45th SCAC

Starting in 2021, will the Sarawak Chinese Annual Conference “president” be called “bishop”? This will depend on the voting results from representatives of all 6 annual conferences in Malaysia.

This matter originated from the 12th General Conference held on September 8, 2020. It was proposed that the “President” of the six annual conferences of Malaysia should be renamed “Bishop”.

The proposal was put forward mainly because over the years, a common view in the government is that the “president” is not the top leader of the church, leading to the belief that the president is only one of the church leaders and cannot fully represent the church. Thus, a change of title will enhance the president’s position at the government level.

This proposal needs the approval of two-thirds of the representatives of the six annual conferences. Among the six annual assemblies, five annual assemblies have already been held, and the Tamil Annual Conference will be held on December 9.

During the 45th Sarawak Chinese Annual Conference held on November 26th, representatives voted. Among the 348 voters, 303 were in favor, 37 voted against, and 8 abstained.

Once this proposal is passed, presidents of the six annual conferences of the Methodist Church in Malaysia will be renamed as “Bishop”, for example Bishop of the Sarawak Chinese Annual Conference. The General Conference bishop will be called the Bishop of the Methodist Church in Malaysia.