Leontine T. Kelly | |
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| Born | Leontine Turpeau March 5, 1920 |
| Died | June 28, 2012(2012-06-28) (aged 92) |
| Occupation | Bishop of theUnited Methodist Church |
| Known for | First black woman to become a bishop in a major Christian denomination |
| Spouses |
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| Parent | David Turpeau |
| Relatives | Anita Turpeau Anderson (sister) T. J. Anderson (nephew) |
Leontine Turpeau Current Kelly (March 5, 1920 – June 28, 2012) was an Americanbishop of theUnited Methodist Church. She was the second woman elevated to the position of bishop within the United Methodist Church, and the first African American woman.
Leontine Turpeau was born inGeorgetown,Washington, D.C., on March 5, 1920.[1][2] She was the seventh of eight children born toDavid D. Turpeau Senior and Ila Marshall Turpeau.[2][3] The Turpeau family then moved to Cincinnati when Leontine was a young girl.[2] Her father was aMethodist minister who later served four terms in theOhio House of Representatives. Her mother was an outspoken advocate for women andBlacks and a founder of theUrban League ofCincinnati, Ohio. Her brother, D. Rossman Turpeau was an educator in Cincinnati, Ohio.[4]
From 1938 to 1941, Turpeau attended West Virginia State College. In 1941, she left school to marryGloster B. Current, who was then serving as the executive director of the NCAAP's Detroit branch. He later became a Methodist pastor. The couple had three children together before getting divorced by the mid-1950s.[5] In 1956, Turpeau married James David Kelly, aUnited Methodist minister.[6]
Kelly earned aB.A. degree fromVirginia Union University (1960) and completed graduate work in economics, history and humanities atNorth Texas State University, theUniversity of Cincinnati, and theCollege of William and Mary. She served as a public schoolteacher in Richmond andNorthumberland County, Virginia, for eight years.[5]
Kelly completed the Course of Study forOrdained Ministers in theVirginiaAnnual Conference of theU.M. Church by attending summer school atWesley Theological Seminary (1970, 1971). She earned herM.Div. degree fromUnion Theological Seminary inRichmond, Virginia (1976).[6]
Kelly became a Certified Lay Speaker in Virginia in the late-1960s. She then served the Galilee Church (1969–75). She was ordained a deacon byWilliam R. Cannon in 1972 and an elder by W. Kenneth Goodson in 1977.[5]
Kelly 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 ofEvangelism.[7]
Although a member of the Virginia Annual Conference in the Southeastern Jurisdiction, Kelly was elected to the episcopacy by the Western Jurisdictional Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1984. The election was held on July 19, during the annual General Conference of the United Methodist Church.[8] She was 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 theSan Francisco Episcopal Area, where she served until her retirement in 1988.[6] 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.[9]
In 2000, Kelly was inducted into theNational Women's Hall of Fame.[7] She was the 2002 recipient of theThomas Merton Award.[10]
Kelly heldhonorary doctorates fromGarrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (1984),DePauw University (1989),Christian Theological Seminary (1989), Virginia Union University (1989),Nebraska Wesleyan University (also 1989),Bennett College (1991),[11]Willamette University (1990)[12] andDillard University (1992).[13]
In 2021, a stained glass window depicting Kelly was added to theCathedral of the Rockies inBoise, Idaho.[14] It replaced a window that depictedRobert E. Lee,Abraham Lincoln, andGeorge Washington.[14]
Kelly died on June 28, 2012, in Oakland, California.[4]
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