Speakers
Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey will speak at the Ordination Service
Bishop Cynthia Harvey is the episcopal leaders of the Louisiana Conference, where she challenges faith communities to look beyond themselves and to keep an eye focused on the edge where God is at work. In connection with her episcopal assignment, she serves as the Secretary of the Council of Bishops and as the Vice-Chair of the Commission on United Methodist Communications for The United Methodist Church.
After graduating from the University of Texas in Austin in 1980, Bishop Harvey spent 12 years in the corporate world as a regional director of marketing for the Rouse Company, a shopping center developer with properties throughout the United States. After entering the ministry, in 1992, she served as associate pastor for The Foundry UMC, as executive pastor for Memorial Drive UMC in Houston and as Director of Missional Excellence for the Texas Annual Conference. Just prior to her election as a United Methodist bishop during the 2012 South Central Jurisdictional Conference, Bishop Harvey served as Deputy General Secretary for United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).
She is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, where she earned a Masters of Divinity.
In 1981, she married Dean Alan Harvey, who is a financial advisor. They have one daughter, Elizabeth Grace Harvey Reames.
Rev. Craig McLaughlin will preach at the Memorial Service
Rev. Craig McLaughlin has served two churches in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference: St. Paul's UMC in East Baltimore, from 1982 to 1987; and, Mt. Zion UMC in Bel Air, from 1987 to the present.
He fell in love with Jesus at a youth conference when he was 15-years-old, praying a sinner's prayer, opening the door of his heart to our Lord.
He married Lisa on July 12, 1980, and they have been blessed with four children; David, Sarah, Amy, and Hannah. Craig's goal is to bring the love of Jesus to a brokenhearted world. His greatest joy is seeing God's people love as they have been loved.
Rev. Shively T.J. Smith will lead the Bible Study.
The Rev. Shively T. J. Smith joined the Wesley faculty in New Testament studies in 2014 after completing her doctorate at Emory University. Her work has been supported by organizations such as the Louisville Institute, the Ford Foundation, the Fund for Theological Education, and the Mellon Mays Fellowship Program.
She also studied abroad at Oxford as an English-Speaking Union (ESU) Luard scholar in the Theology Department. Her research interests include the General Letters and Luke-Acts, Call Narratives, and biblical discourses on diaspora. Ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), Dr. Smith has actively worked in ministry and academia for more than 15 years. Her latest book is “Strangers to Family: Diaspora and 1 Peter’s invention of the household of God
Rev. Barbara Lemmel will speak at the Laity Session.
The Rev. Barbara Lemmel is a United Methodist pastor in the New England Conference and the Director of Tending the Fire, a consulting group that empowers wise, resilient leadership for changing times. She is a member of the New England Conference Parish Consultant
Lemmel studied conflict mediation and family systems theory with the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center in Chicago, and with the Center for Pastoral Effectiveness in New Orleans. In 2003, she developed Tending the Fire, reaching more than 300 pastors, five judicatories and numerous churches. She has keynoted judicatory gatherings in New York and New England as well as several clergy leadership workshops and provided structural,