Forrest Stith
Bishop Forrest Stith
Retired
United States
Northeastern Jurisdiction
Bishop Forrest C. Stith is a Retired Bishop of The United Methodist Church, having served from 1984-1996.--------------------------------
Bishop Stith was born in Marshall, Texas. He earned a B.S. degree in Education at the University of Nebraska and an M. Div. at Drew Theological School. He immediately became a Probationary Member of the Baltimore Annual Conference and was ordained by Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam.
Forrest served Douglas Memorial Church, Washington, DC; he was ordained an elder by Bishop Oxnam. He served Sharp Street Church, Baltimore, MD, and became Executive Secretary of the Baltimore Conference Board of Missions and Church Extension and Associate Council Director for Outreach. Forrest became Conference Council Director and was named District Superintendent of Washington East District.
At the 1984 Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference, Forrest was elected to the Episcopacy. He was assigned to the New York West Area; and later was assigned to the New York Area in l992. Upon his retirement in 1996, he and his wife, Josephine, served the United Methodist Church of East Africa, providing episcopal oversight to areas of Uganda, Rwanda, and Southern Sudan, where the late Bishop J. Alfred Ndoricimpa was unable to travel because of political strife. Returning home in 2000, the Stiths served an interim pastorate of one and a half years at Gibbons Resurrection United Methodist Church, Brandywine, MD.
Forrest holds honorary degrees from Western Maryland College (D.D., 1979) and Nebraska Wesleyan University (D.D., 1986). He has provided leadership to the church, the community, and to the world. Included are the following: COSROW (1984-88), Vice President of GCFA (1988-92) and President 1992-96). He chaired the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Decade--Churches in Solidarity with Women-- for four years.
In retirement, Forrest continues to study, to teach, to lecture, and to preach. He serves as Bishop in Residence at Asbury United Methodist Church, Washington DC; he is President of the proposed African American Methodist Heritage Center. He is a Life Member of BMCR and serves on the Board of Directors of Cameron Grove Community in Upper Marlboro, MD, where he and Josephine live.
The Stith's daughter, Lori Stith Robinson, and her husband, Mark, live in Maryland.
Mailing Address
13506 Leesburg Place
Upper Marlboro
Maryland
20774
United States of America