James Swanson, Sr. Elected Bishop for Holston Conference

The Rev. James Swanson Sr., of Savannah , Georgia has been elected a bishop by the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of the United Methodist Church to serve Holston Conference.

He was born in Houston, Texas on February 2, 1950. He and his wife, Delphine Yvonne (nee Ramsey), are the parents of six children and seven grandchildren. They currently have 2 teenaged children still residing with them.

Swanson, endorsed by the South Georgia Conference, is a former pastor of St. Mary’s Road United Methodist Church. He served the Columbus church for 14 years and saw it grow from a withering congregation of 16 to more than 950 members. He currently was serving as District Superintendent of the Savannah District.

“My greatest gift I think I offer the church is I am a person who knows how to work with people of divergent opinions,” Swanson said, “while at the same time to keep us focused on the goal at hand. The church has a mission to make a difference in the world. I want to see the church having fun doing that, that’s my dream.”

He will be 1 of fifty active U. S. bishops leading the United Methodist Church and serving in one of the Episcopal areas in the 15 annual conferences. The denomination’s Southeastern Jurisdiction includes the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

“Whether we want to admit it or not, God made us diverse. None of us is the same. But while race and ethnicity matter,” he said, “they should never be elevated in the Christian community and the Kingdom of God…(and) they pale in the comparison to the fact we’re brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s paramount in my life. I’m a child of God. I like to say, `We need to catch the fish before we can clean them.’”

Rev. Swanson will begin his duties as our Holston Conference Bishop in September and his office is in Knoxville, Tennessee.

More information about this announcement is available here.

Pleasant View United Methodist Church

Exit 13 off I-81

 Lee Hwy, across from VA Highlands Airport

18416 Lee Highway

Abingdon, VA 24210

(276) 628-6323

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