The West Virginia Annual Conference Delegation of the Northeastern Jurisdiction selected the Rev. J. Montgomery (Monty) Brown for endorsement as the episcopal candidate from the West Virginia Conference. The selection was made at the delegation’s meeting December 9 in Charleston. Brown’s name will be placed before the June 2012 session of the West Virginia Annual Conference for formal nomination as the Conference’s episcopal candidate.

If nominated by the West Virginia Conference, Brown will join nominees from other NEJ conferences under consideration to fill vacancies created by three retiring bishops in the NEJ, which meets July 18 - 21, 2012 in Charleston.

The Northeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church is comprised of 12 states and the District of Columbia, bounded by Maine in the north and West Virginia in the south. There are nine episcopal areas (ten annual conferences) in the NEJ. It is one of five U.S. jurisdictions along with seven central conferences that serve United Methodists around the world.

The most important thing a bishop can do is set a tone that’s conducive to unity, said Brown. “We live in a time when there’s a lot of effort put into making someone right and another person wrong.”

A bishop, he said, “must find a way to help folks see that differences are helpful, not divisive.”

Brown is the pastor of St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Charleston and chair of the Order of Elders for the WV Annual Conference.

He has been married to Jane (Wentz) Brown for 37 years. They have two children, Josh and Bethany, and two granddaughters Sydney and Morgan. He has been in pastoral ministry for 20 years, and practiced law for 15 years prior to becoming an ordained clergy person in the United Methodist Church.