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Cowart, Martin and Kolde to Lead FMCUSA as Bishops
GC23 elects and consecrates the next Board of Bishops.
By Jeff Finley
Focal Point | Light+Life MagazineGeneral Conference 2023 delegates elected Pastors Edward Kenneth “Kenny” Martin and Kaye Kolde and re-elected Bishop Keith Cowart to serve as the three members of the Free Methodist Church USA Board of Bishops for the next four years. The bishops were elected Wednesday, July 26, and consecrated Friday, July 28. (Click here to watch video of the election, and click here to watch the consecration service.)
In the third round of voting for the first bishop to be elected from the seven bishop candidates, Bishop Cowart was re-elected with 52 percent of the votes. He was initially elected to the Board of Bishops at General Conference 2019.
On the next vote, more than 50 percent of delegates selected Martin, who will become the denomination’s first African American bishop. He is the lead pastor of the Kingdom Cathedral church plant in San Bernardino, California. He previously served as the executive pastor of leadership development for Chapel of Change in Paramount, California, and as lead pastor of John Wesley Free Methodist Church in Indianapolis along with leading Free Methodist congregations in Maryland and Missouri.
After five rounds of voting for the third bishop selection with a pause in voting for prayer, nearly 53 percent of delegates chose Kolde as the third member of the Board of Bishops. Bishop-elect Kolde is the lead pastor of The Arbor Church in Spring Arbor, Michigan. She previously served as the executive pastor of ministry, the pastor of connections, and pastor of discipleship at Sage Hills Church in Wenatchee, Washington.
Lead Bishop
According to the Book of Discipline, “Following the election of the bishops, the Bishops Search Committee shall convene to name a Lead Bishop and bring its recommendation to the General Conference for its affirmation prior to the conclusion of the General Conference.”
Bishops Search Committee Co-Chair Alex Soto told delegates Friday, “We are pleased to announce the new lead bishop for this quadrennium and present it to this body as Keith Cowart.”
Delegates voted 224-14 to approve Cowart as lead bishop.
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