Mary Virginia Taylor (born March 3, 1950) is a retired bishop in the United Methodist Church in the US who served the Holston Conference. She was elected in 2004 on the 34th ballot, receiving 354 of 549 votes cast at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. She was endorsed by the Holston Conference delegation. From 2004 to 2012 Taylor served the South Carolina Conference. In 2012, Taylor was appointed to serve the Holston Annual Conference, beginning her service on September 1, 2012.
She is married to James Russell "Rusty" Taylor, an elder in the South Carolina Conference, and has two daughters, Mandy Taylor Young, and Mary Tiffany Taylor, and one granddaughter (born September 18, 2009).
Ordained deacon 1974 and ordained elder 1976 in the Holston Annual Conference, "Dindy", as she is sometimes known, served at churches in Athens, Knoxville, Gray, Bluff City, Kingsport, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, before being appointed Cleveland District Superintendent.
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelicalism. The present denomination was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, by union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley in England, as well as the Great Awakening in the United States. As such, the church's theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces liturgical worship, holiness, and evangelical elements.
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or the AME Zion Church (AMEZ) is a historically African-American Christian denomination based in the United States. It was officially formed in 1821 in New York City, but operated for a number of years before then. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology.
Thomas J. Bickerton is an American United Methodist bishop. Bickerton was raised in West Virginia and graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Psychology. Subsequently, he entered seminary at Duke University Divinity School, completing his Master of Divinity degree in 1983. While attending seminary he served as student pastor following his ordination in 1982 as Deacon. His first appointment out of seminary was to Perry Memorial United Methodist Church, in Shady Spring, West Virginia, in June 1983; he served in that location for six years. In 1985 he was ordained as an Elder by Bishop William Boyd Grove. In 1989, he was appointed to serve Forrest Burdette Memorial United Methodist Church in Hurricane, West Virginia, where he pastored for the ensuing nine years. While in ministry there he also earned his Doctor of Ministry degree at United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio, completing it in 1994. In 2016, Bickerton was transferred to the New York conference of the United Methodist Church where he assumed office as bishop on September 1.
Walter Russell Lambuth was a Chinese-born American Christian bishop who worked as a missionary establishing schools and hospitals in China, Korea and Japan in the 1880s.
Thomas Asbury Morris was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1836. He also distinguished himself as a Methodist Circuit rider, Pastor, and Presiding Elder, and as an Editor.
A bishop is a senior role in many Methodist denominations that have an episcopal polity. The first Methodist bishops were appointed in America.
Elijah Embree Hoss, Sr was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1902. He also distinguished himself as a Methodist pastor, as a college professor and administrator, and as an editor.
Kenneth Lee Carder is a retired American Bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1992. Carder distinguished himself as a pastor, a member of Annual Conference and General U.M. agencies, a bishop and an author.
George Lindsey Davis is an American bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1996.
Clare Purcell was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the Methodist Church, elected in 1938.
Larry Martin Goodpaster is a bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 2000.
Earl Gladstone Hunt Jr. (1918–2005) was an American who distinguished himself as a Methodist pastor and evangelist, as the president of Emory and Henry College, as an author and theologian, as a bishop of The Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church, and as a leader in World Methodism.
Richard Carl Looney is a retired American Bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1988.
An annual conference is a regional decision-making body in various Methodist denominations. Conferences are a key characteristic of the connectional system of government in Methodism. Annual conferences are composed primarily of the clergy members and a lay member or members from each charge. Each conference is a geographical division. In general, the smaller states in the United States hold one conference each, while larger states often include two or more conferences. Several annual conferences are held in other nations as well.
Robert McGrady Blackburn was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1972.
Violet L. Fisher is a retired bishop in The United Methodist Church, elected and consecrated to the Episcopacy in 2000.
Mary Ann Swenson is an American bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1992.
John Early was instrumental in organizing the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and was their bishop from 1854.
Methodist views on the ordination of women in the rite of holy orders are diverse.
B. Michael Watson is a bishop of The United Methodist Church, elected in 2000. He served as resident bishop of the North Georgia Annual Conference, which comprises 1,000 churches, more than 1,500 clergy members, and more than 320,000 lay members. He retired in 2016 and currently serves as ecumenical officer of the Council of Bishops.
