Written by Kelli Reep
William A. “Bill” Waddell, Jr., an attorney and partner with Friday, Eldridge & Clark LLP practicing in the areas of regulatory and commercial litigation, recently was elected to the judicial council of the United Methodist Church. He is one of nine members serving in the denomination’s highest judicial body or “court,” according to the United Methodist Church. The Judicial Council is comprised of both laity and clergy, elected by the General Conference, and meet twice a year to consider whether actions of the various church bodies adhere to the constitution and follow the rules outlined in the Book of Discipline.
“We have a court system within the annual conference with a complaint process and what we call a judicial process,” Waddell said. “There are trials that occur occasionally, but there’s also an intermediate jurisdictional court of appeals, which each jurisdiction has. Arkansas is in the south-central jurisdiction.”
Waddell explains that the nine members of the jurisdictional court are elected from areas throughout the world. “This year is unique in that it was decided to elect all nine of the positions,” he said. “Due to the pandemic and the expiration of terms, the members are all new. Two of the members did serve on the council before it was determined a member could serve a total of 16 years. To get on track, it was decided to elect some members to eight-year terms and others to four-year terms. I was elected to serve one of the four-year terms, and I’m pleased to be able to serve in this way.”
Waddell is uniquely qualified to serve in this capacity. For the past 15 years, he has contributed his expertise as a lawyer for the Council of Bishops. He says he has written briefs and made oral arguments before the Judicial Council, which made him familiar with their work prior to being elected. According to the United Methodist Church, Judicial Council determines the constitutionality of acts or proposed acts of the General, Jurisdictional, Central, and Annual Conferences.
“I felt called to do this,” Waddell explains. “It absolutely must be something you feel you’re called for. I think people think of it as an honor to be able to do it, but I saw it as an opportunity for ministry. Having appeared before the Judicial Council many times, I felt like we could do some things that would increase the trust and confidence the United Methodist Church has in these judicial decisions, and that’s important to me. I told the Council of Bishops I was ending my relationship with them and put myself up for election.”
Waddell says he felt a call to serve during his college years at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. “As an undergrad, I was involved with the Wesley Foundation, and there was a pastor there named Jim McKay. Also, the summer between my first and second years at college, I went to Guatemala for mission work. I couldn’t decide where I was called. I knew it was to some ministry, but I didn’t know if it was pastoral ministry or something else. Rev. McKay really helped me discern that, and I ended up feeling confident that I was called into a ministry of the law. I didn’t really realize it could also be involved in the church. Through my church, St. James United Methodist in Little Rock, I began to get involved in conference things.
“It then became apparent that lawyers were helpful, and ultimately, I became kind of the assistant to one of my partners, Fred Ursery, who’s a member of First United Methodist Church in Little Rock. At that time, Bishop Wilke needed some help with a legal issue, so he asked Fred Ursery, who then asked me to help. That was in 1992. In 1996, I became the chancellor for the annual conference, and from then on, helping the conference with legal matters is one of the ways of fulfilling what I thought I was called into – to be a lawyer and a person of faith and serve the church.”
Waddell, who grew up in West Helena, has been a United Methodist since birth, and he says he believes more in the church now than ever before because of his roles within the legal bodies of the United Methodist Church.
“Being able to see the inside workings of it has actually affirmed a lot of what I thought many years ago, but had no idea where the direction would lead,” he said. “I think that’s what callings do. You answer a general question within yourself without knowledge of what the specific is going to be and then, by trusting in God, it leads to a path where maybe your skills and grace can be used. I’ve been given so many opportunities in that way when no one knew me from Adam. But it’s been one of those things where I’ve developed an appreciation for the whole church across the globe, and so when this opportunity came up to run for the judicial council, it wasn’t a full circle so much as it was like a new a new door was being opened to try and be a faithful disciple in this time and place in the church life.
“The Judicial Council said that the work of the discipline and the work of the Judicial Council could be a means of spiritual grace,” Waddell continued. “That’s really what I’m aspiring to do this job in a way that it becomes a means of spiritual grace in the church, in this new time. We can’t be just a court of law. We don’t want to mimic the world or simulate the world. We want to be a church body that is a part of the gospel and the kingdom of God, but not mimic the world, because the world is broken.”
Waddell says he has always been drawn to Romans 8:38-39, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“I hope that in everything I do that I help people realize they are never outside God’s love,” he said. “Regardless of what you do or don’t do, God still loves you.”