Thomas J. Bickerton (born July 2, 1958) is an American

United Methodist 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 ...

bishop. Bickerton was raised in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

and graduated from

West Virginia Wesleyan College West Virginia Wesleyan College is a private college in Buckhannon, West Virginia. It has an enrollment of about 1,400 students from 35 U.S. states and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Conference of the Methodist E ...

in 1980 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

and

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

. Subsequently, he entered seminary at

Duke University Divinity School The Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is one of ten graduate or professional schools within Duke University. It is also one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 regula ...

, completing his

Master of Divinity 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 divi ...

degree in 1983. While attending seminary he served as student pastor following his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

in 1982 as

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

. His first appointment out of seminary was to Perry Memorial United Methodist Church, in Shady Spring,

, in June 1983; he served in that location for six years. In 1985 he was ordained as an Elder by

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 ca ...

William Boyd Grove. In 1989, he was appointed to serve Forrest Burdette Memorial United Methodist Church in

Hurricane, West Virginia Hurricane is a city in Putnam County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 6,977 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area. History Hurricane was named after Hurricane Creek, which was, in turn, ...

, where he pastored for the ensuing nine years. While in ministry there he also earned his

Doctor of Ministry The Doctor of Ministry (abbreviated DMin or D.Min.) is a professional doctorate, often including a research component, that may be earned by a minister of religion while concurrently engaged in some form of ministry. It is categorized as an advanced ...

degree at

United Theological Seminary United Theological Seminary is a United Methodist seminary in Trotwood, Ohio. Founded in 1871 by Milton Wright (father of the Wright brothers), it was originally sponsored by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. In 1946, members o ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

, completing it in 1994. In 1998, he became District Superintendent of his home area, the Northern District. In July 2004, at the Northeast Jurisdictional Conference 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 ...

held in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

, he was elected and consecrated a

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 ca ...

of the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

. Assigned to the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference, headquartered at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, he relocated to serve his first

quadrennium A unit of time is any particular time interval, used as a standard way of measuring or expressing duration. The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) and by extension most of the Western world, is the second, defined as ab ...

as a United Methodist Bishop. Bishop Bickerton and his family now live in

Cranberry Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania Cranberry Township is a municipality in Butler County, Pennsylvania. The population was 33,096 as of the 2020 census. Cranberry Township is one of the fastest-growing areas of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. History In 1753, George Washingt ...

. From 2005–2008, Bishop Bickerton also served as president of The United Methodist General Commission on Communication. He continues to serve as a member of the Commission's Executive Committee. Bishop Bickerton is married to Sally Bickerton. They have four children: Elizabeth, T.J., Ian, and Nicholas.

References

*The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Churc

*InfoServ, the official information service of The United Methodist Church.

*General Commission on Communicatio

External links

Episcopal Installation sermon
Cranberry Township, PA, Sept. 15, 2004
War on Poverty Key to Church Renewal (PDF)
Pittsburgh, PA, Nov. 2004
"Visioning for a New Day"
(Microsoft Word document)
Another Photo of Bishop Bickerton
1958 births Living people 20th-century Methodist ministers 21st-century Methodist ministers Duke Divinity School alumni People from Butler County, Pennsylvania People from Hurricane, West Virginia People from Raleigh County, West Virginia United Methodist bishops of the Northeastern Jurisdiction United Theological Seminary alumni West Virginia Wesleyan College alumni {{Methodism-bishop-stub

See also

References

External links