Special Guests

Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton

Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton
Resident Bishop, Pittsburgh Area
Western Pennsylvania Conference
Imagine No Malaria celebration
Wednesday night

  As a United Methodist Bishop assigned to the Pittsburgh Area, Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton leads about 900 clergy and more than 800 congregations. in the Western Pennsylvania Conference.

A bishop serves as a general superintendent of the entire denomination. In the United Methodist Church, bishops are ordained clergy elected and consecrated to the office. Bishops give general oversight to the worldly and spiritual interests of the Church.
 

In addition to his residential responsibilities, Bishop Bickerton serves as the lead bishop and spokesperson for the Global Health Initiative of The United Methodist Church.

Bishop Bickerton is a native of West Virginia and was elected to the episcopacy in 2004. He is currently serving his third term in Western Pennsylvania.

Bishop Bickerton will be present Wednesday evening as the conference celebrates its giving of more than $2 million to the Imagine No Malaria campaign with financial pledges topping the $2.3 million goal set three years ago by the 2010 Annual Conference.

GCFA General Secretary Moses Kumar

Moses Kumar
General Secretary, 
General Council on Finance and Administration
Friday morning

Moses Kumar, general secretary of the General Council of Finance and Administration, will recognize the Illinois Great Rivers Conference as one of 17 U.S. conferences that paid its general church apportionments at 100 percent in 2011.

Kumar was elected as the sixth general secretary of the General Council on Finance and Administration in 2008. He is responsible for overseeing the Nashville-based agency that coordinates and administers finances for the 11.5 million-member worldwide denomination, as well as safeguarding its legal interests and rights.

Prior to his election, Kumar served as treasurer and executive director of administrative ministries for the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference for eight years. He previously worked at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa., where he was vice president for finance and operations. 

A native of Chennai (Madras), India, Kumar joins the council at a time when the denomination is placing new emphasis on its global connections and is considering significant changes to its worldwide structure. The United Methodist Church is growing in Africa and the Philippines, while its U.S. membership has shrunk to 7.9 million.