T
Bishop Lawrence L. Reddick III
Presiding Bishop of The Fifth Episcopal District of
The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
Lawrence L. Reddick III became the 51st bishop elected in the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church on July 1, 1998, in Birmingham, Alabama. He has been presiding bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District since July 2002.
Born June 20, 1952, in Huntsville, Alabama, Bishop Reddick’s spiritual journey began at Phillips CME Church, Huntsville. He is one of seven children of Reverend L. L. Reddick, Jr., and the late Mrs. Elizabeth Richardson Reddick.
A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University of Delaware, Ohio (Bachelor of Arts degree) and Duke Divinity School of Durham, North Carolina (Master of Divinity degree), he has also been conferred the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the United Theological Seminary and Bible College of Monroe, Louisiana, and the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Texas College, Tyler, Texas.
Bishop Reddick was licensed to preach in 1966 in Athens, Alabama (Frazier Chapel CME Church) by the Reverend R. E. Brooks. He was ordained deacon in 1968 and ordained elder in 1969 by Bishop E. P. Murchison. He was admitted into full connection in the North Central Alabama Annual Conference in 1972.
His ministerial appointments prior to being elected bishop included:
· Pastor, Antioch CME Church (Paint Rock, Alabama), 1968-70;
· Youth Minister, Lane Metropolitan CME Church (Cleveland, Ohio), 1970-72;
· Supply Pastor, St. James CME Church (Lima, Ohio), Spring 1972;
· Supply Pastor, Frazier Chapel CME Church (Athens, Alabama), Fall 1972;
· Student Intern, South Guilford United Methodist Circuit (Greensboro, North Carolina, 1974-75);
· Pastor, Faucette Memorial CME Church (Durham, North Carolina), 1975-77);
· Pastor, St. John CME Church (Winston-Salem, North Carolina), 1977-78;
· Pastor, Scruggs Memorial CME Church (St. Louis, Missouri), 1978-82;
· Pastor, St. Mark CME Church (Birmingham, Alabama), 1987-90;
· Pastor, Adolphus Chapel CME Church (Holly Springs, Mississippi), 1992-94; and
· Presiding Elder, Aberdeen-Tupelo District (North-East Mississippi Region), 1994-98.
He was elected editor of The Christian Index, the Official Publication of the CME Church, in 1982. He was subsequently re-elected editor by the General Conferences of 1986, 1990, and 1994, making his 16 years of service as editor the longest tenure of any editor in the history of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
Upon his election to the episcopacy in 1998, he was assigned as bishop of the Tenth Episcopal District (including the work in Jamaica, Haiti, Liberia, Ghana, and Nigeria). He was assigned in 2002 and 2006 as bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District (which includes the work in Alabama and Florida).
Bishop Reddick is chair of the denomination’s Commission on Ritual and Worship, chair of the Committee to Develop a New CME Hymnal, and patron bishop of the Women’s Missionary Council. He is chair of the Trustee Board of Miles College, a member of the Board of Directors of Bread for the World, and vice president of the Alabama Faith Council (an interfaith gathering of religious leaders across Alabama).
Bishop Reddick is married to Mrs. Wynde Jones Reddick, is the father of five children (Jon, Janice, Iris, Rose, and Samuel), and the grandfather of two.