Methodist Federation for Social Action

North Carolina Conference

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Gayle Felton Love Thy Neighbor Lunch 2019

The North Carolina Annual Conference chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action and Reconciling United Methodists and Friends NC are proud to sponsor the fifth annual Gayle Felton Love Thy Neighbor Lunch on Friday, June 14th at 12 noon at the Holiday Inn in Greenville.

This year’s theme is “Stand Your Holy Ground.” Our speaker is Bishop Charlene Kammerer.

Cost is $15 in advance and $17 at the door. For students: $10.00 and $12.50 at the door. Membership special $70 - membership and ticket to event.

Please RSVP by June 7th, space is limited. You can register online at Eventbrite (tap below) or mail checks payable to MFSA NC, PO Box 18311, Raleigh NC 27619-8311.

Eventbrite - Gayle Felton Love Thy Neighbor Lunch 2019

Bishop Charlene Kammerer

Our Luncheon Speaker Bishop Charlene Kammerer

Charlene Payne Kammerer was elected to the episcopacy at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina in July 1996, the first woman to be elected from the Southeast. She was assigned to the Charlotte Area where she served the conference for eight years. At the SEJ meeting in July 2004, Bishop Kammerer was assigned to serve the Virginia Conference. She served there eight years and retired in September 2012.

Charlene was born in Orlando, Florida. She spent her growing up years in Winter Garden, where her home church was First United Methodist. She graduated from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia with an A. B. degree in Religion and Philosophy in 1970. Wesleyan is the first college in the world chartered for the granting of degrees to women. She obtained Master of Christian Education and Master of Divinity degrees from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. She was ordained Deacon in 1975 and Elder in 1977 in the Florida Annual Conference. She received a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1991 from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. She is the recipient of three Honorary Doctorates from Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Florida, Pheiffer University in Meisenhimer, North Carolina, and Wesleyan College, Macon, Georgia.

Bishop Kammerer’s service in the church has included equal years in parish ministries and connectional ministries, including service as a campus minister at Duke University and as a District Superintendent of the Tallahassee District, Florida Conference. Her longtime passions in ministry include higher education, mission involvement, the spirituality of administration, and justice and peace issues.

Bishop Kammerer served as Chairperson of UMCOR, the relief agency of The United Methodist Church, on the Commission on the Status and Role of Women as a board member, member of the Commission on Pan- Methodist Cooperation, the Vice President of the Commission on Religion and Race, the President of the General Board of Discipleship, a member of the Board of Governors of Wesley Theological Seminary, Secretary for the Bishops Initiative in Children and Poverty, and a member of God’s Renewing Creation Task Force. She was presented the Va. Council of Churches Faith and Action Award, the Lifetime Ecumenist Award, and also received recognition as a Social Justice Maker from the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.

She is married to Leigh Kammerer, a native of Wisconsin, whose career was practiced in addiction counseling. They are the parents of one son, Christopher Hal, and four grandchildren - Christopher, Noelle, Elton, and Max.

In retirement, Bishop Kammerer has served as Co-Chair of the Lake Junaluska Peace Conference Design Team, and enjoys writing, reading, preaching, and practicing the art of being a grandparent.

Gayle Felton
Gayle Felton

The lunch is named in memory of late Reverend Dr. Gayle Carlton Felton who passed in 2014 at the age of 71. She was champion for the rights of women, African Americans, and the LGBTQ community. Here is more about her

Gayle was a native of Pinetops, NC. She graduated with a B.A. in History from North Carolina Wesleyan College where she was the first valedictorian of the newly opened college. Gayle taught high school history and civics in Edgecombe County before answering the call to ministry.

She received her Master of Divinity and Doctorate degrees from Duke University. After teaching religion at Meredith College for two years, she returned to Duke where she taught in the Divinity School for over a decade, guiding and influencing a generation of pastors and others serving the United Methodist Church. Gayle’s scholarship largely focused on the history of Methodism with special emphasis on the sacraments.

Among her published works are This Gift of Water, By Water and the Spirit, This Holy Mystery, United Methodists and the Sacraments, and The Coming of Jesus. She was also the editor of How United Methodists Study Scripture and the writer of numerous studies and other works used across the United Methodist Church. She was a frequent participant in United Methodist General Conferences and was appointed for many years to the General Board of Discipleship.

Gayle had a deep commitment to social justice, working to integrate the public schools in Edgecombe County and as a pioneer in building the Reconciling Movement, a group advocating for the full inclusion of LGBT persons in the United Methodist Church. She was honored to serve as the national board chair of the Reconciling Ministries Network. Gayle also was a role model for women seeking ordination in the United Methodist Church, working tirelessly to remove many of the obstacles she herself had to overcome in becoming an ordained elder.