Bishop Linda Lee, head of the Wisconsin Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, is retiring in September. On July 20, 2012, it was announced that the new bishop appointed for the next four years within Wisconsin is Bishop Hee-Soo Jung. He will be installed in a special worship service Sunday afternoon, September 23, at Wausau First UMC.
Bishop Hee-Soo Jung (pronounced “He So Young”) was most recently the bishop for the Northern Illinois Conference (Chicago Area). He has been instrumental in inspiring the Harvest 2020 movement in Northern Illinois, which resulted in nearly 30 new faith communities and 2,000 new worshippers since 2009.
Bishop Jung was elected in 2004 and assigned to the Chicago Episcopal Area. He serves on the UM General Board of Discipleship, JustPeace, the UM National Hispanic Plan and the UM Korean National Plan. Known across the denomination for his work on refugee, immigration, cross-cultural and interfaith relations issues, Jung has been a board member of the General Commission on Christian Unity and Inter-Religious Concerns, and the General Commission on United Methodist Men.
Bishop Jung has served as pastor of congregations in Wisconsin, California, Texas and Korea. He was responsible for establishing a new Korean congregation at University United Methodist Church in Madison, Wisconsin. Jung served as a district superintendent in the Wisconsin Conference for eight years. He has a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Bishops in The United Methodist Church are elected by regional jurisdictional conferences and assigned to serve four-year terms overseeing annual conferences. They can serve two consecutive terms, and may serve a third term in a different conference. The North Central Jurisdictional Conference (NCJC) met in Akron, Ohio July 18-20 to appoint bishops. The NCJC includes the annual conferences of Dakotas/Minnesota, East Ohio, Illinois Great Rivers, Indiana, Iowa, Northern Illinois, Michigan Area, West Ohio, and Wisconsin.