Leontine T. Kelly
Encyclopedia
Leontine Turpeau Current Kelly is a retired American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of the United Methodist Church
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...

. She was born 5 March 1920 in 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....

, one of eight children. Her father, David D. Turpeau, Sr., was a prominent Methodist minister, who later served four terms in the Ohio House of Representatives
Ohio House of Representatives
The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate....

. For a period of time he also served simultaneously as a Pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

 and a District Superintendent. Her mother, Ila Marshall Turpeau, was an outspoken advocate for women and Blacks
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...

 and a founder of the Urban League of Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

.

Leontine’s first marriage (to Gloster B. Current) ended in divorce. They had three children: Angella P., Gloster B., Jr., and John David Current. Leontine then married the Rev. Dr. James David Kelly, a United Methodist
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...

 minister (now deceased). Following her husband’s death, Leontine adopted his great-granddaughter, Pamela Lynne Kelly.

Education

Leontine 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 Virginia Union University
Virginia Union University
Virginia Union University is a historically black university located in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It took its present name in 1899 upon the merger of two older schools, Richmond Theological Institute and Wayland Seminary, each founded after the end of American Civil War by the American...

 (1960) and has done graduate work in economics, history and humanities at North Texas State University, the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....

, and the College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...

. Leontine served as a public school teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

 in Richmond and Northumberland County, Virginia
Northumberland County, Virginia
Northumberland County is a county located on the Northern Neck in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state in the United States. In 2010, its population was 12,330. Its county seat is Heathsville...

 for eight years.

Leontine completed the Course of Study for Ordained Ministers in the Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 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 by attending summer school at Wesley Theological Seminary
Wesley Theological Seminary
Wesley Theological Seminary is a United Methodist–affiliated seminary located in Washington, D.C., United States. The school was founded in 1882...

 (1970, 1971). She earned her M.Div. degree from Union Theological Seminary
Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education
Union Presbyterian Seminary, located on the near north side of the city of Richmond, Virginia, is a theological seminary of the Presbyterian Church...

 in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

 (1976).

Bishop Kelly holds honorary doctorates from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary is a graduate school of theology of the United Methodist Church located in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1853, Garrett-Evangelical is on the campus of Northwestern University and continues many associations with the university...

 (1984), DePauw University
DePauw University
DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...

 (1989), Christian Theological Seminary
Christian Theological Seminary
Christian Theological Seminary is an ecumenical seminary related to the Christian Church . It is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and provides eight degree-level education courses...

 (1989), Virginia Union University (1989), Nebraska Wesleyan University
Nebraska Wesleyan University
Nebraska Wesleyan University is a private, coeducational university located in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2007, it has 1,600 full-time students and 300 faculty and staff. The school teaches in the tradition of a liberal arts college education....

 (also 1989), Bennett College
Bennett College
Bennett College is a four-year liberal arts women's college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded in 1873, this historically black institution began as a normal school to provide education to newly emancipated slaves. It became a women's college in 1926 and currently serves roughly 780...

 (1991), Willamette University
Willamette University
Willamette University is an American private institution of higher learning located in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the Western United States. Willamette is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges, and is made up of an undergraduate College of Liberal Arts and...

 (1990) and Dillard University
Dillard University
Dillard University is a private, historically black liberal arts college in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 incorporating earlier institutions that went back to 1869, it is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church....

 (1992).

Ordained Ministry

Leontine became a Certified Lay Speaker in Virginia in the late-1960’s. She then served the Galilee Church (1969-75). She was ordained a Deacon by Bishop William R. Cannon
William Ragsdale Cannon
William Ragsdale Cannon was an American Bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1968.-Birth and Family:...

 in 1972 and an Elder by Bishop W. Kenneth Goodson in 1977.

Leontine served on the staff of the Virginia Conference Council on Ministries (1975-77), directing social ministries. She then served as pastor of Asbury-Church Hill in Richmond, Virginia seven years before becoming Assistant General Secretary of the U.M. General Board of Discipleship with the portfolio of Evangelism
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

. Leontine also served on the Health and Welfare Ministries Division of the General Board of Global Ministries.

Episcopal Ministry

Although a member of the Virginia Annual Conference in the Southeastern Jurisdiction, Leontine was elected to the Episcopacy by the Western Jurisdictional Conference of the U.M. Church (only the second woman, and the first African American woman, to become a Bishop in any major Christian denomination in the World). She was assigned to the San Francisco Episcopal Area where she served until her retirement in 1988. Bishop Kelly also served on the U.M. General Board of Church and Society, as the President of the Western Jurisdictional College of Bishops, and on the Executive Committee of the Council of Bishops.

Bishop Kelly was the 2002 recipient of the Thomas Merton Award
Thomas Merton Award
The Thomas Merton Award has been awarded since 1972 by the Thomas Merton Center for Peace and Social Justice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It is named after Thomas Merton and is given annually to "national and international individuals struggling for justice."-Award recipients:The Thomas Merton...

. She also has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame
National Women's Hall of Fame
The National Women's Hall of Fame is an American institution. It was created in 1969 by a group of people in Seneca Falls, New York, the location of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention...

.

External links


See also

  • List of Bishops of the United Methodist Church
  • Thomas Merton Award
    Thomas Merton Award
    The Thomas Merton Award has been awarded since 1972 by the Thomas Merton Center for Peace and Social Justice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It is named after Thomas Merton and is given annually to "national and international individuals struggling for justice."-Award recipients:The Thomas Merton...

  • National Women's Hall of Fame
    National Women's Hall of Fame
    The National Women's Hall of Fame is an American institution. It was created in 1969 by a group of people in Seneca Falls, New York, the location of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention...

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