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Leontine T. C. Kelly, June 28, 2012
Leontine Turpeau Current Kelly was a high school teacher and mother of four when her husband died in 1969 and she decided to follow him into the ministry of what then was the Methodist Church.
In her church, congregations and pulpits still were populated along racial lines, and her gender presented a major strike against her advancement in a hierarchy that was traditionally male and white.
Her decision "was gutsy. It speaks of her courage and conviction that God would make a way, that she would do it," said Judith Craig of Powell, Ohio, retired bishop of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The Rev. Kelly, who went on to be elected the first African-American female bishop in the United Methodist Church — indeed, the first African-American woman bishop of any major denomination, died at 92 June 28 in Oakland, Calif.
Presiding from San Francisco, she served as spiritual leader and church CEO to more than 100,000 United Methodists in the California-Nevada Conference of the church from 1984 until she retired in 1988.
A memorial service for the former Richmond resident and pastor will be held at 10 a.m. today, Thursday, at Jones Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco.
"Trailblazing is not easy," the Rev. Kelly told a Richmond News Leader reporter in 1983, when groups of women in four of five church jurisdictions announced they would support her candidacy for bishop the next year.
"In 1984, they were still suspicious about a woman's ability to be a bishop," Craig said. "They were certainly suspicious about Leontine's ability. She came to the ministry late in life. Did she have enough experience? Did she carry enough weight?"
Methodist jurisdictions across the country met during the same week to choose six new bishops. When it became clear that her own Southeastern Jurisdiction would not elect her, representatives of the Western Jurisdiction called, asking her to immediately fly to their meeting place. "She decided that only God could think of something so crazy," Craig said, and got on a plane.
"The West had the wisdom to elect her (bishop), thank goodness. It was historic. It broke all precedent, which was wonderful. What a gift."
Her election was "a huge breakthrough," Craig said.
"We had already broken the glass ceiling with the election of a woman bishop in 1980. Leontine's election was a powerful symbol for African-Americans in general and African-American women in particular. It was a sign of hope and affirmation."
Colleagues celebrated her as a "spiritual mother" to many clergywomen and women bishops in particular following in her wake.
Born in Washington, D.C., she was the daughter, sister and wife of Methodist ministers.
She earned a bachelor's degree at Virginia Union University in 1960 and taught at Northumberland High School on the Northern Neck while her husband, the Rev. James David Kelly, led Galilee Methodist Church in Edwardsville.
At his urging, she became a certified lay speaker. After his death, she completed ministry training during summers at Wesley Theological Seminary and led her husband's church.
She moved to Richmond to teach social studies at John Marshall and Armstrong high schools while earning a master of divinity degree at Union Theological Seminary.
In 1976, in one of many "firsts," she became the first black female pastor appointed to a Virginia Methodist congregation — at Asbury-Church Hill United Methodist Church in Richmond.
She was elected to the Richmond School Board in 1979 and earned YWCA recognition for mentoring girls and women. She served on the board of Goodwill Industries Inc., was president of Richmond United Neighborhoods and was active with the Urban League of Richmond.
In April 1983, the Methodists elected her their top evangelism executive, sending her to Nashville, Tenn., as assistant general secretary of the General Board of Discipleship. The post was a platform to preach throughout the nation.
After retiring, the Rev. Kelly taught religion at several universities. She played a seminal role in the development of the church-related Africa University in Zimbabwe.
A much-honored social activist, she advocated an end to nuclear arms, opening the church to gays and lesbians and ministry to those with AIDS.
Survivors include two daughters, Angella Current Felder of Nashville, Tenn., and Pamela Lynne Kelly of San Mateo, Calif.; two sons, Gloster B. Current of Milwaukee, Wis., and David Current of Palm Desert, Calif.
