NO NIGERIAN ELECTED AS GMC UNVEILS FIRST FULL-TIME GLOBAL BISHOPS
…John Pena Auta steps down from episcopal race in Johannesburg
By Taraba News | September 2, 2026
No Nigerian has emerged among the eight bishops elected to lead the Global Methodist Church (GMC) following the historic episcopal election at the denomination’s ongoing 2026 General Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The development comes despite Nigeria’s significant representation within the rapidly expanding denomination and the presence of Nigerian candidates in the episcopal election process.
The eight bishops-elect, according to the election results released from the conference and reflected in the materials provided to Taraba News, are Luther Oconer, Jonathan Lee, Mark Webb, Lyndol Loyd, Jerry P. Kulah, Eduard Khegay, Paul Lawler and Carolyn Moore.
They are assigned to Episcopal Areas One through Eight respectively.
The election is historic because the Johannesburg General Conference is electing the first regular, full-time slate of bishops of the Global Methodist Church. The denomination had previously been operating with transitional and interim episcopal leadership. The GMC had officially announced that eight full-time bishops would be elected in Johannesburg to serve six-year terms beginning November 5, 2026.
Auta steps down
A major development from the conference is the withdrawal of Bishop John Pena Auta of Nigeria from the episcopal contest.
Auta had entered Johannesburg as one of the serving interim bishops seeking election to a regular six-year term.
In fact, he had successfully crossed an important hurdle shortly before the main election. According to the GMC’s official General Conference update published September 1, Auta and Carolyn Moore were the two interim bishops who secured the required 75 per cent support to advance from the qualifying ballot to the main election.
His subsequent withdrawal therefore effectively ended the possibility of his continuing as one of the denomination’s eight regular bishops.
Nigerians were in the race
Auta was not the only Nigerian connected to the episcopal nomination process.
The GMC’s official list of nominees included Baziel Y. Yoila, while other Nigerian-linked nominations were part of the wider process. The denomination’s official nomination page records Yoila as associated with Southern Nigeria and nominated by Northeast Nigeria.
Nigeria nevertheless has substantial representation across the newly constituted episcopal areas.
For example, Central Nigeria falls under Episcopal Area 3, where Mark Webb has been elected; Northeast Nigeria is in Area 4 under Lyndol Loyd; while Southern Nigeria is part of Area 5, where Liberian clergyman Jerry P. Kulah has been elected.
Jerry Kulah gets Area 5
Of particular interest to African Methodists is the election of Jerry P. Kulah for Episcopal Area 5.
Area 5 comprises Ethiopia Nazrawiyan, Great Lakes, Virginia, Southern Nigeria, Oasis and Grain Coast, according to the conference materials.
Kulah is a prominent Liberian Methodist theologian and church leader who has played a visible role in the traditionalist Methodist movement in Africa.
The election therefore means that while Nigeria did not produce one of the eight bishops, Southern Nigeria will come under an African bishop, Jerry Kulah, for the 2026–2032 episcopal period.
The eight bishops-elect
The results provided from Johannesburg show the following:
1. Area 1 — Luther Oconer
2. Area 2 — Jonathan Lee
3. Area 3 — Mark Webb
4. Area 4 — Lyndol Loyd
5. Area 5 — Jerry P. Kulah
6. Area 6 — Eduard Khegay
7. Area 7 — Paul Lawler
8. Area 8 — Carolyn Moore
The GMC had established the eight international episcopal areas earlier this year, grouping its annual conferences across countries and continents rather than creating bishops solely along national boundaries.
End of an era for Auta
Auta’s withdrawal is particularly significant for Nigerian members of the GMC.
He was elected an interim bishop at the denomination’s 2024 Convening General Conference in San José, Costa Rica, alongside Carolyn Moore, Jeff Greenway, Kenneth Levingston, Kimba Evariste and Leah Hidde-Gregory.
He subsequently exercised episcopal oversight over several annual conferences, including Nigerian conferences, during the transitional period.
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With the Johannesburg election, the denomination is moving away from that interim arrangement to its permanent system of regular bishops elected for six-year terms.
The newly elected bishops are expected to begin their assignments on November 5, 2026, with their first term running through the 2026–2032 sexennial.
Taraba News will continue to follow developments from the GMC General Conference in Johannesburg, particularly the implications of the new episcopal arrangement for the Central, Northeast and Southern Nigeria Annual Conferences.
