Gregory Vaughn Palmer (born August 8, 1954) is an American bishop of The United Methodist Church, elected in 2000. He was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Herbert Palmer, is also a United Methodist pastor.

Education

He was educated in the Philadelphia public schools. In 1976 he earned the B.A. degree at George Washington University. His

M.Div. For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...

degree is from the Duke Divinity School (1979). Palmer was awarded an honorary

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

from

Baldwin-Wallace College Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio. It was founded in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin. The school merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace Co ...

in 1999.

Ordained ministry

Prior to his election to the episcopacy, Bishop Palmer served as a pastor and a district superintendent. He entered the ministry in his home Eastern Pennsylvania

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 ...

of the United Methodist Church in 1977. He served churches in North Carolina, where he was the pastor of the Granville-Vance U.M. Charge in Oxford, North Carolina and of the Asbury Temple United Methodist Church in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. Transferring to the

East Ohio Annual Conference East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

in 1979, he served as pastor of the East Glenville United Methodist Church in Cleveland (1979–81), and of the

Werner Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Rai ...

United Methodist Church in Cleveland (1981–85). He then became the Organizing Pastor of the James S. Thomas United Methodist Church in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

(1985–90). In 1990 Palmer was appointed superintendent of the

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...

District of the East Ohio Conference. He served in this capacity until 1993 when he was appointed pastor of the Berea United Methodist Church in

Berea, Ohio Berea ( ) is a city in Cuyahoga County in the U.S. state of Ohio and is a western suburb of Cleveland. The population was 19,093 at the 2010 census. Berea is home to Baldwin Wallace University, as well as the training facility for the Cleveland ...

. It was from this position that he was elected a bishop by the North Central Jurisdictional Conference of the United Methodist Church. Palmer was elected a delegate from East Ohio to United Methodist General and Jurisdictional Conferences (1988–2000), serving as the Delegation Chairperson in 1996. He served on the United Methodist General Council on Ministries. He has been a trustee of Baldwin-Wallace College,

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

, and United Theological Seminary. He has also been an adjunct instructor in Religion at Baldwin-Wallace. Bishop Palmer served as resident bishop of the Iowa Area from 2000 until 2008. He served his first quadrennium as

resident bishop A bishop is a senior role in many Methodist denominations. The bishop's role is typically called the "episcopacy", based on the Greek word ''episkopos'' (), which literally means overseer. Superintendent is another translation of ''episkopos'' but i ...

of the Illinois Episcopal Area (Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference), assigned there in 2008. He is serving the Ohio West Episcopal Area (West Ohio Annual Conference), assigned there in 2012. He was the president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops from May 2008 to May 2010.UMC
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Personal

Bishop Palmer is married to Cynthia Palmer. They have two children.

References

External links

Bishop Palmer's official biography

Bishop Palmer's Iowa Annual Conference biography

Photo of Bishop Palmer

* ttp://bishops.umc.org/ The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church
InfoServ, the official information service of The United Methodist Church.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Gregory V. Duke Divinity School alumni George Washington University alumni Living people 1954 births United Methodist bishops of the North Central Jurisdiction African-American Methodist clergy American Methodist clergy

Education

Ordained ministry

Personal

See also

References

External links