Elias Gabriel Galvan (born 9 April 1938) is a

Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

former

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of the

United Methodist Church 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 evangelical ...

, elected in 1984.

Birth and family

Galvan was born into a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

parsonage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

in San Juan Acozac,

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Elias married Zoraida Freytes (a native of

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, also raised in a United Methodist parsonage) 12 July 1986. They have one daughter, Hope, born 20 September 1988.

Education

Galvan attended high school at the Instituteo Mexicano Madero in Puebla, a Methodist boarding school. On a scholarship from the Spanish-American Institute, a United Methodist institution related to the (former)

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Annual Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

, he attended Compton Junior College, later earning a B.A. degree from

California State University at Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

. He then earned a Rel.D. degree at the School of Theology at Claremont.

Ordained ministry

Galvan was ordained a deacon and became a Probationary Member of the Southern California-Arizona Conference of the Methodist Church in 1964. He was received into Full Connection and ordained an elder in 1970. As a pastor, Galvan served the following appointments in the Southern California-Arizona Conference: Asbury Church (associate) and as pastor of the City Terrace Church, and of the Church of All Nations in

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. He then served as director of ethnic planning and strategy (1971–74). He then was appointed superintendent of the Santa Barbara District (1974–79, also serving two years as dean of the cabinet). He became the conference council director in 1980, which position he held until elected to the episcopacy in 1984.

Ministry in the greater Church

Galvan was elected a delegate to U.M. General and Jurisdictional Conferences, 1972-84 (serving as chairperson of one of the Legislative Committees in 1972). He served on the General Commission on Religion and Race (1972–76), the General Council on Finance and Administration (1976–84; chairing the council's Division on Administrative Services, 1980–84). During 1983-84 Galvan served as president of the Southern California Ecumenical Council. He has also been very active in the

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Caucus of the former Pacific and Southwest Annual Conference, and of the M.A.R.C.H.A. national U.M. Hispanic caucus, of which he was the first chairperson of its coordinating committee.

Episcopal ministry

Galvan was elected bishop by the Western Jurisdictional Conference of the U.M. Church. He was assigned to the Phoenix Episcopal Area (

Desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

Southwest

), which was formed by the Jurisdiction in 1984. He was succeeded by Bishop William W. Dew Jr in 1992. As a bishop he served on the General Council on Ministries (1984–88), the General Board of Discipleship (1989–92), the General Board of Global Ministries (1992-2000), and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the College of Bishops of the Western Jurisdiction in 1989. He has also served as a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

of the School of Theology at Claremont (1985- ). Bishop Galvan was also appointed by the Council of Bishops to chair the Committee to Develop a National Plan for

Ministries for the 1989-92 quadrennium. Galvan

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

from the active episcopacy 1 September 2004.

References