By Ellen Robertson
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John D. Current would like to add to the following |
Greetings: I was reviewing the memorial page for former John Marshall HS government teacher (Leontine Kelly). I found several errors. Mrs. Kelly was a long time teacher of government and history at Armstrong H.S. in Richmond before transferring to John Marshall in 1968 and 1969 as one of two pioneer African American Teachers to serve formerly all white Richmond High Schools (John Marshall HS being one and Thomas Jefferson HS being the other). She served at John Marshall prior to moving to Northumberland County, VA; not while she was working on her M.DIV at Union Theological Seminary as is stated in the memorial statement. She is the first African American teacher to serve John Marshall High School during Richmond Public School desegregation (Taught Honors Govt. and Economics). A true trail blazer, inspiring leader, and community educator. John D. Current, Son Class of 1971 Corps of Cadets; Company B
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Patricia Cruickshanks (TJHS 1970)
I remember Dr. Kelly quite well, as she was my Homeroom Teacher during my Freshman and Sophmore years at JMHS. She encouraged me to run for Homeroom President, which I did and won; but would never have done so, without her encouragement. She was a wonderful Mentor to students, and a teacher who really cared about us. She left JMHS after my Sophmore year, and we had Mr. Hubbard. Dr. Kelly was a true Professional! I was saddened to learn of her passing. She lived a long, productive life!
Bruce Wright
I have never forgotten Leontine Kelly. As my teacher in Honors Government at JMHS during my senior year, she was my first teacher of color and, moreover, was likely the first person of color in a professional role that I had encountered. She encouraged me to think in new and different ways about race, privilege, and the role of government. I doubt that I will ever forget her words when she taught the young men in that class that - as healthy, white, males born in the United States - we began life in the top 10% of all humankind in terms of opportunity and responsibility. That teaching has resonated with me over the five decades that have ensued and has helped me remain thankful that our paths crossed during that year.
Kenneth Willis
Among the experiences I value most from my high school days are the times spent in Mrs. Kelly's class and her approach to teaching. Amidst all the turmoil of the times - the Viet Nam War, the Civil Rights Movement, the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Dr. King, etc. - she didn't treat us as mere students, but as young adults who would soon face the complexities of society head-on. In the process she extened to each of us a tremendous amount of respect, especially where our individual thoughts and comments were concerned, an act, I'm sure she hoped, we would also extend to one another without regard to race, gender, or social status. (She once told me I should run for City Council. The closest I came was serving on the City's Human Relations Commission for several years, including one as Vice-Chair and two as Chair while Executive Director of the Richmond Peace Education Center in the early 2000s.)
I don't know about my classmates, but at the time I wasn't aware of the circumstances that prompted Mrs. Kelly's retirement with our graduation. Yet, those events later afforded me the opportunity to interact with her in 2001. Since my parents didn't share the same denominational preference, I didn't grow up in a traditional church family. Instead, I found my way to God in Christ through music and art. A few years after earning my BFA from the VCU School of Art, I established a home and studio in Glen Allen. Across the road was a United Methodist Church. In time, my wife and I started attending and I was baptized and received into membership there in 1984. As I began to read church literature, one name stood out: Rev. Leontine Kelly. I wondered if this could be my former teacher from JMHS, and was pleased to learn it was. I was also pleased to learn that in that year she was appointed to be the first African-American Female Bishop in any mainline denomination in the U.S.
Later, I became involved in the VA Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action. Around 2000, the organization decided to establist a yearly award to be given to an individual or organization that, over time, had provided a significant, consistent witness to the Biblical concept of peace with justice in modern society. The award would be named in honor of Rev. Kelly, and she would be the first recipient. Knowing my back-ground in art, I was asked to produce the award, which I did (and have continued to do each year since).
The award is officially named "The Bishop Leontine Kelly Peace And Justice Award." The Rev. David Hindman (JMHS '68) and I presented the first award to Bishop Kelly at the 2001 VA United Methodist Annual Conference.
There is a wonderful book about Bishop Kelly entitled Breaking Barriers: An African American Family & The Methodist Story, published by Abingdon Press.
Blessings to all,
Ken Willis JMHS '68
Rosa Quarles
Correction Mrs Kelly was not the first African American to teacher at John Marshall As I recall Mrs Carolyn Mosby was the first and only African American teacher during the beginning of integration. She taught Math Later came Mr. Cooper, who also was a Math teacher. I’m unsure whether Mrs Tinsley came before Mrs Kelly. She was an excellent teacher who received many accolades, but she was not the first African American teacher at JMHS. There were so few I remember them all.