Karen Oliveto (born April 4, 1958) is an American bishop. She is the first openly lesbian

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

to be elected in 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 evangelic ...

. She was elected bishop on July 15, 2016, at the Western Jurisdictional conference. Her four-year term of service began September 1, 2016 and she currently serves as the bishop of both the UMC's Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone Conferences; she was officially installed on September 24. At the time of her election, she was the senior pastor of

Glide Memorial Church Glide Memorial Church is a church in San Francisco, California, formerly a United Methodist Church congregation, which opened in 1930. Since the 1960s, it has served as a counter-culture rallying point, as one of the most prominently liberal chu ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Oliveto is married to Robin Ridenour, who is a

deaconess The ministry of a deaconess is, in modern times, a usually non-ordained ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a limited l ...

in the United Methodist Church's California-Nevada Conference.

Biography

Originally from Long Island, New York, she was born on April 4, 1958, and raised in

West Babylon West Babylon is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 43,213 at the 2010 census. Geography West Babylon is located at (40.713399, -73.357106). West Babylon is bo ...

, which is on the south shore of Long Island. She grew up in the Babylon United Methodist Church (New York) and had her call to ministry at the age of 11. She preached her first sermon at 16 and began working as a student pastor when she was 18. She has served parish and campus ministries in rural and urban settings in both New York and California. In 2004, she performed the first legal same-gender marriage held in a United Methodist Church during SF’s “Winter of Love”. She has served as the associate dean of academic affairs at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, where she also taught United Methodist history, doctrine, polity, and evangelism as an adjunct professor for 12 years. She was the senior pastor of the 12,000 member Glide Memorial UMC for eight years, becoming the first woman to lead one of the UMC's 100 largest membership churches.

Education

Oliveto is a graduate of

Pacific School of Religion The Pacific School of Religion (PSR) is a private Protestant seminary in Berkeley, California. It maintains covenantal relationships with the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the Disciples of Christ, ensuring the school ...

(M.Div., 1983) and

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...

, where she received a PhD in religion and society (2002) as well as a BA (''cum laude'') in psychology (1980) and a MPhil (1991). Her Ph.D. dissertation topic was: "Movements of Reform, Movements of Resistance: Homosexuality and The United Methodist Church. A Case Study".

Status as bishop

On April 28, 2017, the United Methodist Church's high court ruled 6-3 that while her lesbian status was in violation of the church's policies governed by the Book of Discipline, she could still retain her position as bishop and the church's Western Jurisdiction would handle the matter. The judicial council also ruled that it did not have jurisdiction to review her nomination, election, or assignment.

Personal life

Married to Robin Ridenour, who is a deaconess in the United Methodist Church. They met when volunteers at a junior high church camp. They began dating in 1999 and were married in 2014.

Ordained ministry

Pastor, Bloomville UMC, Bloomville, New York 1983-1986 Campus Minister Ecumenical House Campus Ministry, San Francisco State, 1989-1992 Pastor Bethany UMC, San Francisco 1992-2004 Associate Dean of Academic Affairs/Director of Contextual Education, Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, CA 2004-2008 Adjunct Professor of United Methodist Studies at Pacific School of Religion, 2004-2016 Adjunct Professor, DMin program at Drew University, teaching "Prophetic Leadership in Congregation and Community" 2012 Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology, Brite Divinity School (TX), teaching "Evangelism in Methodist History and Practice", 2015 Senior pastor. Glide Memorial Church, San Francisco. 2008-2016 Resident bishop of the Mountain Sky Area of The United Methodist Church, 2016–presenthttps://calnev-email.brtapp.com/files/pdf_documents/instant_connection/karen+oliveto+bio.pdf

References

External links

Karen Oliveto at Blogspot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliveto, Karen Living people Bishops of the United Methodist Church Women Methodist bishops People from Long Island Drew University alumni 1958 births LGBT Methodist bishops Women Protestant religious leaders