Iowa Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church
Liz Winders
Director of Communications
(515) 974-8907
liz.winders@iaumc.org
January 31, 2023, Des Moines, IA —Bishop Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai’s installation service will be on February 19, 2023, at Ames, Collegiate United Methodist Church & Wesley Foundation at 3:00 p.m. There will be a reception following the service.
Bishop Bigham-Tsai was assigned as the resident bishop for the Iowa Area, effective January 1, 2023. She was elected to the episcopacy at the 2022 North Central Jurisdictional Conference in 2022.
Before her election, she served as the chief connectional ministries officer of the Connectional Table for the United Methodist Church since 2018. The Connectional Table is the body that discerns and articulates the vision for the worldwide United Methodist Church. She also served as a district superintendent in the Michigan Annual Conference where she had supervision of 70+ churches and their pastors. In addition, she has served as a pastor of churches in Kalamazoo and East Lansing, Michigan.
The theme for the installation service will be “Remembering Who We Are.”
"The service will focus on who we are as United Methodists and who we can be together as an Iowa Annual Conference," Bishop Bigham-Tsai noted. “We must remember that we are a people who center grace. All are welcome at our table.”
Bigham-Tsai is the first African-American woman assigned to the Iowa Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. The Iowa Annual Conference is home to about 740 congregations.
Bishop Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai's photo is available here.
The Iowa Conference of The United Methodist Church is a connection of 740 congregations across five districts (regions) of the state of Iowa. Served by 462 clergy, the 136,311 members of United Methodist communities of faith are part of the 12 million worldwide denomination. The mission of the Iowa Conference is to Inspire, Equip, and Connect communities of faith to cultivate world-changing disciples of Jesus Christ. The vision of the Conference is to see God’s hope for the world made real through faithful leaders, fruitful communities, and fire-filled people.