Larry M. Goodpaster
Encyclopedia
Birth and Family
Bishop Goodpaster was born 23 April 1948 in Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. He married Deborah Cox 26 September 1971. They have two daughters: Amy (Mrs. Eric Bradley) and Lucy (Mrs. Josh Redding); and three grandchildren: Amelia Grace Bradley, Thomas Martin Bradley, and Audrey Elizabeth Bradley.
Education
Bishop Goodpaster earned a B.A.Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Millsaps College
Millsaps College
Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college located in Jackson, Mississippi. Founded in 1890, the college is recognized as one of the country's best private colleges dedicated to undergraduate teaching and educating the whole individual. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, Millsaps...
, Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
(1970). He earned an M.Div. degree (1973) and a D.Min. degree (1982) from Candler School of Theology
Candler School of Theology
Candler School of Theology, Emory University, is one of 13 seminaries of the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1914, the school was named after Warren Akin Candler, a former President and Chancellor of Emory University and a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South...
, Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. Bishop Goodpaster received honorary D.D. degrees from Birmingham-Southern College
Birmingham-Southern College
Birmingham–Southern College is a 4-year, private liberal arts college located three miles northwest of downtown Birmingham. Founded in 1856, it is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Approximately 1400 students from 30 states and 23 foreign countries attend the college...
, Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
(2002) and Huntingdon College
Huntingdon College
Huntingdon College, founded in 1854, is a coeducational liberal arts college in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. Related to the United Methodist Church, the college's central hallmarks are faith, wisdom, and service. The college is known for providing a solid academic experience based on good...
, Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
(2003).
Ordained Ministry
Larry was ordained Elder in the MississippiMississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
Annual Conference
Annual Conference
An Annual Conference in the United Methodist Church is a regional body that governs much of the life of the "Connectional Church." Annual conferences are composed primarily of the clergy members and a lay member or members from each charge . Each conference is a geographical division...
of the U.M. Church in 1974. He served the following pastorates: Vaiden U.M.
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the 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...
Charge, Vaiden, Mississippi
Vaiden, Mississippi
Vaiden is a town in Carroll County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 840 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Greenwood, Mississippi micropolitan area-Geography:Vaiden is located at ....
(1973-75); Christ U.M.C., Indianola, Mississippi
Indianola, Mississippi
Indianola is a city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 12,066 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Sunflower County.-History:...
(1975-79); Associate Pastor of First U.M.C., Clarksdale, Mississippi
Clarksdale, Mississippi
Clarksdale is a city in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 20,645 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Coahoma County....
(1979-81); Como U.M.C., Como, Mississippi
Como, Mississippi
Como is a town in Panola County, Mississippi, United States which borders the Mississippi Delta. The population was 1,310 as of the 2000 census. Wayne Drash, a CNN.com senior producer, described Como as "a hard-hit rural community" in a 2007 article.-History:...
(1981-85); Oxford-University U.M.C., Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....
(1985-92); and Central U.M.C., Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
(1992-96). Rev. Goodpaster was appointed Superintendent of the Tupelo District (1996-98), and then as Senior Pastor of the First U.M.C., Tupelo, Mississippi
Tupelo, Mississippi
Tupelo is the largest city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. It is the seventh largest city in the state of Mississippi, smaller than Meridian, and larger than Greenville. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city's population was 34,211...
(1998-2000).
The Rev. Dr. Goodpaster served on the U.M. General Commission on Religion and Race (1996-2000). He also served on the Board of Trustees of Millsaps College, and as Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Methodist Healthcare, Memphis, TN. He was elected a delegate to Jurisdictional Conferences (1988-2000) and General Conference (1992-2000).
Episcopal Ministry
Bishop Goodpaster was elected to the Episcopacy 13 July 2000 by the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of the U.M.C., the first U.M. Bishop elected that year. He was assigned to the AlabamaAlabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
-West Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
Episcopal Area (the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference) 14 July 2000. He was consecrated a Bishop at a Service of Consecration held at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina
Lake Junaluska, North Carolina
Lake Junaluska is a census-designated place in Haywood County, North Carolina, USA. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,675 at the 2000 census...
15 July 2000.
As a Bishop he served on these U.M. General Agencies: General Board of Church and Society (2000-04), General Board of Global Ministries (2004-08), and as President of the U.M. Development Fund Board of Directors. He also serves as President of the Board of JustPeace: Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Bishop Goodpaster is on the Board of Trustees of Huntington College, Birmingham-Southern College, and Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
(Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
). Additional interests include service as with United Methodist Volunteers in Mission
United Methodist Volunteers in Mission
United Methodist Volunteers in Mission is the short-term mission arm of the United Methodist Church. As a connectional body, the United Methodist Church uses related agencies to perform church functions...
in trips to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
; Habitat for Humanity, and Rotary International
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
.
Bishop Goodpaster was unanimously elected April 19, 2008 to lead the United Methodist Church's Council of Bishops in two years. His tenure will begin in 2010 at the conclusion of the presidency of Iowa Bishop Gregory Palmer, who will assume the presidency from Bishop Janice Riggle Huie during the 2008 General Conference this spring.
Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster is the new bishop for the Western North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church. The assignment was announced Friday evening July 18, 2008, at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference meeting at Lake Junaluska, N.C. He succeeded Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey who retired Aug. 31, 2008.
Selected Writings
- Like a Breath of Fresh Air, (sermons for PentecostPentecostPentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
), Lima, OhioLima, OhioLima is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwestern Ohio along Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton and south-southwest of Toledo....
: C.S.S. Publishing, 1992. - Sermons in Emphasis: A Preaching Journal.
- The Upper Room Disciplines, week of daily devotions, 2000 and 2004 editions.
See also
- Biography of Larry M. Goodpaster