves
Q What are the duties of a bishop?
We are the episcopal leaders for the annual conference. One of the primary things we do is cast vision for the conference. We ordain pastors into ministry; we are the primary interpreters of the [United Methodist Church] Book of Discipline; we make appointments and assign pastors to congregations. In my annual conference, I have a camp with a camping ministry and we have two colleges. It’s like being the senior pastor of a congregation: The buck stops here. It’s a lot of responsibility, especially when you think about making appointments and how they impact a lot of people’s lives.
Q
So those are the duties of the bishop; what is your personal philosophy on the role of the bishop?
For me, it’s the same as a pastor. I just want to help congregations focus on Christ, on missions, on transforming lives to impact our corner of the world. I want to develop relationships with pastors and laity. Bishops deal with a lot of problems; typically the only time you are with a lot of folks is when there are problem issues. But I want to work on meeting people outside of that to build relationships.
Q
You campaigned for election as bishop in 2012 but were not elected. Did you have any hesitancy about putting your name up for consideration again?
I did. It’s a very difficult road to go down because your whole life is examined. I was thinking about not doing it, but my spiritual mentors said I needed to keep that door open. To put yourself out there is very difficult. We got asked questions about just about every part of our lives. It’s a big deal — you want somebody who is spiritually grounded, focused, humble, because a bishop has a lot of power.
QWill you be involved with bishops who will consider the issue of the church’s stance on gay marriage? Yes. We have appointed a commission to really study options, and we will probably have a called general conference in two years to look at our way forward.
QWhat do you hope the church does? I hope we can stay unified because, as a global church of 12.3 million people, we are really growing in other parts of the world. Our connection is our strength. There is a strong contingent that doesn’t want to see samesex marriages take place in our church. It’s almost a 50-50 split in the total denomination. I think it would be tragic if we split over the issue because it will weaken us as a church. We need to stay focused on Christ instead of agendas.