By Jessica Connor
South Carolina will be getting a new bishop for the 2013-16 quadrennium
Bishop Jonathan Holston, the first bishop elected at Jurisdictional Conference 2012, will become the S.C. Conference’s new resident bishop when assignments take effect Sept. 1.
Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor, who has served South Carolina since her initial election in 2004, will move to the Holston Conference.
The assignments were announced by the Southeastern Jurisdiction’s Committee on Episcopacy July 19 just after 10 p.m.
South Carolina’s delegation hosted a special reception for Holston following the announcement.
Look for more detailed coverage and photos in the August edition of the Advocate
About Jonathan Holston
Holston, nominee from the North Georgia Conference, was most recently senior pastor of St. James United Methodist Church in Atlanta. He holds a Master of Divinity in biblical studies from The Interdenominational Theological Center, Gammon Theological Seminar, Atlanta. He also has a bachelor’s degree in religion from the University of Georgia. Prior to his appointment to St. James UMC, he served as superintendent of the Atlanta-Decatur-Oxford District 1997-2005.
Holston’s previous appointments include senior pastor of Marietta Street UMC(1983-1986); senior pastor of Clifton UMC (1986-1992); and associate director of the North Georgia Conference Council on Ministries 1992-1997.
Holston has also served as a member of the General Council on Finance and Administration, chair of General Conference Finance and Administrative Legislative Committee and as a member of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, the Southeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy, Hinton Rural Life Center, Appalachian Development Committee and the Southeastern Jurisdictional Association for Native American Ministries.
He has also traveled extensively as a specialist in missions to Uganda, Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras, Zimbabwe, Kenya, India, China and Hong Kong. In his work as the conference disaster relief coordinator, he served on the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), the Catastrophic Disaster Response Team and as the Church World Service Disaster Consultant in Georgia.
Holston and his wife, Felecia, have two children, Karlton Maurice and Brittany Jene’.
