Duke University Chapel Dean William Willimon, one of the nation's top theologians, has been elected United Methodist bishop for North Alabama.
Willimon, 58, who was consecrated Saturday in Birmingham, has written more than 50 books on church practice that have often criticized liberal theology and decline in the second-largest U.S. Protestant denomination.
A member of the Duke Divinity faculty since 1976, Willimon takes office Sept. 1 as head of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church, which has 157,862 members.
Willimon was elected as a bishop Wednesday during a meeting of the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church at Lake Junaluska, N.C. He is eligible to serve two four-year terms as a bishop in North Alabama.
In 1996, an international survey by Baylor University named Willimon one of the "twelve most effective preachers" in the English-speaking world, a list that included evangelist Billy Graham.
"I've been told by too many people you can't write what I've written and say what I say and be a bishop," Willimon told The Birmingham News for a story Sunday, joking: "Very few people read my books; that's helpful."
Actually, Willimon's books combined have sold more than a million copies. The Academy of Parish Clergy once cited Willimon's "Worship as Pastoral Care" as one of the 10 most useful books for pastors.
Duke Divinity School Dean L. Gregory Jones called Willimon an extraordinary leader.
"I'm delighted for Will and for the church," Jones said. "It is a loss for Duke, but a great gift for the United Methodist Church."
Willimon succeeds Bishop Robert Fannin, who retired.
The North Alabama Conference has lost an average of about 1,000 members a year for more than two decades, reflecting a steady decline across the 8 million-member United Methodist denomination, which had more than 10 million members in the late 1960s.
"We're going to stop that," Willimon said. "We've got a great church."